MrMacabre
11-06-2003, 08:25 PM
<I><B>Roadshow</I>
<center>
<h2>The Wisdom of Crocodiles</h2>
Release Date: Out now.
Rating: MA 15+
RRP: Rental Only
<UL>DISC FEATURES AND SPECS:</b></center>
<LI>Trailer
<LI>Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0
<LI>Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Widescreen
<LI>Running Time: 95 minutes</UL>
<center><b>CAST:</b></center>
Jude Law, Elina Lowensohn, Timothy Spall
<b>DIRECTED BY: </b> Po Chih Leong
<center><B>FROM THE BACK COVER: </b></center>
<i>Stephen Griscz (JUDE LAW, A.I., The Road To Perdition) is a man with everything: looks, career and fatal charm. But for the women who fall for him, love comes at the ultimate cost. Needing to feed off their blood to stay alive, Stephne must seduce, and at the height of passion slay, to stay alive. When he meets Anne (ELINA LOWENSOHN, Schindler's List, Nadja) Stephen has for the first time met an equal. her attraction is obvious but she will make him pursue her to the bitter end. With a gory trail of tragic death behind him, police are in close pursuit and with the quest for Anne's love killing him, it is only a matter of time till someone must die.</i>
<center><b>MY COMMENTS:</b></center>
<b>The Wisdom Of Crocodiles</b>... <i>what a stupid name for a movie!!</i>.
Yep, that's what I was thinking too & the look of the cover also didn't excite me. However, very surprisingly, I actually enjoyed this film a fair deal. Not your average 'vampire' movie (though I am quite sure Jude is not referred to as such), the film was unexpectedly deep and interesting, with a soothing music score that really adds to many of the dramatic scenes of the film.
I don't want to explain too much about this film as I believe it better to go into it with your eyes closed like I did. So below I have reviewed this film without giving away any key plot points or spoilers [that you wouldn't see coming anyway!].
<center><b>AUDIO/VISUAL:</b></center>
Audio:
Presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, this audio mix is more than adequate for this film. Not a film that lends itself to a fully fledged 5.1 mix, the rears weren't missed during the film with the front speakers handling all the action.
Dialogue was clear and easy to understand & effects were clear and uncompromised. A suitable mix indeed.
Video:
Now here's a confusing issue - the Aspect Ratio of this film. Personally I consider DVD to be the perfect medium to present films in their Original Aspect Ratio, so it baffles me to this day why this is not capitalised upon by some studios. However, with that said I am not sure whether this is the case or not.
<b>The Wisdom Of Crocodiles</b> opens in 1.85:1, but come the end of the opening credits, the transfer reverts to 4:3. Now, the back cover states that 1.33:1 is the Original Theatrical Ratio, however presenting the credits in widescreen then reverting to full frame is usually the tell-tale sign of pan & scanning; as the original ratio is usually kept in the credits to revert chopping off parts of the on-screen names. So how does one decide which is the correct ratio?
Bar that confusion, the overall picture quality of the transfer was quite good and obviously better than it's VHS counterpart. Colours were reasonably clear, with only a small amount of aliasing noticable on a pinstripe jacket.
There are occasional scenes where grain is present, but is not particularly overpowering and shouldn't deter too much from the viewing experience.
<center><B>EXTRA FEATURES:</b></center>
Trailer - Non 16:9; Dolby 2.0
A well-compiled trailer that makes the film look reasonably appealing. The slightly metal-based background music reacts well with the jump cuts and editing that comes with a standard trailer. The video quality was rather grainy which suggests that this film was not recently made [I'm currently having trouble finding a year of production], but the audio quality was fine.
<center><B>MY MEMORABLE MOMENT FROM THIS DVD:</b></center>
Jude Law kicking the crap out of a bunch of British street punks. Found it reasonably well choreographed and entertaining.
<center><B>OVERALL:</b></center>
Expecting this film to be absolute rubbish, I actually found the film enjoyable. The title isn't really one that jumps out at you, but they always say not to judge a book (or DVD) by it's cover! Jude Law is quite good as the tormented yet suave Vampire [though that's not really the correct terminology to use] and the lead actress (who I haven't seen before) was also quite believable as the lover who is reluctant yet drawn to the mystique of Jude.
A surprisingly good movie recommended for a rental or possibly a blind purchase; price depensive of course!
<b>The Wisdom Of Crocodiles</b> is Out Now & is a RENTAL ONLY release at this stage.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" ALIGN="center" BORDER="1">
<tr><td><B><center>Rating out of 5</b></center> </b> </td>
<tr><td><B>VIDEO QUALITY</b> </td><td><B>3</b> </td></tr>
<tr><td><B>AUDIO QUALITY</b> </td><td><B>3.5</b> </td></tr>
<tr><td><B>EXTRAS</b> </td><td><B>0.5</b> </td></tr>
<tr><td><B>THE MOVIE</b> </td><td><B>4 </b></td></tr>
<tr><td><B>OVERALL</B> </td><td><B>3</b></td></tr></table>
- DARRAN H
http://www.region4dvd.net/darranh.GIF
<center>
<h2>The Wisdom of Crocodiles</h2>
Release Date: Out now.
Rating: MA 15+
RRP: Rental Only
<UL>DISC FEATURES AND SPECS:</b></center>
<LI>Trailer
<LI>Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0
<LI>Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Widescreen
<LI>Running Time: 95 minutes</UL>
<center><b>CAST:</b></center>
Jude Law, Elina Lowensohn, Timothy Spall
<b>DIRECTED BY: </b> Po Chih Leong
<center><B>FROM THE BACK COVER: </b></center>
<i>Stephen Griscz (JUDE LAW, A.I., The Road To Perdition) is a man with everything: looks, career and fatal charm. But for the women who fall for him, love comes at the ultimate cost. Needing to feed off their blood to stay alive, Stephne must seduce, and at the height of passion slay, to stay alive. When he meets Anne (ELINA LOWENSOHN, Schindler's List, Nadja) Stephen has for the first time met an equal. her attraction is obvious but she will make him pursue her to the bitter end. With a gory trail of tragic death behind him, police are in close pursuit and with the quest for Anne's love killing him, it is only a matter of time till someone must die.</i>
<center><b>MY COMMENTS:</b></center>
<b>The Wisdom Of Crocodiles</b>... <i>what a stupid name for a movie!!</i>.
Yep, that's what I was thinking too & the look of the cover also didn't excite me. However, very surprisingly, I actually enjoyed this film a fair deal. Not your average 'vampire' movie (though I am quite sure Jude is not referred to as such), the film was unexpectedly deep and interesting, with a soothing music score that really adds to many of the dramatic scenes of the film.
I don't want to explain too much about this film as I believe it better to go into it with your eyes closed like I did. So below I have reviewed this film without giving away any key plot points or spoilers [that you wouldn't see coming anyway!].
<center><b>AUDIO/VISUAL:</b></center>
Audio:
Presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, this audio mix is more than adequate for this film. Not a film that lends itself to a fully fledged 5.1 mix, the rears weren't missed during the film with the front speakers handling all the action.
Dialogue was clear and easy to understand & effects were clear and uncompromised. A suitable mix indeed.
Video:
Now here's a confusing issue - the Aspect Ratio of this film. Personally I consider DVD to be the perfect medium to present films in their Original Aspect Ratio, so it baffles me to this day why this is not capitalised upon by some studios. However, with that said I am not sure whether this is the case or not.
<b>The Wisdom Of Crocodiles</b> opens in 1.85:1, but come the end of the opening credits, the transfer reverts to 4:3. Now, the back cover states that 1.33:1 is the Original Theatrical Ratio, however presenting the credits in widescreen then reverting to full frame is usually the tell-tale sign of pan & scanning; as the original ratio is usually kept in the credits to revert chopping off parts of the on-screen names. So how does one decide which is the correct ratio?
Bar that confusion, the overall picture quality of the transfer was quite good and obviously better than it's VHS counterpart. Colours were reasonably clear, with only a small amount of aliasing noticable on a pinstripe jacket.
There are occasional scenes where grain is present, but is not particularly overpowering and shouldn't deter too much from the viewing experience.
<center><B>EXTRA FEATURES:</b></center>
Trailer - Non 16:9; Dolby 2.0
A well-compiled trailer that makes the film look reasonably appealing. The slightly metal-based background music reacts well with the jump cuts and editing that comes with a standard trailer. The video quality was rather grainy which suggests that this film was not recently made [I'm currently having trouble finding a year of production], but the audio quality was fine.
<center><B>MY MEMORABLE MOMENT FROM THIS DVD:</b></center>
Jude Law kicking the crap out of a bunch of British street punks. Found it reasonably well choreographed and entertaining.
<center><B>OVERALL:</b></center>
Expecting this film to be absolute rubbish, I actually found the film enjoyable. The title isn't really one that jumps out at you, but they always say not to judge a book (or DVD) by it's cover! Jude Law is quite good as the tormented yet suave Vampire [though that's not really the correct terminology to use] and the lead actress (who I haven't seen before) was also quite believable as the lover who is reluctant yet drawn to the mystique of Jude.
A surprisingly good movie recommended for a rental or possibly a blind purchase; price depensive of course!
<b>The Wisdom Of Crocodiles</b> is Out Now & is a RENTAL ONLY release at this stage.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" ALIGN="center" BORDER="1">
<tr><td><B><center>Rating out of 5</b></center> </b> </td>
<tr><td><B>VIDEO QUALITY</b> </td><td><B>3</b> </td></tr>
<tr><td><B>AUDIO QUALITY</b> </td><td><B>3.5</b> </td></tr>
<tr><td><B>EXTRAS</b> </td><td><B>0.5</b> </td></tr>
<tr><td><B>THE MOVIE</b> </td><td><B>4 </b></td></tr>
<tr><td><B>OVERALL</B> </td><td><B>3</b></td></tr></table>
- DARRAN H
http://www.region4dvd.net/darranh.GIF