| This Week's Highlights |
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analysis w/e 14.5.11 |
DVDs out 9.5.11 |
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@ DVDfever Youtube |
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May 11 2011 
DVDfever co uk
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Producers:
Screenplay:
Music:
Cast:
Shannon: Nicole Kidman (Batman Forever, The Berlin Diaries 1940-45, Billy Bathgate, Days of Thunder, Emerald City, Eyes Wide Shut, Far And Away, Flirting, Malice, My Life, The Peacemaker, Portrait of a Lady, To Die For) Stephen: Thomas Gibson (Love and Human Remains, Sleep with Me) Christie: Robert Prosky (Last Action Hero, Miracle on 34th Street) Kelly: Colm Meaney (Con Air, The Commitments, The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill But Came Down A Mountain, The Last Of The High Kings, The Snapper, The Van, War Of The Buttons, TV: Scarlett, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Gen eration) Colm: Steven O'Donnell (TV: Bottom)
Far And Away was the second film that husband-and-wife team, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman made together following 1990's Days of Thunder and preceeding Kubrick's final work, Eyes Wide Shut and was directed by Ron Howard: ex-Happy Days star, and director of several films including the Mel Gibson starrer, Ransom. The film opens in the West Coast of Ireland, 1892, where the poor tenant farmers are seeking to take matters into their own hands as the landlords put up their land rent again. Cruise is Joseph Donelly, one of these farmers, whose father dies, and incensed with rage after the landlord's men set fire to his house while the funeral takes place, he sets off with the intention to kill the landlord, but instead finds himself taking a shine to the landlord's daughter, Shannon, played by Nicole Kidman, and accompanying her to America in a quest for a piece of land to which every American inhabitant is entitled to. Once in Boston, and posing as brother and sister, Joseph seeks accommodation while turning out to be a natural at bare-fisted boxing, but after constant arguing, they are thrown out. Just as they realise they are made for each other, events beyond their control tear them apart. Later on, while working on the railroad, Joseph remembers his goal to own a piece of land, and in the midst of planning his strategy he comes across Shannon, back with her former fiancee... When the Oklahoma land rush begins, will they find a way to get back together and join the search for the land which brought them together in the first place?
Tom Cruise gives a fine performance as always, as the Irish farmer, putting on a very strong accent, while Nicole Kidman does marginally better than she does in most films she's appeared in as the love interest, swapping her own Australian tongue for the Irish. It's interesting to note that early on, when Kidman checks underneath the bowl covering Cruise's modesty, her look of surprise as she lifts it is a genuine one, as in reality she thought he'd have pants on underneath....but he didn't. It's also interesting, if not bizarre that this film was one of the very few to be released on widescreen video to rent, but not to buy. Considering that it's very rare for a rental shop to order a widescreen copy when available, it's unsurprising that I never came across it, and the price of this DVD is approximately four times cheaper than that tape would have cost...
Picture quality is very good indeed, the 2.35:1 Panavision frame essential for all of Howard's panoramic compositions. There are some flecks on the print and it's not perfect all of the time, but any faults are only really noticeable if you're watching too closely. Everything should look fine from the usual viewing distance. The film is presented anamorphically to give an improved image and the average bitrate is a very good 7.64Mb/s, often peaking over 9Mb/s. The sound is available in Dolby Digital 5.1 for English only while the rest get surround or basic stereo. The surround sound is mainly used for ambience and spot effects, but John Williams turns in an atmospheric score and the song played of the closing credits is Enya's Book Of Days, used for a car commercial at the time. Where is she now?
Extras :
Chapters and trailer :There's only 16 chapters here to cover the 134-minute film, the usual for a Universal film released through Columbia, which certainly isn't enough compared to the PAL Laserdisc's 30. The original theatrical trailer is included though.
Languages and Subtitles :Dolby Digital 5.1 for English alone; Dolby Surround for the French, German, Italian and Spanish; but the Polish and Czech communities get basic stereo. Subtitles can be seen in English, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish and Portuguese.
Filmographies, Biographies and Production Notes:Extensive biographies with accompanying filmographies are available for the husband and wife couple, plus director Ron Howard. A few pages of production notes give some background info on the film.
Menu :Similar to most Universal releases, the menu is static and silent with a picture mirroring the cover on the main menu.
An excellent film with a picture and sound quality that are the best they're going to be. Like most of the Universal-thru-Columbia output though, it only has a handful of extras and could use many more. The Americans get nothing more on their Region 1 disc though.
A review of the PAL Laserdisc can be found HERE. Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2000.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B 37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier. PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
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