| THE CARD PLAYER MEDUSA FILM ; ITALY dvd specification |
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| [video][sound][extras][conclusion] |
| If you want a review of the actual film, click here. |
| video |
| This appears to be exactly the same as the czech dvd in so far as it presents the film in a pristine English language print with all the computer screen and email cutaways in English. Arrow have provided a lovely 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer which makes the film look better than I remember it being (unfortunately it doesn't improve the story!). Much like the czech release, there is no discernable digitally induced artifacting or grain - in fact there is little grain on the print. Colours are good; no blurring or bleeding and flesh tones are natural. The film is very dark in places - due to Debie's 'natural' lighting methods. This means that the black levels need to be just right. Anchor Bay really do have thier work cut out for them now if they are going to even equal this picture quality. |
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| sound |
| The English 5.1 soundtrack is a bit better here than the czech disc with plenty of dynamics, subtlety and bass rumble when required. Simonetti's music comes across well - everytime I hear it I like it more. The pounding bass line at the finale for instance is much better and the music as whole has more punch to it. At lower volumes the speech was difficult to hear in places. This especially affected the character of John Brennan as Liam Cunningham is very softly spoken. This maybe because his voice was recorded on set and not dubbed afterwards. Talking of which, the dubbing appears above par considering some of Argento's previous films. Surround effects are used sparingly but are all the more noticable when they occur. As you might imagine considering the story, Police radio's mobile telephones and computers can be heard throughout. |
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| extras |
| No extras on this review copy unless you count scene selection, which I don't - this is an essential item and cannot be considered a bonus. The menu's are animated but are only in black and white and have been given a 'video interference' type look. The menu transitions are pretty cool though. One thing - my review copy had very loud music whilst on the menu screens and when viewing the film I had to turn the volume up considerably. Of course, when I went back to a menu, I had to quickly find my remote before I blew my ear drums out! Annoying and hopefully will be fixed before release. |
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| conclusion |
| I am pleased that Arrow have once again done Argento proud with a release that I find difficult to fault. It could have been better - English DTS track, italian audio track, English subtitles. As it stands I think that if Anchor Bay want to trump this they can only do it by including these. Well done Arrow. |
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| reviewed by NJD |
| main menu |
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| scene selection |
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