Scooby-Doo! And The Gourmet Ghost [DVD]

Director: Doug Murphy

Cast: Frank Welker, Grey Griffin, Matthew Lillard (VOICES)

Release Date: September 11, 2018

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 7.5/10
Disc Rating: 7.5/10

Synopsis:

On Scooby-Doo! And the Gourmet Ghost, the Mystery Inc. gang visits Rocky Harbor Culinary Resort, a new cooking retreat located in New Port Cove, Rhode Island. It’s a food lover’s destination, where visitors can learn to prepare meals like master chefs. As Scooby-Doo and his pals arrive to the resort, they are met by Fred’s uncle Bobby, who happens to be the world-famous chef and restauranteur Bobby Flay.

Rocky Harbor Culinary Resort, which was originally known as Rocky Harbor Inn, has stood empty for over two centuries, ever since its original owner mysteriously disappeared from its premises. The property, which is now owned by Bobby, is rumored to be haunted by the infamous Red Ghost. Bobby however, thinks the legend of the Red Ghost is just an old myth that’s part of the local lore. He hesitates bringing up the subject for fear it might scare off potential visitors to this new resort, which he dreams will become a world-famous gourmet cooking destination.

To promote the grand opening of the resort, Bobby organizes a live, national telecast to broadcast from the retreat’s high-tech kitchen. It’s a star-studded evening with some of television’s biggest celebrity chefs, including renowned chefs Giada De Laurentiis and Marcus Samuelsson.

The telecast kicks off with a bang! Bobby’s kitchen buzzes with celebrity chefs whipping up their most scrumptious dishes. That’s until the lights mysteriously flicker off and out of the shadows, Red Ghost appears frightening all the guests, who run out in a panic. Is the legend of Red Ghost real after all? Does this mean the end of Rocky Harbor Culinary Resort or will Scooby-Doo and his pals help save the day? It’s a delicious mystery Scooby-Doo! fans won’t want to miss!

Please Note: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the DVD I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.

Your favorite mystery solving dog and teens are back at it again, and this time with a little help from some world famous chefs. ‘Scooby-Doo! And the Gourmet Ghost’ joins the Mystery Inc. gang who have been personally invited to the newly renovated Rocky Harbor Culinary Resort owned by Fred’s uncle who just also happens to be the legendary chef Bobby Flay. But once the gang arrives onsite and start to enjoy the tasty excitement, even Shaggy and Scooby can’t turn their heads when another dastardly ghost starts wreaking havoc. Determined to save the resort and help Fred’s uncle, the gang quickly utilizes their mystery solving skills to uncover the truth behind the phantom in time to save the resort and hopefully also learn some new cooking techniques from the talented staff.

‘Scooby-Doo and the Gourmet Ghost’ teams up the Mystery Inc. gang with the tasty talents of legendary celebrity chef Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis (who both provide their own respective voices) for another exciting mystery filled with laughs, chills and just a great deal of fun as the gang gives it their all in order to try and help out Fred’s famous uncle (Flay) and save his new culinary resort. For once a vacation destination that Shaggy and Scooby couldn’t be more thrilled about, at least until the frights begin. All in all another thoroughly entertaining and amusing animated Scooby-Doo movie that may not exactly be extraordinary, but isn’t lacking in any crucial way either. Fellow hardcore Scooby-Doo fans will almost surely want to at least make a point of giving ‘Scooby-Doo and the Gourmet Ghost’ a chance at some point when convenient. Homes with young Scooby fans of the next generation on the other hand (and surely some of the older Scooby fanatics intent to collect every release as well) may also want to strongly consider picking up a copy of the DVD release (or Digital if preferable) in order to accommodate the likelihood of numerous repeat viewings.

Overall, ‘Scooby-Doo and the Gourmet Ghost’ serves up its share of laughs, mystery-solving antics and silly fun, while also offering a sort of crossover with the world of celebrity cooking which may not personally be my thing but is undoubtedly sure to excite some. It’s another lighthearted animated adventure with Scooby and the rest of the Mystery Inc. gang that should have no problem providing ample entertainment for the whole family. ‘Scooby-Doo and the Gourmet Ghost’ is definitely recommended for all of you fellow Scooby lovers out there both young and old. It may not be the most noteworthy animated film in the expansive catalog, but it definitely manages to conjure up enough goofy fun and laughs to more than appease any fan and make it worth taking the time to give a watch whenever possible.

VIDEO:

The DVD release of ‘Scooby-Doo and the Gourmet Ghost’ is presented in a 16×9 friendly Widescreen presentation utilizing the film’s original 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks pretty great altogether as far as the confines of the DVD format allow and provides a rather sharp, clean and colorful presentation throughout with no noteworthy or overly distracting faults to be uncovered throughout. It holds up admirably even during the heavily populated, fast moving and darkly lit sequences, never causing anything occurring on screen to become heavily affected or rendered indiscernible. Overall, this is a pretty great standard definition video presentation that holds up nicely throughout and should easily please fans who don’t mind or even prefer the DVD format in general.

AUDIO:

The DVD release features a 384 kbps 5.1 channel Dolby Digital soundtrack. This multichannel soundtrack delivers a clean, sharp and fairly active audio presentation throughout. It regularly takes advantage of all five available channels in order to send the ghost swooshing past, along with crowd chatter, music and more making their way throughout the various speakers when appropriate, and never resulting in any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously to become distorted or rendered inaudible as a result. Overall, this is a solid 5.1 channel Dolby Digital soundtrack that delivers in every way required of it and also contributes its share of additional fun to the viewing experience.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The DVD release of ‘Scooby-Doo and the Gourmet Ghost’ includes a few extras in the way of ‘3 Bonus Cartoons’ which of course each have food or eating themed titles. The included cartoon episodes are: ‘What’s New Scooby-Doo? “Recipe For Disaster”’ (running approximately 21 minutes in length), ‘A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, “Wanted Cheddar Alive”’ (running approximately 23 minutes) and ‘Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, “The Devouring”’ (approximately 23 minutes).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the DVD and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this DVD release are the property of their respective owners.

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 Film Rating: 7.5/10
Disc Rating: 7.5/10

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‘Scooby-Doo! And the Gourmet Ghost’ Arrives Home on DVD September 11, 2018 & is Now Available to Own on Digital from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

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You can purchase your copy of ‘Scooby-Doo And The Gourmet Ghost’ by clicking on the Amazon Cart icon immediately below!