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In Short: Artisan does wonderfully here, giving us the entire miniseries with a 16x9 transfer and a low $19.95 retail price. Well Done!(Oh yeah, the movie's pretty great, too!).
The film:
Leelee Sobieski("Never Been Kissed", "Deep Impact") stars in a fantastic performance as Joan Of Arc in this film, which was originally shown this year as a TV miniseries on CBS. Although the supporting performances are fine, there's no doubts that this remains Sobieski's film. The actress's intensity and conviction in her performance is consistent and magnificent. If there is any doubts that she can hold an entire movie on her own, they should be erased easily here, where she holds all 3 hours together phenomenally. This DVD includes both part one and two on the same side of one DVD. It's full of excellent performances and the quality of the DVD is consistently thrilling.
The DVD
VIDEO: Artisan has done a really cool and wonderful thing here and the results, for the most part, are quite excellent. "Joan Of Arc" was originally shot for television(in other words, full frame). Artisian has transfered this film in "16x9 fullscreen", meaning that the anamorphic transfer shows up as letterboxed(looking 1.85:1 ish) on 4x3(basic televisions). The results are, for a good majority of the film, consistently marvelous. Colors are wonderously rich and pure, looking deep and well-saturated throughout. Reds, greens, browns- all colors look simply goregous. Scenes present multiple shades of many colors and they look consistently excellent.
Images are consistently sharp and very smooth, looking very "film-like" and clean throughout. Occasionally, the film does seem to use a softer focus, but still, images do look quite clear. I did not see any flaws in terms of aliasing or pixelization. I've said it a couple of times during the past few reviews, but I've become more and more amazed at the quality of recent DVD releases, which are becoming consistently better and better. Each one seems to be more visually stunning than the last. Although going to movie theaters will always exist as a social event, exhibitors are going to have to improve theater conditions(and prices) to compete with DVD. More and more, when I find myself choosing to go to a movie or watch a DVD, my choice is DVD.
SOUND: This is actually a very pleasing soundtrack. The original score by Asher Ettinger and Tony Kosinec is crystal clear and although it doesn't really fill the room, it sounds consistently excellent. There are also some effective ambient sounds, as well. Dialogue is clear and without problems.
MENUS: Fairly basic main menus based around scenes from the film.
EXTRAS: Although production notes are really the only extra featured on this DVD, Artisian has fit all 3 hours of the film on the DVD excellently and with the low price, I won't complain too much.
Final Thoughts: At $19.95 this is an outstanding value, with the full 3 hour miniseries uninterrupted. Audio and video quality is very good as well. Highly recommended. I hadn't seen the film on TV, so I was taking a chance on buying the DVD. I'm glad I did.
The Film: 93/A = (465/500 possible points)
Video: 96/A = (384/400 possible points)
Audio: 84/B = (336/400 possible points)
Extras: 75/C = (225/300 possible points)
Menus: 75/C = (150/200 possible points)
Value: 96/A = (288/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1848/2100
Average:88%/B
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