Happy Gilmore (Sandler) is a no-name hockey player whose wicked slap shot converts into a 400-yard tee shot with the potential for big bucks. Happy hits the fairways, turning the Pro Golf Circuit into a contact sport. Throwing tantrums and his clubs on the course, punching fans, his rivals and even Pro-Am participants, TV game show host Bob Barker, Happy outrages the establishment on national TV. (Suzanne Hodges)
When you hit the Extras option on the main menu, you're not going to be too happy, as the only special features are six deleted scenes.
The 1.85:1 HD DVD picture is brighter and more rich than the DVD picture, and the reddish tint of fleshtones that was easily apparent in the DVD release has been toned down some, although it is still slightly on the cool side. The greens of the different grasses around the courses are well saturated. The VC-1-encoded picture has good detail, although it is not quite at the level of the best HD DVD releases, and some scenes are softer than others. Still, the textures of clothing and the blades of grass are well defined, and while it still has more depth to the image than the DVD version, it lacks the dimensionality of the best HD DVD transfers. (Danny Richelieu)
The Dolby® Digital Plus 5.1-channel soundtrack features the same mix as the DVD release, but the increased fidelity the Digital Plus encoding provides results in more accurate sounding dialogue, although the use of ADR is more easily recognizable in some scenes. There is noticeable background noise and there is occasional clipping distortion in the louder scenes. The surround channels are definitely underutilized, and, for the most part, the center channel dominates the soundtrack. It's a combination that generally doesn't equate to an impressive soundtrack, and this release really doesn't break that mold. (Danny Richelieu)