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The Movie:
After directing Jim Carrey in "The Mask", director Chuck Russell took his talents working with special effects and produced the next Arnold Schwartzenegger action film. "Eraser", a slick, entertaining action thriller is, I think, one of Arnold's better films recently. Arnold plays John Kruger, a federal marshal working for the Witness Protection Program. His job is to "erase" the backgrounds of witnesses who are in trouble.
A new problem arises when a witness to corruption at a technology firm (Vanessa Williams) is in deep trouble, having a disk that contains evidence against government officials. Suddenly she finds herself being chased by killers using "rail guns". When Kruger takes on the mission to protect her, he finds himself in just as much danger as she is.
Performances are actually better than average for a film like this. Arnold is very good in the role of Kruger, and James Caan makes for an excellent villian. Director Russell also does a fine job staging a few stunts, such as a zoo chase and a midair jump from a plane. Dialogue isn't too bad, either for this genre. All in all "Eraser" doesn't aim to be anymore than good action thrills. And to that, it succeeds.
The DVD
VIDEO:
Early work from Warner Brothers and although it was one of the early titles they released, it's still impressive in terms of image quality. Images are certainly sharp, if not always razor sharp. Colors are wonderful - very well-saturated, vibrant and without any problems such as bleeding. Flesh tones are fine as well, accurate and natural. There are no problems with the transfer such as pixelation or shimmer. The print is also in perfectly clean condition, with no marks or flaws. There is a 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer or a pan/scan edition.
SOUND: Not the best action movie audio I've ever heard, but certainly strong and definitely above average. The gunfights are remarkable in terms of sound and there are a number of explosions that will shake the room. Score by Alan Silvestri is dynamic and well-recorded, and dialogue is impressively clear.
MENUS:: As usual with the early Warner Brothers (well, with early titles from all studios actually) menus, there really isn't much at all to the menus. Non-animated and without much detail.
EXTRAS: Trailer/bios.
Final Thoughts Definitely worth a rental.
Film Grade
The Film 82/B = (410/500 possible points)
DVD Grades
Video 90/A- = (360/400 possible points)
Audio: 91/A = (364/400 possible points)
Extras: 70/C- = (210/300 possible points)
Menus 65/D = (130/200 possible points)
Value: 83/B = (249/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1723/2100
Average:82%/B
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