|
|
In Short: Another movie I wish Disney didn't have the DVD rights to.
The Movie:
"Pulp Fiction"'s excitingly twisty storyline and vibrant performances shocked the moviegoing world in 1994 and easily built upon his debut, "Reservoir Dogs"; in fact, it took the kind of film he was going for in "Dogs" and brought it to a higher level altogether. The film spins back and forth between three interconnecting stories, one involving two hit men(Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta) and one of whom is seeing the wife of the head gangster(Uma Thurman). That same gangster has also paid a fighter (Bruce Willis) to take a fall in an upcoming fight and the last story not only ties together many of the film's stories, but even adds some more plot strings to the mix.
I'm not the film's biggest fan, but I can certainly appreciate not only the screenplay, but the performances by the lead actors. Certainly a good, if not great movie and one of the best of the 90's.
The DVD
VIDEO: Again, it's another early Disney release and although it's not unwatchable, it certainly isn't pleasing. The image is clear and fairly clean, although it's certainly not as sharp as it could be, or probably should be. Although this isn't a terribly colorful movie, the colors are presented accurately and enjoyably. Contrast is consistently not great in this transfer, although flesh tones fair alright.
Again, the clarity and detail in this transfer is lacking, and occasionally some aliasing occurs. There's also the occasional mark or two on the print. Some of the time this actually isn't that bad, especially during the scenes outdoors in the L.A. sunshine. The general feeling while watching this though is "blah". It's such an average looking image for a not-so-average movie that it's really a shame.
SOUND: The sound doesn't really help much either, with the soundtrack as the only element that leaves much of a presentation, although even here, the soundtrack could sound more enveloping than it does. There are a handful of very minimal uses of the surrounds throughout the picture and aside from a little bit of gunfire, there really isn't that much to this soundtrack. Dialogue is alright, but doesn't sound quite as crisp as I'd like and occasionally, it sounds a little on the flat side.
MENUS:: As far as I know, the only animated menus that Disney has ever done, with the picture of Uma Thurman on the front cover animated.
EXTRAS: Just the trailer.
Final Thoughts: It's really a matter of using all that the format is capable of, and that's something I think Disney never did with their early releases. Although they are starting to come around to what the format can offer, it seems like they're still not completely for doing the best possible effort. Fox doesn't always offer anamorphic, either, but I think their non-anamorphic transfers are less problematic than Disney's.
The Film: 92/A = (460/500 possible points)
Video 82/B = (328/400 possible points)
Audio: 84/B = (336/400 possible points)
Extras: 70/C- = (210/300 possible points)
Menus: 75/C = (150/200 possible points)
Value: 81/B = (243/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1727/2100
Average:82%/B
|
