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Director
Taylor Hackford
Cast
Meg Ryan,
Russell Crowe,
David Morse,
David Caruso
Pamela Reed
Music
Danny Elfman |
 (2.35:1) |
English, Spanish, Italian |
Comm Track |
| Subtitle/s
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English, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish,
Portuguese, Hebrew, Polish, Greek. Czech, Turkish, Hungarian, Icelandic |
| Region Code
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2/4 |
| Chapters
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37 |
| Disc Format
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DVD9 |
| Running
Time |
130 minutes |
| Extras |
- Theatrical Trailer
- Making of Featurette
- Cast and Crew Listing
- Audio Commentary - Taylor Hackford (director) |
| Classification
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M15+
(Medium level violence, coarse language and drug use) |
| Distributor
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Warner |
| Release
Date |
18th
July 2001 |
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This film had a great impact on me right from the
first I saw it at the cinemas. It’s a thinking film not just a shoot em up action
flick with a lack of story line. In a way it reminds me if JFK in that you have to watch
and pay attention to be able to keep up, which I think is a great attribute in film.
Little known to most of us it seems that the Kidnap and Ransom trade is making big
bucks in South America. Alice (Meg Ryan) and Peter (David Morse) Bowman have moved to
Tecala in South America so Peter can pursue a project in building a dam across a beautiful
yet treacherous ravine. Peter is in turmoil though as his company seems to be going down
the drain and taking him with it. Alice is also unimpressed with again being stuck in a
seemingly third world country without a project in her own life.
All of this brought into perspective when Peter is kidnapped by a group of local men
known as the ELT, involved heavily in illegal farming in the mountains to produce drugs.
Their other business venture is of course K&R (Kidnap and Ransom) from which it seems
they make an awful lot of money.
Enter Terry Thorne (Russell Crowe) a K&R consultant for an insurance company in
Britain. Terry knows all the ins and outs of the kidnap trade and quickly puts the family
to rest with his professional approach to the situation. The big fizzer though comes
around when it becomes known that the company Peter is working for does not have insurance
to cover such disasters and Terry then makes a quick exit and the local police move in on
the ransom negotiations. Terry’s conscience gets the better of him though and he
returns in the nick of time to help poor Alice out of a great spot of trouble.
The film takes many turns and subtle yet thought provoking twists which will have you
on the edge of your seat for a couple of hours at least. |
So how does this transfer hold up?
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VIDEO
The 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is one of the best I have seen
from Warner recently. The transfer is perfectly sharp and detailed. This provides a good
starting point for the colour palette, which has shone out as the best aspect in this
transfer. There are multiple occasions on which the colour diversity can be expressed and
this is proven time and again. From dark and dismal scenes in Chechnya to rich greenery of
the South American jungles to the bright colours of the market places.
There are some slight occurrences of grain but not enough
to really bring the transfer down at all. There are also some small instances of
pixelization in the backgrounds largely enhanced by film grain and some instances of
aliasing and small dust marks but these are not terribly noticeable and really are only
minor flaws.
Shadow detail was also excellent, while most of the film is quite bright; those scenes,
which do show a lot of shadow, still hold great detail. |
AUDIO
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track is certainly reference
quality and is a major influence on the viewing experience of this film. While the film
does contain a lot of dialogue there are many action and effect scenes, which have been
authored in the soundtrack perfectly. The score is enveloping and imersive and the other
aspects of the audio track are just as well balanced.
The surrounds are used frequently to provide directional
effect support and to provide ambience to the film including the score. The .1 channel is
also used frequently to support effects. I was amazed at the impact of this audio track
and how much it really topped of a great film. I can’t say anything negative at al
here. |
EXTRAS
- Theatrical Trailer
- Making of Featurette: 15 minutes of promotional clips rather
than a really behind the scenes view of the film.
- Cast and Crew Listing
- Audio Commentary- Taylor Hackford (director): A real mixed
bag as far as quality goes. While the director talks continuously for the entire film a
lot of it is not really that informative but there are the occasional tid bits which woke
me up.
Overall
This is a simply fantastic, psychological film, which requires a great thought process,
not simply a brain killing exercise. Enjoy! |
| PICTURE
QUALITY |
8.5/10
very good |
- SOUND
Quality
- 5.1 WOW Factor |
10/10 perfect
10/10 also perfect |
| EXTRAS |
4/10 bland! |
| OVERALL |
9/10 Sensational! |
Review Equipment
TV: GE 68cm (16:9
selectable)
DVD: Pioneer 737
Receiver: Yamaha RX-V595a
Speakers:-
Fronts: B&W 602 (on a pair of custom made stands you'd KILL for)
Centre: Venturi
Rears: Wharfedale Diamond R6
Sub: M&K v75
- Review Posted 24th October 2001
* jpeg files for internet
promotion use only. Copyright© exists on all aspects of these files by Warner Home Video |
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