Film After 11 Podcast | Groundhog Day (1993)

The time has come for another new episode of the Film After 11 podcast. This week, I introduce my son Joseph to the classic Bill Murray comedy Groundhog Day. The classic Bill Murray comedy Groundhog Day. Bill Murray comedy Groundhog Day.

You see what I did there? Really subtle, huh? I’d make a joke about how this is an endlessly rewatchable movie, but that'[s straining the gag and I don’t need to tell you that anyway. It’s still great. This watch may be the first time I picked up that when Murray’s character Phil tries (unsuccessfully) to commit suicide by jumping off a building, he stands in front of a circular arch with his arms outstretched like the hands on a clock face. That’s a pretty neat easter egg Harold Ramis stuck in there.

I will say, however, that it does bother me a little bit that the way Phil gets out of the time loop is by winning over the girl (Andie McDowell), as if she’s his prize or something. Eh, whatever. I still love this movie to bits.

Groundhog Day (1993) - Bill Murray & Andie McDowell
Title:Groundhog Day
Year of Release: 1993
Director: Harold Ramis
Watched On: Fandango at Home (rental)
Also Available On: 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
Blu-ray
Various VOD rental and purchase platforms

4K Video Streaming

Sony released Groundhog Day on Blu-ray back in 2009 for what was supposedly a Special 15th Anniversary Edition, the math for which was a whole year off. You’d think somebody should have caught that. From my recollection, that disc wasn’t especially good. A 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray remaster came on the 25th anniversary in 2018 and was reissued for the 30th anniversary in 2023. Because I don’t currently own any of those discs, I had to rent from Fandango at Home streaming.

The 4K transfer starts off on a bad foot with extremely noisy opening credits that look like the grain has been sharpened and the contrast boosted. (No, I don’t mean the TV footage the characters shoot. I’m not that dumb, thank you.) Fortunately, that problem clears up shortly after the opticals for the credits are done. The 1.85:1 image from that point on is sharp enough to see how fake the snow is, with a light and seemingly appropriate texture of grain. Colors and contrast are very nice, and HDR adds a pleasing sense of depth.

Groundhog Day (1993) movie poster

The movie’s soundtrack has been remixed into full-blown Dolby Atmos for reasons beyond my comprehension. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds nice and has some smooth pans to the sides, along with room-filling crowd sounds during the groundhog festival, but nothing that couldn’t be achieved just as easily with regular 5.1. If any noise came from my height speakers, I couldn’t hear it from my seated position.

More impressive is the music, which has rich fidelity and a satisfying amount of drum bass during the polka scene(s).

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Note: All screenshots on this page were grabbed off a web browser, and came out looking much softer than actually watching the movie on a streaming device. They are used for illustration purposes only.

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