Dom Robinson reviews

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Cert:

Cat.no: 20021 DVD

Running time: 125 minutes

Year: 2000

Pressing: 2001

Region(s): 2, PAL

Chapters: 24 plus extras

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Languages: English

Subtitles: 11 languages available

Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Panavision)

16:9-Enhanced: Yes

Macrovision: Yes

Disc Format: DVD 9

Price: £19.99

Extras: Featurette, Trailer, Biographies, Production Notes, Audio Commentary, Hologram packaging

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Director:

Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future 1-3, Cast Away, Contact, Death Becomes Her, Forest Gump, Macabre, Romancing the Stone, Used Cars, What Lies Beneath, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?)

Producers:

Robert Zemeckis, Steve Starkey and Jack Rapke

Screenplay:

Clark Gregg

Music :

Alan Silvestri

Cast :

Dr. Norman Spencer: Harrison Ford
Claire Spencer: Michelle Pfeiffer
Jody: Diana Scarwid
Dr. Drayton: Joe Morton
Warren Feur: James Remar
Mary Feur: Miranda Otto
Madison Frank: Amber Valletta
Caitlin Spencer: Katharine Towne

What Lies Beneath is a return to the way thrillers used to be made with subtle use of tension and clever sound effects taking the place of cheesy cameos and pop-rock soundtracks that proliferate the genre in most Hollywood output these days.

It's very difficult to discuss the content of the film here without giving anything away, but it's safe to say that a face from the past is about to haunt the lives of scientist Dr. Norman Spencer (Harrison Ford) and his cellist wife Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer). It's really Pfeiffer's movie though as she first begins to suspect the male half of her new neighbours, Warren Feur (James Remar) doing away with his wife Mary (Miranda Otto), but what comes about goes far deeper than that and proves that it is still possible to make a thriller that makes you jump even when you think you've seen it all before.

The two hours you'll spend watching this film are well spent and the film only loses points for not having the most original idea ever written about and being a bit on the ridiculous side on occasion. It seems like an age since Michelle Pfeiffer last made a decent film, stalling along with dull romantic parts in Up Close & Personal and One Fine Day, none of which served to be as convincing as her time in both Frankie & Johnny and The Fabulous Baker Boys.

The other major star of the show is the camera work. Director Robert Zemeckis employs the full width of the 2.35:1 widescreen frame at all times. Shot in Panavision, I dread to think of anyone attempting to watch this in anything less than the original width. To give away the reasons for why Zemeckis and crew have done so well in this field would spoil aspect of the plot, so all I can tell you is that when it appears that what's going on is only taking up one half of the screen, keep one eye on the other side...

Fox have sourced an excellent anamorphic widescreen transfer. I've already highlighted the need for the 2.35:1 ratio and I'm pleased to report there are no artifacts or defects, bar a couple of print flecks I saw at one point that came and went just as quickly, so nothing to complain about. The average bitrate is 6.30Mb/s, occasionally peaking close to 8Mb/s.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack complements the onscreen activity perfectly. There are portions of it which are almost silent, save for atmospheric effects and if you have understanding neighbours then keep the volume slightly higher than normal so you can enjoy the melee when it kicks in.

The extras contain a 2½-minute Trailer (16:9 anamorphic widescreen), a 14-minute Featurette about the making of the film comprising of the usual film clips (16:9 non-anamorphic widescreen) with chat from the cast and crew and takes into account the director's earlier works like Back to the Future and Romancing the Stone.

The Cast and Crew Biographies and Production Notes are standard text-based affairs, the disc also contains a feature-length Director's Commentary and finally, the package comes complete with gorgeous holographic packaging that's very well made.

Sadly, the one thing missing that is on the Region 1 DVD is the DTS 5.1 soundtrack.

The disc contains 24 chapters, the menus are static, contain music from the film and have various images between different menus and the subtitles come in 11 languages: English (for the hard of hearing), Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese and Swedish,

FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS
OVERALL

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2001.