| TENEBRE SIGMA CINEMATOGRAPHIA ; ITALY dvd specification |
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| [video][sound][extras][conclusion] |
| For a review of the film, please click here. |
| video |
| First of all, this is the best looking version of the film I have seen on DVD so far. Strangely, the few seconds of footage that are missing from the Anchor Bay release also appear to be missing here. This is even more peculiar when you consider that this appears to definitely be a different print - it perhaps unsurprisingly has Italian credits and inserts. However, as I have stated before, it does not unduly bother me as I don't think this missing material harms the fabric of the story in any way. What strikes you straight away about this anamorphic transfer are the colours - rich and vibrant making the Anchor Bay releases look positively anaemic in comparison. The detail is also crisper. I think TENEBRE always was a soft looking film but at least it is not artificially so here - another problem with the AB releases. There is no discernable print damage or digitally induced pixelation that is immediately apparent and the black levels are suitably dark. All in all, a pretty fine picture. |
| sound |
| The sound options offer previously unavailable ways of watching the film. I watched it in Dolby 5.1 Italian with English subtitles. However, this showed up a problem. The 5.1 track is nothing special at all and only really comes to life when there is music playing on the soundtrack. Not only that but it seems to miss out chunks of dialogue - the subtitles often appear for lines that are not audible at all. These lines are clearly audible on the Italian mono track. The English 2.0 track is pretty standard fair and doesn't use the surround channel to great effect. |
| extras |
| No extras to speak of except cast and crew biographies. Of note are the menu's. They are nicely designed and animated with a piece of music playing that is not part of the soundtrack as far as I can tell from my CD. It is very catchy though and seemingly at least comes from the recording sessions. |
| conclusion |
| This is by far the best version of TENEBRE that I have seen on DVD. Having said that, I have not seen them all - the French one for example. It still does not seem to be complete but I wonder if we are reading too much into this? I find it difficult to believe that two separate prints have been damaged in exactly the same places. Having said that, none of the missing seconds make any difference to the plot and and are not at all obvious (although the flashback is a slight exception here as the soundtrack changes abrubtly). |
| reviewed by NJD |
| cover artwork |
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| main menu |
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| extras menu |
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