The Frighteners – Director’s Cut (HD-DVD)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: C Film: C
The
transitional film for Peter Jackson from the eccentric to the commercial is
1996 Robert Zemeckis-produced The
Frighteners. A fellow critic loved
this film and previously reviewed the DVD-Video edition for the site at this
link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3291/The+Frighteners+-+Director's+Cut
I am not
as big a fan, the film never worked for me and Michael J. Fox tended to take on
almost the same role in every film to boot.
That critic was also ultra impressed with the qualities of the extras
repeated here on this new HD-DVD and more impressed that I with the picture and
sound. This HD-DVD is more like it.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 VC-1 digital High Definition image looks like it is from the same
print as the DVD, but revealing of much more detail and generally offers a more
solid picture overall, including depth.
The digital effects can be annoying, but this is a newer print and
Jackson’s commercial success of late called for it. As for the sound, DTS fans who raved about
the old 12” LaserDisc and DTS theatrical experience will be a bit disappointed
this is not in DTS at all, but in Dolby Digital Plus 5.1, but it is a marked
improvement over the standard Dolby on the DVD.
Universal
is not as interested in DTS as they used to be since they started supporting
HD-DVD exclusively and Dolby is the more standard soundtrack type offered. However, you can still hear how good this mix
was for its time and with the best image quality of the film to date at home,
this makes for one of Universal‘s better back catalog titles, even if you are
not a fan either.
- Nicholas Sheffo
