On the list of movies that I feel needed a comeback, the cult classic (that term is also depending on who you ask) GOOD BURGER . If anything, it signalled the talents of Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell who have very different comedic personalities as two workers at the burger joint of the same name trying to save the business when a competitor moves across the street.
Watching it now, it all feels so innocent and light-hearted. Yes, it has a lot of strange elements, right down to the likes of Abe Vigoda working in the back of the burger joint to smaller roles by Sinbad, Star Jackson and even a very young Linda Cardellini, who became Lindsay Weir a few years later in FREAKS & GEEKS. Yet it all works because of Kenan and Kel who really did a lot of great work after the movie; Kenan not only has his own show now but is also the longest running player on SNL! GOOD BURGER was also directed by Brian Robbins, who went on from this to create another beloved late 90’s movie, VARSITY BLUES, and is now a top executive at Paramount. How’s that for a bit of movie trivia!
GOOD BURGER is silly as all get out but reader, I laughed and had a fun time with seeing it again for the first time in decades, and I’m going to recommend it, warts and all as this movie put a smile on my face throughout. Have fun with it. It’s GOOD BURGER!
About the Blu Ray:
Before we get to the look and sound of the disc, the big thing here is that Paramount has re-released the movie in one pretty visually cool Steelbook edition featuring the movie artwork over a blue background featuring Kenan and Kel in a few heavily dramatic poses. It looks and feels great in my hands and is a strange but memorable addition to the shelf.
For the transfer, it looks pretty good in HD and presented in the 16×9 aspect ratio with light cropping. Shot on 35mm, it retains a lot of its colourful look and feel and a lot of the colors, even the restaurant, are very pleasing to the eye. I know it isn’t vitally important for the likes of GOOD BURGER, but it would be good to have a 1.85 aspect ratio here to retain the framing of this very important theatrical release. As for the sound, it’s very serviceable in its DTS Master Audio track in 5.1, recalling the original Dolby Digital theatrical soundtrack (which was still relatively new at the time, so almost every movie in this format was a treat). Neither the picture or sound is going to blow your home theatre system away but it nicely captures what the movie looked and sounded like in theatres. Unless you’re one of those people who would demo GOOD BURGER. Go ahead, you do you.
The features here are limited to the original GOOD BURGER sketch from the TV show ALL THAT. And as per usual, a digital copy is also included that redeems to Apple TV, also in high-definition. With this and the Steelbook visual presentation, I think this more than enough to recommend. Maybe one day it will upgrade to 4k/HDR so we can see all of the comedic detail in ultra high definition? You think I’m kidding.

GOOD BURGER is now available on Blu Ray from Paramount. Our thanks to Paramount PR for sending along a copy for review.