Feast - Unrated (HD-DVD)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: C     Feature: C

 

 

John Gulager’s Feast was made by Project Greenlight and now that The Weinstein Company has issued it on HD-DVD, it becomes the first such indie production to hit a high resolution format.  We have reviewed the DVD-Video version, which you can find at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4486/Feast+–+Unrated

 

 

The film has not improved since and HD did not make it better either, but the 1080i 2.35 X 1 image is still a little better than the DVD and I admit a few of the shots look better in a way that shows ambition on the part of the makers.  Despite being a low-budget effort, both Dolby Digital TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 mixes are included and are the slightest improvements over the regular Dolby on the standard DVD.

 

However, both and especially the True HD show fidelity limits that don’t enhance the film, though is supposed to offer more punch for such moments on the soundtrack.  Like Fox using DTS HD Master Audio on all their titles no matter what, The Weinstein Company seems to have taken the same tact with Dolby TrueHD, using it everywhere.  We’ll see if they stick to that.  The picture/sound combination is just above the DVD enough to outdo it, but the margin is often slim.

 

Extras from the DVD are not only repeated, including outtakes, deleted scenes, splatter effects featurette, making of featurette and commentary by all the behind the camera principles, but this HD-DVD adds an HD featurette Project Greenlight: Where Are They Now? which is as interesting as anything on this release.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo