More Muppets, More Mayhem

According to the Muppets' second movie, Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear are identical twins and wannabe newspaper reporters. They, and their photographer the Great Gonzo, get their break when they're sent to England to investigate a jewel heist.

The victim is a high fashion icon (played by Diana Rigg) and the perpetrator turns out to be her ne'er do well brother (Charles Grodin). The romance, as in the first Muppet movie, is provided by Miss Piggy, an aspiring model this time around who, as usual, becomes smitten by the high class frog Kermit.

All the Muppet gang from "the Muppet Show" are back, with celebrity cameos by the likes of Robert Morley, John Cleese, Peter Ustinov and Oscar the Grouch. The songs, written by Joe Raposo, aren't as catchy as in the first film, but they'll still keep you humming along - and it's always a treat to see what stunts they'll get Muppets to do this time around.

Here, it's the whole ensemble riding bicycles and climbing walls as they work together to catch the jewel thieves red handed so they can prove that the framed Miss Piggy is innocent.

Well, prove that she didn't steal the jewels; few could accuse Miss Piggy of being innocent…

A weaker effort that "The Muppet Movie," "The Great Muppet Caper" is still a likeable romp, full of humor and music.

The DVD suffers from the same major flaw as the first disc, in that some of the shots, particularly the effects shots, are very grainy. The colors are bright and crisp, and in most scenes the picture quality is okay, but when that grain comes in you want to run out and hire a thresher…

The picture is offered in both anamorphic widescreen, 16x9 TV compatible, on one side and Pan&Scan on the other.

Audio is in Dolby Surround or Dolby Digital, and while the sound quality is okay, the producers seem to have concentrated on the center and rear channels to the detriment of the main front speakers, which in most home theaters are the biggest and best speakers.

Extras include some particularly lame "Muppetisms" and some bonus trailers.

The Great Muppet Caper, from Columbia Tristar Home Video
98 min, widescreen (1.85:1), 16x9 compatible/Pan&Scan, Dolby Surround/Dolby Digital
Starring the Muppets, Diana Rigg and Charles Grodin
Produced by David Lazer and Frank Oz
Written by Tom Patchett & Jay Tarses and Jerry Juhl & Jack Rose, directed by Jim Henson

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