Starring: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, John Amos
Directed by: John Landis
Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment
Video: 1.85:1 Widescreen, 1080p HD
Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital, French 2.0 Dolby Digital, Spanish DD mono
Subtitles: English SDH, English, Spanish, French
Extras: Four featurettes (“Prince-ipal Photography: The Coming Together of America”, “Fit for Akeem: The Costumes of Coming to America”, “Character Building: The Many Faces of Rick Baker” and “Composing America: The Musical Talents of Nile Rodgers”); Interview with Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall; Photo gallery; Theatrical trailer in HD
Length: 116 minutes
Movie Rating: ****; AV Quality Rating: ***
Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) of the country of Zamunda is about to be wed via an arranged marriage. Akeem, however, wants to marry someone of his own choosing. He convinces his parents to allow him to take a short trip to the United States under the pretext of having some pre-marital fun, while in truth, Akeem hopes to find his soulmate. Accompanied by his friend and royal servant Semmi (Arsenio Hall), Akeem travels to Queens, New York. Per Akeem’s wishes, the two hide their true identities and take jobs as humble fast-food employees. Akeem does not need to search very long or far for his proposed new bride as he falls for the daughter of the owner of the fast-food restaurant where he works. The question remains though whether she will feel the same about Akeem when his true identity is revealed. Nearing the twentieth anniversary of its initial release, “Coming to America” still holds up well as a comedy film and the jokes don’t feel too dated. While the storyline is amusing, the best part of this movie for me has always been the multiple roles that Murphy and Hall play throughout the film (my personal favorite being Murphy’s character, Randy Watson, singing a horrendous rendition of ‘The Greatest Love of All’). Recommended.
In terms of HD video quality, this Blu-ray DVD rates somewhere between fair and good. Images have a soft appearance but are otherwise clean with decent detail and deep blacks. Colors are accurate (although somewhat flat) with nicely saturated hues. Picture defect mastering is commendable with no major flaws aside from occasional film grain. The audio quality on the compressed English Dolby Digital 5.1 track is on par with the video. As is typically the case with most comedy films, the soundtrack of “Coming to America” is focused toward the forward soundstage. Dialogue is natural-sounding and properly positioned in the center channel. The surround channels are moderately active and primarily used for the music . The low frequency effects channel is crisp and taut.
— Calvin Harding Jr.
