...the film is not without its problems.
Video:
The 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen video image is gorgeous. You can tell when a movie was made prior to 1980 due to the different color tones offered by film stocks from different eras, but there were times during "Charade" when it felt like I was watching a movie made only yesterday. There were a few times when I saw some faint vertical lines that ran through the print (due to the source print being threaded through projectors/viewers too often), but the transfer is so good that you don´t really pay close attention to its faults.
The previous Criterion edition of "Charade" offered non-anamorphic widescreen video.
Audio:
The Dolby Digital 1.0 English audio track is about as good as it gets when it comes to audio presentations of pre-1975 films. Criterion did a great job in getting rid of snaps, crackles, pops, hisses, etc. Dialogue is always clear and intelligible when necessary, and any music in the sound mix never overpowers audio effects or the actors´ voices.
Optional English subtitles support the audio.
Extras:
As far as I know, the re-mastered edition of Criterion´s "Charade" DVD retains all of the extras found on the original DVD. The menus have changed from one release to the next, but unless you´re a bitterly die-hard completist, the new Criterion "Charade" should be the only copy of the film that you´ll need on DVD at the present moment.
There´s a pretty fun audio commentary, though since the participants, director Stanley Donen and screenwriter Peter Stone, are good friends, they´re more interested in carrying on a diverting conversation than focusing on revealing the film´s secrets. There are two mixed-media (text pages and photos) presentations that cover Donen and Stone´s careers. Finally, you also get the film´s original theatrical trailer.
--Miscellaneous--
A glossy fold-out insert provides chapter listings, an essay about the film, film production credits, and DVD production credits.
Film Value:
My colleague and good friend John Puccio rated "Charade" an "8" on DVD Town´s 10-scale. I´m not inclined to praise the film as highly as John does; even at only 114 minutes, the film is a tad too long for my tastes. Nevertheless, there´s no denying that the film is an elegant, fun piece. What John wrote about the first Criterion edition of "Charade" applies doubly to the new DVD: "All good things come to those who wait. After not only one but several horrific DVD transfers of ´Charade´, we finally have one that does it right. This new edition should rank high on anybody´s ´must have´ list."
The 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen video image is gorgeous. You can tell when a movie was made prior to 1980 due to the different color tones offered by film stocks from different eras, but there were times during "Charade" when it felt like I was watching a movie made only yesterday. There were a few times when I saw some faint vertical lines that ran through the print (due to the source print being threaded through projectors/viewers too often), but the transfer is so good that you don´t really pay close attention to its faults.
The previous Criterion edition of "Charade" offered non-anamorphic widescreen video.
Audio:
The Dolby Digital 1.0 English audio track is about as good as it gets when it comes to audio presentations of pre-1975 films. Criterion did a great job in getting rid of snaps, crackles, pops, hisses, etc. Dialogue is always clear and intelligible when necessary, and any music in the sound mix never overpowers audio effects or the actors´ voices.
Optional English subtitles support the audio.
Extras:
As far as I know, the re-mastered edition of Criterion´s "Charade" DVD retains all of the extras found on the original DVD. The menus have changed from one release to the next, but unless you´re a bitterly die-hard completist, the new Criterion "Charade" should be the only copy of the film that you´ll need on DVD at the present moment.
There´s a pretty fun audio commentary, though since the participants, director Stanley Donen and screenwriter Peter Stone, are good friends, they´re more interested in carrying on a diverting conversation than focusing on revealing the film´s secrets. There are two mixed-media (text pages and photos) presentations that cover Donen and Stone´s careers. Finally, you also get the film´s original theatrical trailer.
--Miscellaneous--
A glossy fold-out insert provides chapter listings, an essay about the film, film production credits, and DVD production credits.
Film Value:
My colleague and good friend John Puccio rated "Charade" an "8" on DVD Town´s 10-scale. I´m not inclined to praise the film as highly as John does; even at only 114 minutes, the film is a tad too long for my tastes. Nevertheless, there´s no denying that the film is an elegant, fun piece. What John wrote about the first Criterion edition of "Charade" applies doubly to the new DVD: "All good things come to those who wait. After not only one but several horrific DVD transfers of ´Charade´, we finally have one that does it right. This new edition should rank high on anybody´s ´must have´ list."
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[release]12086[/release]