Staff Review - Don't Say A Word [Archive]

Watcher

16-04-2002, 11:10 PM

ROADSHOW ENTERTAINMENT 
<center>
<h2>DON'T SAY A WORD </h2>

Release Date: Out now.
Roadshow Entertainment
Rating: MA 15+
RRP: $ 39.95

<UL>SPECIAL FEATURES AND SPECS:</center>
<LI> Audio Commentary with Director - Gary Fleder
<LI> Scene Specific Actor's Audio Commentaries (10)
<LI>Cinema Master Class: Pre-Production/ Production/ Post-Production.
<LI>Deleted Scenes -(3)
<LI> Making Of Featurette.
<LI>Vital Statistics: Cast & Crew
<LI> English subtitles for the hearing impaired
<LI>English language in Dolby Digital 5.1 (Audio Commentary in DD 2.0)
<LI>Aspect: 2.35:1 Widescreen 16:9 Enhanced
<LI>Running Time:108.56 Mins.</UL>

<center>CAST:</center>
Michael Douglas, Brittany Murphy, Sean Bean, Guy Torry, Jennifer Esposito, Famke Janssen, Oliver Platt
Directed by:Gary Fleder.

<center>FROM THE BACK COVER:</center>
“You want what they want, don’t you…I’ll never tell…any of you”
These are the haunting first words the near catatonic young patient utters to psychologist Dr Nathan Conrad (Douglas).
Her name is Elizabeth and she has been institutionalized for over a decade…but now she has viciously battered a man to near death; and unless someone can break through to her she will be locked away in an asylum forever.
Conrad senses more than just meaningless ramblings coming from this disturbed young woman – she is hiding something from deep in her past – and the sheer terror of it is about to consume her.

But what this young girl knows will cut Conrad to the core and tear his family apart.
His daughter has just been kidnapped and it is linked to the secret Elizabeth holds. What is the connection? Who is behind it? How can he break through her psychosis to reveal the truth?

Then the kidnappers call him with the ominous instructions “Don’t Say A Word”. Dark, gripping and totally unpredictable, this is a thriller that will make your heart pounce and your skin crawl. 

<center>AUDIO/VISUAL:</center>
Audio
The main feature is provided with an outstanding Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack.
All speakers are used to great effect in this movie and work well together to easily give the viewer a feeling of immersion in the entire sound field.
The rears provide plenty of surround effects that range from simple and subtle sounds such as background noise in many scenes that give a good sense of location up the more dramatic outbursts of surround activity such as a train speeding past or a helicopter buzzing around overhead.
The sub is also used in a similar fashion and this is another reason why the audio in this movie can't be faulted.
There are no problems with understanding dialogue and sync isn't a problem either.
Music is used very well in Don't Say A Word and it helps to heighten the tension and dramatic feel of the movie.
The audio commentary with Director Gary Fleder has a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Video
Don't Say A Word has an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 widescreen and is 16:9 enhanced.
I've lost count of the number of recent release movies that I've seen on DVD in recent times, but what I do remember is that Roadshow have been very consistent with providing DVDs containing superb transfers of their more recent release movies. Well, Don't Say A Word is yet another Roadshow Entertainment title that looks superb.
The picture is sharp, offers plenty of detail and shows no signs of grain.
In fact, there are very little (if any) problems with picture quality and I didn't notice anything that will stand out enough to disappoint viewers.
The movie has a dark feel to it and the choice of darker (or even murky) colours reflect this feeling well. Colours and flesh tones look realistic and the more dimly lit scenes hold up well.
The very brief layer change is at 34.02 and happens as the picture cuts from one scene to the next.

<center>EXTRA FEATURES:</center>
Audio Commentary by Director Gary Fleder -
He gives plenty of scene by scene descriptions making comments on the actor/actress playing the role, set design, locations and more. He uses references to other movies that influenced him in the making of Don't Say A Word. He offers little bits of trivia such as the fact that the organisers of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade would not give him permission to shoot the actual parade so they had to recreate it themselves in Canada.
The commentary is definitely very informative and is also enjoyable to listen to. It does have a couple of slight pauses here and there but when he comes back it is always with something the is worthy to listen to.
Scene Specific Actor's Commentaries -
Here you will find Actor commentaries for particular scene throughout the movie.
The commentaries provided are as follows:<ul>
<li>Michael Douglas - First Meeting (4.09 minute commentary of Nathan Conrad's first meeting with Elizabeth) and Lost Child (7.11 minute commentary of the scene in which Conrad first realises his daughter is missing).
<li>Sean Bean - The Heist (6.48 minute commentary of the opening credits and the heist) and The Trench (3.11 minute commentary of the trench scene at the end of the movie.)
<li>Famke Janssen - The Phone Call (2.11 minute commentary of the scene where she tries to use the Cell) and Escape (3.46 minute commentary of Aggie's escape)
<li>Brittany Murphy - Connection (3.11 minute commentary of the scene in which Conrad goes to Elizabeth with the box of toys) and Subway Nightmare (4.51 minute commentary of the Subway scene)
<li>Oliver Platt - Office Intrusion (2.43 minute commentary of the scene in which Conrad takes over Dr Saks' office) and Confrontation (2.47 minute commentary of the scene between Dr Saks and the Detective Cassidy.)</ul>
Deleted Scenes -
The 3 Deleted Scenes available on this DVD are as follows:<ul>
<li>Scene 37 - Bridgeview Psychiatric Hallway which runs for 0.52 minutes.
<li>Scene 91 - Conrad Bedroom-Aggie Email Scene which runs for 0.54 minutes.
<li>Scene 244 - Warehouse Anteroom which runs for 1.10 minutes.</ul>
Each of these 3 deleted scenes is presented in widescreen with Dolby 2.0 audio.
Making Of Featurette -
This 7.36 minute contains clips from the movie as well as interview snippets of Michael Douglas, Conrad Goode, Jeffrey Downer(Executive Producer), Gary Fleder(Director), Shawn Doyle, Famke Janssen, Skye McCole Bartusiak, Arnold Kopelson(Producer),
These interview Snippets cover a range of subjects from casting decisions, character and story development, the cast and crews vision of what the movie should be and more.
This featurette which is presented in widescreen with Dolby 2.0 audio was not only interesting to watch but was enjoyable as well and I recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the movie.
Vital Statistics: Cast & Crew -
This feature provides you with film & television credits for the 5 main cast members and
3 crew members. You have a background picture of the cast/crew member and you are
able to read between three and six screens of text on their career including list of film credits.
Cinema Master Class: Pre-Production -
The 3 different segments to be found in this Pre-Production feature are as follows: <ul>
<li>Screen Test: Brittany Murphy - This segment runs for 6.13 minutes and starts off with an introduction by Director Gary Fleder then starts into a scene with Michael Douglas and Brittany Murphy. It is presented in widescreen with Dolby 2.0 audio.
<li>Storyboard To Scene Comparisons -
There are 2 comparisons available here which are:
The Bank Heist which runs for 5.08 minutes and Potter's Field which runs for 4.36 minutes.
Basically this feature is presented like a split scene effect.
The top of the screen shows the storyboards and the bottom show the finished film. As the film progresses through the scene so do the storyboards.
This is a very cool feature to watch as you get to see how close the finished movie resembles the initial idea out on paper.
<li>Producing Workshop with the Kopelsons -
This 7.14 minute segment is basically a sit down interview with Anne and Arnold Kopelson in which they describe how they see the job of the producer, the difference between a producer and "Executive" Producer, what they did to bring Don't Say A word to life on screen and more.</ul>
Cinema Master Class: Production -
The 3 different segments to be found in this Production feature are as follows: <ul>
<li>You Are There -
In this section you will have access to 3 more segments in which Director Gary Fleder talks about different Production sequences such as design and editing. These segments are represented by behind the scenes shots of shooting in the different locations.
The Hospital scene which runs for 2.47minutes has Fleder talking about the gothic design style of the set. The Subway scene which runs for 2.17minutes has Fleder talking about the filming and editing process and The Dock scene which runs for 2.24 minute has Fleder talking about battling the elements
When trying to make a movie.
<li>Screening Room Dailies: Aggie Escapes -
Here you will find a selection of 9 different angles of the same scene in which Aggie Escapes. There is also an option to watch the completed scene in which the different angles are all cut together.
<li>Set Tour with Production Designer Nelson Coates -
This is a 5.29 minute tour Production Designer Nelson Coates of the Conrad family's apartment, the subway and Potter's Field. He discusses the different locations and how they were created to give the best effect for the movie.
</ul>
Cinema Master Class: Post-Production -
The 3 different segments to be found in this Post-Production feature are as follows: <ul>
<li>Conversation with Director Gary Fleder -
This is a 6.44 minute "conversation" with Director Gary Fleder in which he discusses many thing including Acting styles, the different actors in the movie and what they bring to the movie, Pre-Production, staging scenes, Advice he would give to wannabe filmmakers,
<li>Thriller Themes - This is a 5.05 minute segment in which Director Gary Fleder talks for the first minute or so about the music score and how it relates to the movie. The remaining minutes are taken up by a split screen in which the top half shows the musical score being developed (in the mixing room, orchestra etc) and the bottom half shows clips from the movie.
<li>Inside A Scene: Trench Sequence -
This is a very quick segment which runs for 1.39 minutes has Gary Fleder talking about the use of Pre Visualisation in the Trench scene. After his introduction the screen splits into 3 sections the top half contains the story board and the final cut of the scene and the bottom half contains the Pre Vis computer generated scene. </ul>

<center>OVERALL:</center>
Don't Say A Word is an enjoyable thriller with a solid performance from Michael Douglas and the support cast.
The DVD version of this movie offers a superb audio/visual transfer that really does do this format justice. There is a swag of extra features provided to extend the enjoyment of this DVD, but many may find the majority of them to be a tad tedious and only worthy of a once off viewing (unlike the main feature).
Don't Say A Word is out now and has a RRP of $39.95.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" ALIGN="center" BORDER="1">
<tr><td><center>Rating out of 5</center> </td>
<tr><td>VIDEO QUALITY </td><td>4.5 </td></tr>
<tr><td>AUDIO QUALITY </td><td>4.5 </td></tr>
<tr><td>EXTRAS </td><td>4 </td></tr>
<tr><td>THE MOVIE </td><td>4.5 </td></tr>
<tr><td>OVERALL </td><td>4.5 </td></tr></table>