Coppola tried to stick to the book, overdoing it sometimes, to be sure, but in the process creating a first-rate cinematic experience.
Video:
These Superbit Editions from Columbia TriStar are attempts to transfer images and sound to disc with the highest possible resolution, no matter how much space it takes up. Starting with high-definition masters, Sony encodes these new editions at nearly twice the bit rate of conventional discs. As the Sony folks (Columbia's parent company) have written, "The Superbit Collection utilizes a high bit rate digital encoding process which optimizes video quality while continuing to offer a choice of both DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio." Obviously, this means the encoding takes up more of a disc's storage capacity, thus eliminating most of the disc's room for bonus materials.
In any case, this new Superbit DVD reproduces the movie's creative energy and visuals with consummate ease. Unfortunately, that also means it reproduces the film's murkiness, age marks, and grain, too. I wish Sony had restored the picture as well as remastering it at a high bit rate. Oh, well....
The 1.78:1 ratio widescreen format provides something close to the perspective of the theatrical release, and the colors, often intentionally muted and pale to establish the atmosphere, appear the way I remember them in a theater. It is only at intervals that the DVD is required to show off its ability to replicate sharply vivid images, and when it does, it succeeds in this regard, too. But the real test is whether the Superbit Edition provides any distinct improvement in visual clarity over Columbia's previous DVD release, and here I needed some careful comparison. The first release was already decent enough, but I had no way of comparing the images of the two discs side by side. By the time I took out one disc, put in the other, and cued up the same positions, my memory was apt to play tricks on me. However, I was sure I saw noticeable amendments in sharpness of focus and deepness of color. Pure imagination? I hope not; but if it was, the added security of knowing this is the best transfer standard-definition possible is enough to keep me happy.
Audio:
In addition, the newly mastered Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound (DTS 5.1, too, if you have the capability) delivers its creepy noises and menacing music from the most unexpected places. This is one of the best, most forceful, audio tracks around, not for its spectacle alone but for its nuances--voices, birds, wind, rain, creaks, howls, cries, and moans--coming with pinpoint precision from all five speakers. It wasn´t for nothing the movie won an Academy Award for Sound Effects Editing; and, incidentally, it won Oscars for makeup and costume design, too.
Extras:
Now, I suppose one could say Columbia should still have given us more in the way of extras, perhaps on the flip side of the disc. Of course, with the Superbit process using up most of one side of a presumably double-layered disc, there is little room left over for bonus features. And to manufacture a double-sided, dual-layered disc is tricky. So, you´ll have to go elsewhere for audio commentaries, documentaries, production notes, outtakes, bloopers, and theatrical trailers. What you get is English-only as a spoken language; English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, and Thai subtitles; and twenty-eight scene selections (replacing the fifty-two on Columbia´s previous disc).
Parting Thoughts:
OK, so there's nothing much besides the film on the disc. Yet if it´s the film you´re after, and picture and sound quality are your primary considerations, I think you´ll be happy with what you get.
These Superbit Editions from Columbia TriStar are attempts to transfer images and sound to disc with the highest possible resolution, no matter how much space it takes up. Starting with high-definition masters, Sony encodes these new editions at nearly twice the bit rate of conventional discs. As the Sony folks (Columbia's parent company) have written, "The Superbit Collection utilizes a high bit rate digital encoding process which optimizes video quality while continuing to offer a choice of both DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio." Obviously, this means the encoding takes up more of a disc's storage capacity, thus eliminating most of the disc's room for bonus materials.
In any case, this new Superbit DVD reproduces the movie's creative energy and visuals with consummate ease. Unfortunately, that also means it reproduces the film's murkiness, age marks, and grain, too. I wish Sony had restored the picture as well as remastering it at a high bit rate. Oh, well....
The 1.78:1 ratio widescreen format provides something close to the perspective of the theatrical release, and the colors, often intentionally muted and pale to establish the atmosphere, appear the way I remember them in a theater. It is only at intervals that the DVD is required to show off its ability to replicate sharply vivid images, and when it does, it succeeds in this regard, too. But the real test is whether the Superbit Edition provides any distinct improvement in visual clarity over Columbia's previous DVD release, and here I needed some careful comparison. The first release was already decent enough, but I had no way of comparing the images of the two discs side by side. By the time I took out one disc, put in the other, and cued up the same positions, my memory was apt to play tricks on me. However, I was sure I saw noticeable amendments in sharpness of focus and deepness of color. Pure imagination? I hope not; but if it was, the added security of knowing this is the best transfer standard-definition possible is enough to keep me happy.
Audio:
In addition, the newly mastered Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound (DTS 5.1, too, if you have the capability) delivers its creepy noises and menacing music from the most unexpected places. This is one of the best, most forceful, audio tracks around, not for its spectacle alone but for its nuances--voices, birds, wind, rain, creaks, howls, cries, and moans--coming with pinpoint precision from all five speakers. It wasn´t for nothing the movie won an Academy Award for Sound Effects Editing; and, incidentally, it won Oscars for makeup and costume design, too.
Extras:
Now, I suppose one could say Columbia should still have given us more in the way of extras, perhaps on the flip side of the disc. Of course, with the Superbit process using up most of one side of a presumably double-layered disc, there is little room left over for bonus features. And to manufacture a double-sided, dual-layered disc is tricky. So, you´ll have to go elsewhere for audio commentaries, documentaries, production notes, outtakes, bloopers, and theatrical trailers. What you get is English-only as a spoken language; English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, and Thai subtitles; and twenty-eight scene selections (replacing the fifty-two on Columbia´s previous disc).
Parting Thoughts:
OK, so there's nothing much besides the film on the disc. Yet if it´s the film you´re after, and picture and sound quality are your primary considerations, I think you´ll be happy with what you get.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]175[/release]