|
The Movie: The latest edition of the "Short" series, focusing on - of course - short films, has scored somewhat of a big ticket item from that famous director who won't let his biggest work be released to disc - yet. "Electronic Labyrinth", a film that Lucas did while at USC in 1967, is the focus of the disc, although I'm not sure that it's the highlight. The film seems to be about an individual running through a maze, although since it has no dialogue and some rather experimental imagery, I'm still not sure as to what the exact point of it is. More interesting is an interview with the professor that taught Lucas at USC, who chats about Lucas's early days as a filmmaker and the skills that he showed early on. Also included in this section is an interview with Francis Ford Coppola and Lucas about THX and the importance of film sound and sound presentation at your local theater. There are quite a few additional short films included on the disc that highlight a wide range of subjects, from the award-winning tale of kids in the city "Five Feet High And Rising" to the tale of a man who gets more to drink than he bargained for in "The Bottomless Cup" to even animation in "deleriouspink". The Short series has always been a great presentation for these works. They allow these young filmmakers to be able to not only have a forum for their work, but it allows them to add extra features such as commentaries and more. Although again, I don't think that all of these are successful, but most of them are enjoyable, and there's quite a bit to look through for the $14.98 price. This edition has 140 minutes worth of material. The DVD AUDIO/VIDEO: The video quality varies throughout the movie, with some of the lower-budget shorts lookig rather grainy and soft, but some of the newer ones looking sharp and well-defined. For the most part though, the picture quality is pleasing with no instances of pixelation or shimmer. As for the sound, I can understand that the makers of this disc wanted to present these shorts in a bit more entertaining way by offering them in Dolby Digital 5.1, but for these films, which are mainly low-budget and dialogue-driven, they might almost work better in Dolby 2.0, as sometimes it seems here in 5.1 as if the same sound is coming from all sides at times. Still, no major complaints. MENUS:: Animated main menus; sometimes a little arty for their own good with menu type that's a little bit hard to read. EXTRAS:: As with almost all of the Short discs, many of the film include such additional extras as commentary from the filmmakers, storyboards, interviews or other additions. Most of them here provide enjoyable insight into the production of these short features. Final Thoughts: For the $14.99(I've seen the disc for as low as $9.99) price, "Short 10" certainly gives you quite a lot for your money. Recommended. |