Watcher
29-06-2003, 07:57 PM
<I><B>Buena Vista Home Entertainment.</I>
<center>
<h2> PRETTY WOMAN:
Special Edition </h2>
Released: Out now
Rating: M 15+
RRP: $36.95
<UL>DISC FEATURES AND SPECS:</b></center>
<li>Production Featurette.
<LI>Theatrical Trailer.
<LI>"Wild Women Do" Music Video.
<LI>Audio: English & French Dolby Digital 5.1
<LI>Aspect: 1.85:1 widescreen.
<LI>Subtitles: English and French.
<LI>Running Time: 119.41 minutes</UL>
<center><B>CAST: </b></center>
Richard Gere , Julia Roberts and Jason Alexander.
Directed By: Garry Marshall
<center><B>FROM THE BACK COVER: </b></center>
<i>Academy Award-winner Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich) and charismatic leading man Richard Gere (Runaway Bride) light up the screen in one of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters! Roberts stars as a streetwise, down-on-her-luck working girl, whose chance encounter with a handsome corporate mogul leads to and improbable love affair… and a modern-day Cinderella fantasy that has captured the hearts of movie-goers all over the world. Featuring a chart-topping soundtrack, PRETTY WOMAN is an irresistible romantic comedy that leaves you feeling great! </i>
<center><b>AUDIO/VISUAL:</b></center>
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 in both English and French
Other than the various pieces of music used during the movie, the audio tends to sit itself around the center speaker with just a little help from the main speakers. There's no problem as far as clarity goes and understanding the dialogue is not a problem either, it's just that it doesn't have that broad and spacious feeling of a front sound stage in a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. The sub didn't have much of an influence on the audio other than moments where pop music would be present.
The rear speakers really don't get much use until the scenes that feature the brief Rodeo Drive shopping excursion (39 mins) accompanied the song "Wild Women Do", the shopping scene (62 mins) that features the song "Pretty Woman" and even the scene at the Opera suddenly belt at you from all speakers and really uplifts the soundtrack for those periods of the movie.
These are a stark contrast from the audio during the rest of the movie.
Video:
This Special Edition release of Pretty Woman has an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 widescreen and is not 16:9 enhanced. Yes, not 16:9 enhanced.
For the majority of the movie, the picture has an excellent clarity to it and is rather sharp.
Colours are also just as pleasing with a strong presence on screen and not being too dull or influenced by problems like bleeding. To round things off nicely, flesh tones are very natural in appearance.
Now, before you get too excited about the quality of this transfer, I should mention the aliasing is a small issue. It's not enough to spoil the movie, but this shimmering effect on lines can be obvious in a lot of scenes. The picture is also dotted with specks every now and then which mostly go unnoticed, but you do get the odd one (or group ) that you can't miss. The scene at the start of the movie where Richard Gere is on the phone for example. Grain is also present in a very subtle way that seems a lot less problematic than the aliasing and specks for instance.
There is a layer change present in this version of the movie. It occurs at the 73.29 minute mark where there is a change of scene. The pause was brief, yet noticeable.
<center><B>EXTRA FEATURES:</b></center>
<LI><i>Production featurette </i> -
This is a very quick 3.47 minute narrated production featurette which includes interview clips of Director Gary Marshall, Richard Gere and Julia Roberts along with clips from the movie.
Short but sweet with the interviews giving a bit of insight into the characters and the film.
<LI><i>Theatrical Trailer </i> -
Running for 2.39 minutes and presented in full screen with Dolby 2.0 audio this is a very lighthearted theatrical trailer that shows some of the very funny and touching scenes from this movie while giving the viewer an overall idea of the concept of the film.
<LI><i>Music Video </i> -
This 4.11 minute music video of "Wild Women Do" by Natalie Cole is presented in full screen with Dolby 2.0 audio includes clips from Pretty Woman along with shots of Natalie, her band and backup dancers performing the song.
<center><B>A MEMORABLE MOMENT FROM THIS DVD:</b></center>
The combination of Julia Roberts and Richard Gere is a winning one that makes this movie very watchable.
<center><B>OVERALL:</b></center>
I don't think you can review Pretty Woman as a movie or on DVD without mentioning the term "chick flick" at least once, yet for someone who generally won't watch "Chick Flicks" by choice; I'd watch this movie anytime. What's so different about this one? I'm not sure, but Julia Roberts definitely helps with not only her physical beauty, but her performance in this Cinderella like situation.
This DVD presentation is a decent one, but has just a few niggling things (especially not being 16:9 enhanced) that leaves you thinking that it could have been better.
Having said this, I'd still whole heartedly recommend it if you don't already have it on DVD
Pretty Woman: SE Director's Cut is out now and has a RRP of $36.95
<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>3.5</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>1.5</b> </td></tr>
<tr><td><B>THE MOVIE</b> </td><td><B>4.25 </b></td></tr>
<tr><td><B>OVERALL</B> </td><td><B>3.75</b></td></tr></table>
<center>
<h2> PRETTY WOMAN:
Special Edition </h2>
Released: Out now
Rating: M 15+
RRP: $36.95
<UL>DISC FEATURES AND SPECS:</b></center>
<li>Production Featurette.
<LI>Theatrical Trailer.
<LI>"Wild Women Do" Music Video.
<LI>Audio: English & French Dolby Digital 5.1
<LI>Aspect: 1.85:1 widescreen.
<LI>Subtitles: English and French.
<LI>Running Time: 119.41 minutes</UL>
<center><B>CAST: </b></center>
Richard Gere , Julia Roberts and Jason Alexander.
Directed By: Garry Marshall
<center><B>FROM THE BACK COVER: </b></center>
<i>Academy Award-winner Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich) and charismatic leading man Richard Gere (Runaway Bride) light up the screen in one of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters! Roberts stars as a streetwise, down-on-her-luck working girl, whose chance encounter with a handsome corporate mogul leads to and improbable love affair… and a modern-day Cinderella fantasy that has captured the hearts of movie-goers all over the world. Featuring a chart-topping soundtrack, PRETTY WOMAN is an irresistible romantic comedy that leaves you feeling great! </i>
<center><b>AUDIO/VISUAL:</b></center>
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 in both English and French
Other than the various pieces of music used during the movie, the audio tends to sit itself around the center speaker with just a little help from the main speakers. There's no problem as far as clarity goes and understanding the dialogue is not a problem either, it's just that it doesn't have that broad and spacious feeling of a front sound stage in a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. The sub didn't have much of an influence on the audio other than moments where pop music would be present.
The rear speakers really don't get much use until the scenes that feature the brief Rodeo Drive shopping excursion (39 mins) accompanied the song "Wild Women Do", the shopping scene (62 mins) that features the song "Pretty Woman" and even the scene at the Opera suddenly belt at you from all speakers and really uplifts the soundtrack for those periods of the movie.
These are a stark contrast from the audio during the rest of the movie.
Video:
This Special Edition release of Pretty Woman has an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 widescreen and is not 16:9 enhanced. Yes, not 16:9 enhanced.
For the majority of the movie, the picture has an excellent clarity to it and is rather sharp.
Colours are also just as pleasing with a strong presence on screen and not being too dull or influenced by problems like bleeding. To round things off nicely, flesh tones are very natural in appearance.
Now, before you get too excited about the quality of this transfer, I should mention the aliasing is a small issue. It's not enough to spoil the movie, but this shimmering effect on lines can be obvious in a lot of scenes. The picture is also dotted with specks every now and then which mostly go unnoticed, but you do get the odd one (or group ) that you can't miss. The scene at the start of the movie where Richard Gere is on the phone for example. Grain is also present in a very subtle way that seems a lot less problematic than the aliasing and specks for instance.
There is a layer change present in this version of the movie. It occurs at the 73.29 minute mark where there is a change of scene. The pause was brief, yet noticeable.
<center><B>EXTRA FEATURES:</b></center>
<LI><i>Production featurette </i> -
This is a very quick 3.47 minute narrated production featurette which includes interview clips of Director Gary Marshall, Richard Gere and Julia Roberts along with clips from the movie.
Short but sweet with the interviews giving a bit of insight into the characters and the film.
<LI><i>Theatrical Trailer </i> -
Running for 2.39 minutes and presented in full screen with Dolby 2.0 audio this is a very lighthearted theatrical trailer that shows some of the very funny and touching scenes from this movie while giving the viewer an overall idea of the concept of the film.
<LI><i>Music Video </i> -
This 4.11 minute music video of "Wild Women Do" by Natalie Cole is presented in full screen with Dolby 2.0 audio includes clips from Pretty Woman along with shots of Natalie, her band and backup dancers performing the song.
<center><B>A MEMORABLE MOMENT FROM THIS DVD:</b></center>
The combination of Julia Roberts and Richard Gere is a winning one that makes this movie very watchable.
<center><B>OVERALL:</b></center>
I don't think you can review Pretty Woman as a movie or on DVD without mentioning the term "chick flick" at least once, yet for someone who generally won't watch "Chick Flicks" by choice; I'd watch this movie anytime. What's so different about this one? I'm not sure, but Julia Roberts definitely helps with not only her physical beauty, but her performance in this Cinderella like situation.
This DVD presentation is a decent one, but has just a few niggling things (especially not being 16:9 enhanced) that leaves you thinking that it could have been better.
Having said this, I'd still whole heartedly recommend it if you don't already have it on DVD
Pretty Woman: SE Director's Cut is out now and has a RRP of $36.95
<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>3.5</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>1.5</b> </td></tr>
<tr><td><B>THE MOVIE</b> </td><td><B>4.25 </b></td></tr>
<tr><td><B>OVERALL</B> </td><td><B>3.75</b></td></tr></table>