The average bitrate is a very good 7.33Mb/s, occasionally peaking over 9Mb/s.
The music score is well-composed and adds tension, particularly in the closing
scenes, along with an excellent and loud David Bowie track, "The Heart's
Filthy Lesson". However, the sound also shares a problem with the other titles
in that while being filmed with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, it's merely represented
in DD2.0 which translates to Dolby Surround or ProLogic given the particular amplifier
in use. I have to ask why, since Surround/Prologic-only is nothing but a backward
step.
Now showing on The Grim-Discovery Channel.
Extras :
Chapters & Trailer :
Seven is no comedy, but I had to laugh when I saw there's only EIGHT chapters
to this DVD, most of them divided up among the deadly sins, aside from the opening
and end credits. This is really appalling in anyone's book given that chapters 3 and
4 each last in excess of thirty minutes and especially since the Region 1 DVD has
38 to choose from, which is necessary as there are so many separate scenes to this
film. The original theatrical trailer is also included.
Languages & Subtitles :
Just one language for this disc - English in Dolby Surround - and with subtitles
in the same language, but through some fit of madness, someone has decided that
during the closing scenes, the subtitles should appear onscreen long after they
have been spoken. The length of time taken is enough for someone to reply and the
first person to say something else ! Turn them off at 1hr 49mins as they're just
offputting after that.
'Making of' featurette :
A six-minute 'making of' contains some chat from principal cast and crew members
along with some behind-the-scenes shots but after you've seen it once you'll
rarely go back to it.
What's missing ? : The Region 1 DVD is also non-anamorphic with bugger all
in the way of extras, so what's required is an anamorphic DVD with the equivalent
quality of the Criterion NTSC Laserdisc in terms of extras, containing a commentary
from the director and cast members, deleted scenes, out-takes and storyboards which
include an alternative ending. Not only this, but the picture was a special "silver
print" made to the same standard as issued to selected cinemas. If you saw this in
the cinema, you may recall the picture was excessively dark and made it hard to see
what was going on compared to that on any general home entertainment release.
Correctly-manufactured prints conforming to the standard also had an extra
definition of clarity.
Menu :
The menu is static and silent with a dull menu that's meant to represent scrawled
police notes.
On inserting the disc, you see the copyright info and the Entertainment In Video
logo and then the film begins without accessing the main menu first. If you go to
the menu, clicking on "Play Movie" brings up the EiV logo and then the film starts.
For some reason, the EiV logo shimmers like crazy and gives you a headache if you look
at it for its full duration.
On the plus side of things, we have an excellent and compelling film which must be
seen in its original widescreen ratio, even though the fullscreen version was open-matte
and able to see more picture top and bottom throughout most scenes in the film - apart
from those with a single face-shot which were zoomed-in to fill the screen. If the
only version of this film you've seen is that on BBC1, with all the language, violence
and disturbing moments removed, then you haven't seen the film at all and it's a
must-see.
A Special Edition Region 1 DVD is on the cards, but it's not known at this time whether
it will contain an anamorphic print. In the meantime, I'd advise against purchasing
this DVD unless you care little for extras, do not have a widescreen TV and have no
interest in purchasing a Dolby Digital decoder. Also, why does this DVD cost
two pounds more than
Donnie Brasco
when all it has extra is some subtitles ?
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
