With 1988’s Scrooged, we got what looked like a sure-fire hit and classic to be. Star Bill Murray was still a top box office draw in those days, and Richard Donner – fresh off 1987’s smash Lethal Weapon - took charge behind the camera.

Instead of the instant classic big hit, we got a holiday film that was neither boffo nor bomb. It did decent business and got fairly reasonable reviews, but it didn’t boast a great reception in either direction.

I saw it during its initial release and recall a general sense of disappointment. While I didn’t dislike the movie, I know I expected something more from it. 25 years later, I think it’s time to give Scrooged another look and see if it’s as meh as I remember.

Based on A Christmas Carol, Frank Cross (Murray) heads the IBC TV network. He tends toward lowest-common-denominator programming and displays a cutthroat attitude that worries about the bottom line. Cross shows no compassion toward people – even his brother James (John Murray) or his long-time assistant Grace (Alfre Woodard).

With a track record of cruelty and coldness behind him, Frank’s eternal fate doesn’t look good. At the office after hours, Frank gets a visit from the ghost of Lew Hayward (John Forsythe), his former boss. Lew warns Frank that he needs to mend his selfish ways and three ghosts will visit him to move him along that quest.

If nothing else, Scrooged gets credit as something different in the Christmas Carol annals. Most versions of the story stick with its 19th century roots; the retellings alter it in some ways but don’t do a lot to make the tale different. While there’s nothing wrong with those literal editions, it’s still nice to see a project that tries to do something unusual.

Which definitely happens here. Although Scrooged hits on the main Christmas Carol notes, it deviates from the source much of the time. It adds/alters characters and brings in scenes with no Dickens corollary. Perhaps some view this as too much creative license, but given the existence of skittedly-twelve literal(ish) versions of Christmas Carol, I’m happy to check out something with its own flavor.

I just wish I derived more pleasure from that flavor. As much as I appreciate the attempts to throw curveballs into the tale, I don’t think all – or even most – of them work. The main problem comes from pacing, as Scrooged really seems to plod a lot of the time. We’re more than 35 minutes into the movie before the first ghost comes along, and that seems like an awful lot of unnecessary exposition. The slowness causes impatience, as the long set-up doesn’t deliver much that becomes interesting or useful.

It also just throws too many extraneous characters at us. Christmas Carol stays pretty basic, whereas Scrooged offers representatives for all of the usual suspects along with many others. The new personalities don’t fit into the action very well, as they tend to bog down the story and lack much to expand it.

Scrooged boasts a strong cast, but I can’t say that any of the actors do much with their roles. In particular, Bill Murray disappoints. This just doesn’t seem like a part that suits his talents, as he works best with charming smart-asses. Frank is mostly an unlikable tyrant, and Murray doesn’t play cruelty well.

Ultimately, I think my analysis of Scrooged as a disappointment in 1988 remains accurate. This isn’t a poor movie, but it seems like one that doesn’t live up to its potential. It comes short on laughs, charm or real heart.

Scrooged appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-Ray Disc. The image showed its age but was a pretty decent representation of the source.

Face it – 1980s movies often look iffy, and that was the case here. Sharpness was generally adequate to good. Close-ups demonstrated fairly nice accuracy, but wider shots were less consistent; though they usually provided positive clarity, they could be a bit on the soft side. No issues with jaggies or shimmering occurred, and I noticed no edge haloes. Source flaws were minor; I saw a couple of small specks but nothing more.

Colors were typical of their 80s roots. They varied from pretty peppy to somewhat runny, but they seemed reasonably perky most of the time. Blacks were decently deep and tight, and shadows usually looked fine; some low-light shots were a bit murky, but that wasn’t the rule. I felt the image looked more than acceptable but not better than that.

As for the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Scrooged, it also showed it age but was generally fine. The soundfield offered a moderately engaging affair, though it stayed true to the film’s comic roots. These kinds of movies usually don’t provide active soundtracks, and while Scrooged had some wild moments due to its supernatural elements, the spectrum usually remained appropriately subdued.

However, music showed good stereo separation in the front channels, and the score also spread very nicely to the surrounds. The forward domain displayed good atmosphere, with clean localization of sounds and smooth integration.

In addition to the usual ambience they added, the rear speakers also kicked in some louder support at times. This track featured a little stereo surround material on occasion, as some atmospheric bits clearly came localized in the back. This wasn’t a dazzling soundfield, but it seemed quite good given its era and the flick’s genre.

Audio quality was perfectly solid. Dialogue sounded acceptable; a little edginess occasionally appeared, but not frequently. Effects tended to seem a little thin but lacked distortion or notable problems. Music sounded surprisingly robust and vivid, as the score became the strongest element here. Although little excelled, this became a more than adequate track for a movie from 1988.

Scrooged lacks meaty extras. We get the film’s trailer and that’s it.

Back in 1988, I expected Scrooged to offer a lively reworking of A Christmas Carol. It seemed disappointing to me back then and hasn’t improved with age; while it delivers mild entertainment, it doesn’t offer enough amusement and creativity to succeed. The Blu-ray comes with pretty good picture and audio but lacks supplements. Maybe someday I’ll change my mind about Scrooged, but right now, I still see it as mediocre.