DVD Review: Gattaca
Links
DVD For Sale
Back To www.currentfilm.com
Gattaca
Columbia/Tristar Home Video
2.35:1/PS/DD 5.1&2.0/Extras
Languages:Spanish/French
Subtitles:English/Spanish/French
"Gattaca" is something that's somewhat painful to me. It's such a wonderfully outstanding motion picture that got completely overlooked in theaters in the early Winter months of 1997. It's really too bad that a film like this didn't get more attention. It's directed by "Truman Show" writer Andrew Niccol, and I think it's a far more successful film than "Truman", although, yes, it's a completely different plot. It's a film that literally washes over you with moments of true beauty and emotion. Great performances come from Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman in this story of the "not too distant future"(The "Mystery Science Theater 3000" Theme Song instantly comes to mind) where people are genetically sculpted in a lab. All of the human material is still used, but the possible problems of life are taken out of the mix.
Ethan Hawke plays Vincent, a man born between two people and not in a lab. His dream is to rise to the ranks of the elite at "Gattaca", a sort of government-ish labratory where missions to other worlds are planned. Since he is not a genetically enhanced person, he's looked down upon in society, and it looks as if he has no way into "Gattaca", until... he runs into a crippled, enhanced person(played wonderfully by Jude Law) who's identity he takes. The rest of the film is a mix of brilliant thriller and drama as Vincent must outsmart the ranks of the workers at "Gattaca" and convince them that he, too, does belong. His only ally is Irene, a co-worker played by Uma Thurman, in a performance that I appreciate more and more the more I watch it.
Columbia/Tristar has done a very nice job transfering this movie to DVD. A great transfer that is stronger than the laserdisc version(my laserdisc has rotted since, unfortunately.) The colors and especially the tints(the yellow filters) come up and are much more vibrant on this DVD version. It's not an agressive sounding film, but I bought the disc partly to hear Michael Nyman's wonderful, lush, hypnotic scores. I think this is really one of the overlooked scores of the past decade; it's so beautiful and calming and really gives an additional character and dimension to what's on the screen.
Extras are pretty nifty too. "Gattaca" includes both of the teaser posters and the theatrical poster in a little gallery. It also includes the trailer and a documentary(I'll go into that more later). Furthermore, there are about 20 still photos and a set of deleted scenes(5 deleted+1 outtake). Getting back to the trailer and documentary, what annoys me a bit is that the documentary is attached to and comes right after the trailer, the two are not seperate. What is more of a pain is that you can't go back to the menu from the documentary/trailer. You're stuck. The documentary is pretty good, though. The trailer is a little bit off, in my opinion, though, due to the fact that Tristar marketed the film as an "Action" movie, which it is absolutely not.
Either way, it's well worth it since "Gattaca" is an outstanding, thoughtful and emotional picture that is something I think will be a landmark in Science Fiction, even thought it was not recognized by mass audiences. The sets alone are wonderful and peaceful, much like the film.
Region:1
Rating:PG-13
Format: Letterboxed Side A, Pan/Scan Side B
Running Time:106min.
Chapters:28
Sound: English 2.0 or 5.1
Menus:Fair. Not animated
Complaints: Can't go back to the menu from the trailer/documentary.
Audio:A-
Video:A-
Extras:B
Film:A+
Menus:C-
Overall Package:A-
