Distributed by
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Cert: R
Cat.no: 2008048
Running time: 81 minutes
Year: 2002
Pressing: 2003
Region(s): 1, NTSC
Chapters: 28
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 (not Spanish)
Languages: English, French, Spanish
Subtitles: English, Spanish
Widescreen: 2.40:1; Fullscreen: 4:3
16:9-Enhanced: Yes
Macrovision: Yes
Disc Format: DVD 10
Price: $27.98
Extras:
Audio Commentary, Trailers
Director:
Joel Schumacher
Screenplay:
Larry Cohen
Cast:
Stu Shepard: Colin Farrell
Pam: Katie Holmes
Kelly: Radha Mitchell
Captain Ramey: Forest Whitaker
The Caller: Kiefer Sutherland
Phone Booth has had a chequered past.
As filming wrapped up the
original voice of the sniper was replaced with Kiefer Sutherland. Then
real life sniper attacks occurred in Washington D.C. before the film's
release in November 2002 prompting Fox to hold back.
Then the film was released on April 4, 2003 and went to the top of the
box office. And now it hits DVD on July 8, 2003. Guess Fox dialed
1-800-GetCashQuick.
Our film begins with seedy publicist, Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell)
working his magic. He promises things he won't deliver and even scalps
Brittney Spears tickets. He makes a trip to a phone booth (oddly the
last remaining in New York City as we're told earlier) to secretly call
a possible mistress (Katie Holmes). But someone calls him as he is
leaving. It's a man claiming to have a sniper rifle aimed at our
anti-hero's head!
The sniper further complicates the situation by gunning down a pimp in
the street to show Stu he's not joking. The denizens passing by (not to
mention the really pissed off hookers) call the police claiming Stu shot
him. Now Stu must deal with a hostile police shodown and a meniacal
madman who's wreaking havoc on his life.
What follows is a tense and tight thriller that's very entertaining to
watch unfold. Colin Farrell delivers quite possibly the best role in his
career (so far) as a man fighting against impossible odds. Katie Holmes,
Forest Whitaker, and especially Kiefer Sutherland as the sniper (don't
cry spoiler just yet - how could you not recognize his voice?) each
deliver great performances.
Director Joel Shumacher redeems himself after the last 'Batman' debacles
with a relentlessly paced and interesting thriller worth watching for
the performances alone. The only complaint I have is with the lackluster
ending but this doesn't detract from the overall effect of the film. See
it. Now.
Stu plays it cool when the pressure's on.
Phone Booth is offered in anamorphic 2.40:1 widescreen and a horribly,
horribly (horribly) butchered pan & scan version on this double-sided DVD.
Obviously I watched the widescreen version. There really isn't much
negativity in this transfer. Schumacher uses subdued blues and gritty
colors to a great effect and the transfer shows no defects. Overall a
great transfer.
On a side note. Fox has placed the pan & scan transfer on side one with
a label that reads FULLSCREEN VERSION... WIDESCREEN VERSION ON
FLIP-SIDE. The widescreen version gets no label of it's own so when you
open the case it's going to look as if you've got a blank CD in there.
Talk about cheap.
The audio offers nothing to complain about as well. The track is
presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. This is a dialogue centered film but the
surround channels are used from time to time. Everything is clearly
audible throughout.
Now here's where the disc falls flat on it's face. The film was shot for
$15 million so maybe little supplemental material was filmed. But you
mean to tell me that this film is 81 minutes long and there wasn't one
deleted scene? Here's all we get:
Audio Commentary:
Director Joel Schumacher provides a slightly
interesting commentary. I tend to prefer tracks with at least two people
so you get a broader scope of a film.
Theatrical Trailers:
The trailer for 'Phone Booth' is presented in
non-anamorphic widescreen. Another trailer for "Garage Days" is also
there in non-anamorphic. That films looks like... well garbage I guess.
That's it. No deleted scenes, no making of-featurette, and no alternate
audio track with the original sniper. So many missed opportunities.
Katie Holmes - yum!
Packaging is amaray with a slightly modified version of the film's
theatrical poster as the cover. There are 28 chapter stops and the menus
feature music from the film.
Overall I can still recommend 'Phone Booth' as a must see. It's a great
film and it stands up to repeat viewings if only to see the great
performances. The video and audio is great but the bonus features
department leaves much to be desired. Recommended.
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:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
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
