First off, Fox have corrected the mistake that blighted their first DVD release,
Titanic.
This time we are treated to an anamorphic picture which benefits from 33%
extra resolution. Also, we get the film presented in its correct theatrical
ratio of 2.35:1, whereas Americans had a version with the matte opened up to
1.93:1. It didn't suffer because of it in terms of the framing, but the 2.35:1
ratio does look better.
There are no artefacts to be found in the picture and overall, the word
"stunning" could easily be applied. Due to its comic nature, most of the film
is dressed in shades of different stark, bright colours. A low bitrate may have
resulted in such a film being made to look like a ZX Spectrum crashing, but
thankfully the average bitrate is an excellent 8.33Mb/s, regularly peaking over
9Mb/s and it's all on a dual-layer disc.
The sound quality is also top-notch. Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound and
plenty of swingin' sixties tunes from the impressive opener, Quincy Jones
and his Orchestra doing the "Soul Bossa Nova", through Brazil's soccer
anthem, "Mas Que Nada" and offerings from The Lightning Seeds, The
Divinyls, The Cardigans, Space, Edwyn Collins and Susannah Hoffs,
to Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walking".
There has been talk of sound dropouts which forced Fox to reprint the title.
However, since I didn't spot any of these, perhaps the disc I saw came from the
second batch?
A couple of juicy ones gave Vanessa a squeal of delight...
Extras :
Chapters and Trailer :
There are 24 chapters covering 91 minutes which covers all the major scenes.
The theatrical trailer is also included.
Languages and Subtitles :
There's just one language on this disc - English, but it is available in Dolby
Digital 5.1. There are also English subtitles for the hard of hearing. I spotted
one slight error. When Austin says hello to his Italian boots in the same
language, it looks like it was meant to be in italics, but someone's only put
in the flag to close italics, so it reads, "Buon giorno,[/I] boys.", so similar
to HTML code.
Deleted scenes :
There's five deleted scenes which include two alternative endings. Owners of
the Region 1 DVD will think we're missing out because they had seven scenes
in total. However, the extra two, both featuring what happened as a result of
Dr. Evil's henchmen being offed, have been put back into the film itself.
Cameo Menu :
Instead of flicking through the chapter selection, you can find your favourite
cameo piece featuring one of Carrie Fisher, Burt Bacharach, Rob Lowe,
Christian Slater and Tom Arnold instantly with this menu. It's
not an essential addition, but it's a nice option to have.
Audio commentary :
A full-length commentary track from director Jay Roach and the film's
star, Mike Myers.
Cast biographies and filmographies :
And you get exactly that for Mike Myers, Elizabeth Hurley, Michael York,
Mimi Rogers and Robert Wagner.
Menu :
The main menu looks very good with a shot of Liz and Mike in front of a
swirling green and purple background, mirroring that seen on the cover.
There's also a small piece of backing spy-theme music which is recycled over
and over again. The chapter selection menus are excellent being both animated
and scored.
This wasn't in her "job" description...
Content-wise, this DVD has everything that its Region 1 counterpart has,
bar a few trailers for other films featuring some of the film's stars and
a fullscreen option (so no loss there). Don't forget though that we actually
get the film in its correct ratio. It's also pleasing to see so many extras
and the amount of effort that's gone into a DVD that's essentially a
back-catalogue title, when they are usually given the short shrift.
As for the price, that's still a thorny issue since Fox still insist on
charging over twenty quid. However, it seems the December titles, all of which
are also back-catalogue titles, will be now reduced to a penny under that
amount. If you can get this title for around this price, it's definitely worth
a purchase.
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
