Watcher
06-12-2001, 11:25 AM
<I><B>MAGNA PACIFIC </I></b>
<center><b>
<h2>THE LIGHTHORSEMEN</h2>
Release Date:</b> OUT NOW!.
<B>MAGNA PACIFIC </B>
<b>Rating:</b> PG</center>
<center><UL><b>Special features and specs…..</b></center>
<LI> Cast Biographies.
<LI>Behind The Cameras (slide show).
<li> Making The Lighthorsemen (slide show).
<LI>The Horses (slide show).
<LI>English language in Dolby Digital 5.1, English dts5.1.
<LI>Aspect: 1.78:1 widescreen 16:9 Enhanced.
<LI>Running Time: Approx 124 Mins.</UL>
<center><b>Cast…</b></center>
Jon Blake, Peter Phelps, Tony Bonner, Bill Kerr, Gary Sweet, Sigrid Thornton.
<center><B>From the back cover….</b></center>
<B>THEY DID WHAT THEY WERE TOLD...THEY DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE.</B>
<i>A true epic of triumph, courage and adventure, THE LIGHTHORSEMEN focuses on a four-man section of The Australian Light Horses Regiment and climaxes with the last great cavalry charge in history.
1917: The British campaign in Palestine is stalemated - the Turco-German army holds a formidable line from Gaza on the coast to Beersheba in the forbidding drylands between Sinai and the Dead Sea. In a final attempt to save the attacking British Army from disaster, everything depends on the 800 young Australian horsemen who obey the seemingly impossible order to gallop their horses across three miles of open desert into a hell of shell fire and machine gun crossfire. Smashing their way through Turkish defenses to win the precious wells of Beersheba, they change the history of the Middle East.</I>
<center><b>Audio/Visual….</b></center>
THE LIGHTHORSEMEN has two audio tracks. Dolby Digital 5.1 & <B>dts</b> 5.1
I chose to watch the entire feature in <b>dts</b> and then later spend a bit of time comparing it to the DD 5.1 option.
The <B>dts</B> option is definitely the better option and the best way to go, but the differences between the two tracks were not huge overall.
Both tracks have been remastered and a decent enough job has been done of it, but I thought that the center was a bit dominant at times.
The front sound stage is broad with some nice directional sound at times, but then the center seems to slightly dominate with the sound effects coming through this speaker far too often.
Speech is clear, easy to understand and was in sync.
The rears offer very light rear atmospheric sounds such as crickets, chains (keeping horses tied up), various background noises and wind but only occasional give the really active rear effects that grab your attention.
The sub is also used sparingly which was a bit disappointing with all the action from horses hooves, gunfire, explosions etc that really could have given this movie a real audio boost.
Don't get me wrong. The audio on either track is good and offers a good listening environment, but you can't help thinking that it could have been better.
The movie is presented with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen and is 16:9 enhanced.
The quality of the picture is mostly clean from any marks or blemishes. It does suffer from a shimmering effect on various outlines all through the movie and shadow detail can be a bit dodgy at times. Fine grain does show a little as well.
The picture is often sharp and well detailed, but that can change quickly and things can be a bit of a haze sometimes. Colours are good for most of the time and are very acceptable.
The overall picture quality is still good in my opinion, but like the audio, it could have been better.
<center><B>Extra features…..</b></center>
<LI><I>Cast Biographies</i> - Here you have a background picture of the cast member and you are able to read one or two screens of text on their career.
<LI><b><I>Behind The Cameras (slide show)</i></b> - This provides you with screens of text that gives you information on various crew that worked on the movie.
<LI><b><I> Making The Lighthorsemen (slide show).</I></b> - Basically it's more still screens with text that tells you of some of the production problems and dilemmas that the cast and crew had to face. It's mentions a couple of locations and sets and what was involved.
<LI><b><I> The Horses. (slide show).</I></b> - More screens of text, that starts off by telling you a bit about organising horses, riders, training actors etc. This is followed by sketches of equipment and then followed by more screens of text about filming with the horses and their riders.
<center><B>Overall…..</b></center>
THE LIGHTHORSEMEN is an enjoyable movie that is a good account of the charge of the Light Horse Regiment against the Turks and Germans at Beersheba in World War 1.
It's a movie that shows the mateship and larakin element of the Aussies who faced enormous odds while fighting for their country back in the first World war.
Yeah, it's got the occasional cliche but it's still an enjoyable movie that has a good mix of action, humour and drama with a bit of a love story too.
I've always been a fan of Australian movies or mini series of this style and THE LIGHTHORSEMEN is a pretty good effort.
On a sad note, Jon Blake was involved in a very serious car crash just after filming this movie and is still physically and mentally incapacitated to this day.
The DVD itself isn't great due to the audio/visuals being a bit of a let down, but they are still pretty acceptable overall and I don't think this should hold people back from owning this DVD.
Although the extras are a bit light and consist of text based content, I still found them interesting and had some good information about the movie.
THE LIGHTHORSEMEN on DVD is very worthy of renting and should be considered for a purchase by anyone who enjoys this movie.<TABLE WIDTH="90%" ALIGN="center" BORDER="1">
<tr><td><B>VIDEO QUALITY</b> </td><td><B>8/10</b> </td></tr>
<tr><td><B>AUDIO QUALITY</b> </td><td><B>8/10</b> </td></tr>
<tr><td><B>EXTRAS</b> </td><td><B>5/10</b> </td></tr>
<tr><td><B>THE MOVIE</b> </td><td><B>9/10 </b></td></tr>
<tr><td><B>OVERALL</B> </td><td><B>8/10 </b></td></tr></table>
Thanks for reading.....
<center><b>
<h2>THE LIGHTHORSEMEN</h2>
Release Date:</b> OUT NOW!.
<B>MAGNA PACIFIC </B>
<b>Rating:</b> PG</center>
<center><UL><b>Special features and specs…..</b></center>
<LI> Cast Biographies.
<LI>Behind The Cameras (slide show).
<li> Making The Lighthorsemen (slide show).
<LI>The Horses (slide show).
<LI>English language in Dolby Digital 5.1, English dts5.1.
<LI>Aspect: 1.78:1 widescreen 16:9 Enhanced.
<LI>Running Time: Approx 124 Mins.</UL>
<center><b>Cast…</b></center>
Jon Blake, Peter Phelps, Tony Bonner, Bill Kerr, Gary Sweet, Sigrid Thornton.
<center><B>From the back cover….</b></center>
<B>THEY DID WHAT THEY WERE TOLD...THEY DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE.</B>
<i>A true epic of triumph, courage and adventure, THE LIGHTHORSEMEN focuses on a four-man section of The Australian Light Horses Regiment and climaxes with the last great cavalry charge in history.
1917: The British campaign in Palestine is stalemated - the Turco-German army holds a formidable line from Gaza on the coast to Beersheba in the forbidding drylands between Sinai and the Dead Sea. In a final attempt to save the attacking British Army from disaster, everything depends on the 800 young Australian horsemen who obey the seemingly impossible order to gallop their horses across three miles of open desert into a hell of shell fire and machine gun crossfire. Smashing their way through Turkish defenses to win the precious wells of Beersheba, they change the history of the Middle East.</I>
<center><b>Audio/Visual….</b></center>
THE LIGHTHORSEMEN has two audio tracks. Dolby Digital 5.1 & <B>dts</b> 5.1
I chose to watch the entire feature in <b>dts</b> and then later spend a bit of time comparing it to the DD 5.1 option.
The <B>dts</B> option is definitely the better option and the best way to go, but the differences between the two tracks were not huge overall.
Both tracks have been remastered and a decent enough job has been done of it, but I thought that the center was a bit dominant at times.
The front sound stage is broad with some nice directional sound at times, but then the center seems to slightly dominate with the sound effects coming through this speaker far too often.
Speech is clear, easy to understand and was in sync.
The rears offer very light rear atmospheric sounds such as crickets, chains (keeping horses tied up), various background noises and wind but only occasional give the really active rear effects that grab your attention.
The sub is also used sparingly which was a bit disappointing with all the action from horses hooves, gunfire, explosions etc that really could have given this movie a real audio boost.
Don't get me wrong. The audio on either track is good and offers a good listening environment, but you can't help thinking that it could have been better.
The movie is presented with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen and is 16:9 enhanced.
The quality of the picture is mostly clean from any marks or blemishes. It does suffer from a shimmering effect on various outlines all through the movie and shadow detail can be a bit dodgy at times. Fine grain does show a little as well.
The picture is often sharp and well detailed, but that can change quickly and things can be a bit of a haze sometimes. Colours are good for most of the time and are very acceptable.
The overall picture quality is still good in my opinion, but like the audio, it could have been better.
<center><B>Extra features…..</b></center>
<LI><I>Cast Biographies</i> - Here you have a background picture of the cast member and you are able to read one or two screens of text on their career.
<LI><b><I>Behind The Cameras (slide show)</i></b> - This provides you with screens of text that gives you information on various crew that worked on the movie.
<LI><b><I> Making The Lighthorsemen (slide show).</I></b> - Basically it's more still screens with text that tells you of some of the production problems and dilemmas that the cast and crew had to face. It's mentions a couple of locations and sets and what was involved.
<LI><b><I> The Horses. (slide show).</I></b> - More screens of text, that starts off by telling you a bit about organising horses, riders, training actors etc. This is followed by sketches of equipment and then followed by more screens of text about filming with the horses and their riders.
<center><B>Overall…..</b></center>
THE LIGHTHORSEMEN is an enjoyable movie that is a good account of the charge of the Light Horse Regiment against the Turks and Germans at Beersheba in World War 1.
It's a movie that shows the mateship and larakin element of the Aussies who faced enormous odds while fighting for their country back in the first World war.
Yeah, it's got the occasional cliche but it's still an enjoyable movie that has a good mix of action, humour and drama with a bit of a love story too.
I've always been a fan of Australian movies or mini series of this style and THE LIGHTHORSEMEN is a pretty good effort.
On a sad note, Jon Blake was involved in a very serious car crash just after filming this movie and is still physically and mentally incapacitated to this day.
The DVD itself isn't great due to the audio/visuals being a bit of a let down, but they are still pretty acceptable overall and I don't think this should hold people back from owning this DVD.
Although the extras are a bit light and consist of text based content, I still found them interesting and had some good information about the movie.
THE LIGHTHORSEMEN on DVD is very worthy of renting and should be considered for a purchase by anyone who enjoys this movie.<TABLE WIDTH="90%" ALIGN="center" BORDER="1">
<tr><td><B>VIDEO QUALITY</b> </td><td><B>8/10</b> </td></tr>
<tr><td><B>AUDIO QUALITY</b> </td><td><B>8/10</b> </td></tr>
<tr><td><B>EXTRAS</b> </td><td><B>5/10</b> </td></tr>
<tr><td><B>THE MOVIE</b> </td><td><B>9/10 </b></td></tr>
<tr><td><B>OVERALL</B> </td><td><B>8/10 </b></td></tr></table>
Thanks for reading.....