Watcher
09-11-2001, 08:52 PM
<I><B>WARNER HOME VIDEO </I></b>
<center><b>
<h2> PACIFIC HEIGHTS</h2>
Release Date:</b> November 05, 2001.
<B>Warner Home Video.</B>
<b>Rating:</b> MA15+
<B>RRP:</b> $29.95</center>
<UL><b>Special features and specs…..</b>
<LI> Trailer.
<LI><B>NTSC</B> Transfer.
<LI>Languages in Dolby Digital Surround :English 5.1/ French 2.0
<LI>No subtitles.
<LI>Aspect: 16:9 (1.85:1)
<LI>Running Time; 102 Mins.
<LI>Dual Layer</UL>
<b>Cast…</b>Michael Keaton, Matthew Modine, Melanie Griffith, Mako, Laurie Metcalf .
<center><B>From the back cover….</b></center>
<B>They wanted a tenant in the worst way. And that's what they got.</b>
<I>Patty and Drake want their downstairs tenant to pay the rent. He won't. They want him to leave. He won't. And the tenant, a sociopathic scam artist, has made sure he has the law on his side.
"Check All References" may be a landlord credo, and in the case of this jolting cat-and-mouse thriller, the references are impeccable. Melanie Griffith and Matthew Modine play the over-mortgaged couple whose hope of keeping their renovated Victorian dream home depends on leasing the downstairs. Michael Keaton is Carter Hayes, a frighteningly dangerous nightmare who's out to claim the house for himself. And John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy) directs, lifting Pacific Heights to unsettling heights of palpable suspense.</i>
<b>Audio/Visual….</b>
This is yet another Warner <B>NTSC</b> Region 4 release. Viewers will need televisions that are able to display a <B>NTSC</b> picture.
The movie is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect and is 19:9 enhanced.
The first thing I noticed about this DVD version of Pacific Heights was that the colours are very pale throughout the whole movie and having a <B>NTSC</B> transfer doesn't help things.
There are no real bright and vibrant colours to be seen, but the blacks did look good though.
The rest of the image quality wasn't bad actually with minor blemishes showing here and there, but the image still came across as smooth and clean for most of the movie.
I opted for the English DD 5.1 audio option and found myself checking my set up to make sure that I was watching the movie with 5.1 audio. It's not the best 5.1 mix, that's for sure.
All speakers are used (barely), but the centre and mains seem to do most of the work with the rears giving the occasional surround effect, but the basically echoing sounds from the front at times at a very low level. There are sound effects to the left and right of the front soundstage, but nothing spectacular.
The sub makes a quick low level thud with some of the more robust screen activity and when a dor may slam shut, but that's about it and you won't be blown out of your chair by this movie.
Speech is understandable and at an acceptable level and there is a nice score with this movie that is mixed well and does utilise all speakers (the sub would be the least used though).
<B>Extra features…..</b>
<LI><I> Trailer.</i> - 4:3 trailer with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio, and that it for the extras.
No other Extra features are available and you just have the main menu with chapter selection, audio selection and no subtitles I'm afraid.
<B>Overall…..</b>
Well, the video and audio aren't the best, the DVD is in <B>NTSC</b> and there's a major lack of extra features. The DVD has a trailer, but it's hardly a stand out extra feature. Fans of the movie should enjoy it though.
As for the movie...
It's basically a story about a young couple who put all they have into buying a big house in San Fransisco, touching it up and then having to rely on renting a couple of apartments downstairs to be able to pay it off.
That's fine until one of their tenants turns out to be a scam artist who's very good at what he does and...
Well, you'll have to watch the movie to find out.
I actually like this movie and enjoyed watching it again.Acting was good and I couldn't pick any faults there. Pacific Heights moves along at a good pace and doesn't get dull as there's always something happening that makes things even more frustrating for the landlords.
This would be a good movie to hire if you haven't seen it already as I don't think the performances and story will disappoint.
Buying it is an option if you like the movie for what it is and can live with lack of extra features and the quality of the audio and visuals.
As for this being a good or bad DVD overall, I'd say it was borderline, as the movie itself saved it from being bad overall.
Thanks for reading…
<center><b>
<h2> PACIFIC HEIGHTS</h2>
Release Date:</b> November 05, 2001.
<B>Warner Home Video.</B>
<b>Rating:</b> MA15+
<B>RRP:</b> $29.95</center>
<UL><b>Special features and specs…..</b>
<LI> Trailer.
<LI><B>NTSC</B> Transfer.
<LI>Languages in Dolby Digital Surround :English 5.1/ French 2.0
<LI>No subtitles.
<LI>Aspect: 16:9 (1.85:1)
<LI>Running Time; 102 Mins.
<LI>Dual Layer</UL>
<b>Cast…</b>Michael Keaton, Matthew Modine, Melanie Griffith, Mako, Laurie Metcalf .
<center><B>From the back cover….</b></center>
<B>They wanted a tenant in the worst way. And that's what they got.</b>
<I>Patty and Drake want their downstairs tenant to pay the rent. He won't. They want him to leave. He won't. And the tenant, a sociopathic scam artist, has made sure he has the law on his side.
"Check All References" may be a landlord credo, and in the case of this jolting cat-and-mouse thriller, the references are impeccable. Melanie Griffith and Matthew Modine play the over-mortgaged couple whose hope of keeping their renovated Victorian dream home depends on leasing the downstairs. Michael Keaton is Carter Hayes, a frighteningly dangerous nightmare who's out to claim the house for himself. And John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy) directs, lifting Pacific Heights to unsettling heights of palpable suspense.</i>
<b>Audio/Visual….</b>
This is yet another Warner <B>NTSC</b> Region 4 release. Viewers will need televisions that are able to display a <B>NTSC</b> picture.
The movie is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect and is 19:9 enhanced.
The first thing I noticed about this DVD version of Pacific Heights was that the colours are very pale throughout the whole movie and having a <B>NTSC</B> transfer doesn't help things.
There are no real bright and vibrant colours to be seen, but the blacks did look good though.
The rest of the image quality wasn't bad actually with minor blemishes showing here and there, but the image still came across as smooth and clean for most of the movie.
I opted for the English DD 5.1 audio option and found myself checking my set up to make sure that I was watching the movie with 5.1 audio. It's not the best 5.1 mix, that's for sure.
All speakers are used (barely), but the centre and mains seem to do most of the work with the rears giving the occasional surround effect, but the basically echoing sounds from the front at times at a very low level. There are sound effects to the left and right of the front soundstage, but nothing spectacular.
The sub makes a quick low level thud with some of the more robust screen activity and when a dor may slam shut, but that's about it and you won't be blown out of your chair by this movie.
Speech is understandable and at an acceptable level and there is a nice score with this movie that is mixed well and does utilise all speakers (the sub would be the least used though).
<B>Extra features…..</b>
<LI><I> Trailer.</i> - 4:3 trailer with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio, and that it for the extras.
No other Extra features are available and you just have the main menu with chapter selection, audio selection and no subtitles I'm afraid.
<B>Overall…..</b>
Well, the video and audio aren't the best, the DVD is in <B>NTSC</b> and there's a major lack of extra features. The DVD has a trailer, but it's hardly a stand out extra feature. Fans of the movie should enjoy it though.
As for the movie...
It's basically a story about a young couple who put all they have into buying a big house in San Fransisco, touching it up and then having to rely on renting a couple of apartments downstairs to be able to pay it off.
That's fine until one of their tenants turns out to be a scam artist who's very good at what he does and...
Well, you'll have to watch the movie to find out.
I actually like this movie and enjoyed watching it again.Acting was good and I couldn't pick any faults there. Pacific Heights moves along at a good pace and doesn't get dull as there's always something happening that makes things even more frustrating for the landlords.
This would be a good movie to hire if you haven't seen it already as I don't think the performances and story will disappoint.
Buying it is an option if you like the movie for what it is and can live with lack of extra features and the quality of the audio and visuals.
As for this being a good or bad DVD overall, I'd say it was borderline, as the movie itself saved it from being bad overall.
Thanks for reading…