I hated Craig’s voice, and his frequent utterances of ‘Consarn it!’ were so laughably bad that the movie would’ve been better had he not bothered to use ‘foul’ language at all.
Oh, yeah--the picture has an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 (full-frame on 4:3 monitors).
Audio:
It´s funny that I´m rating the audio a "5" because it has survived through the ages better than the film´s picture elements. However, there´s only a Dolby Digital 1.0 English track on the DVD, and since I rate audio against audio and not audio against video, the "5" might make it look like I´m rating the DVD´s audio less than the video´s "7". (It´s all subjective, really.) That being said, most of the audio is fine, with clearly-reproduced actors´ voices (had it not been so for the guy who plays Jabez Stone!) and par-for-the-course sound effects. Occasionally, the music "wavers" (due to the age of the technology), but you still get a sense of how great it is.
Optional English subtitles support the audio.
Extras:
Criterion´s DVD has a couple of cool things. The Extras section is called "Scratch´s Black Book", and it shows why Criterion is still the best in the special edition business when they are able to find extras for a movie. First things first, there´s something called the "´Here Is a Man´ Comparison". Basically, the movie was called "All That Money Can Buy" and "Here Is a Man" before it became known by the title of the short story that inspired it. "Here Is a Man" is the shorter version, and it differs from the "The Devil and Daniel Webster"/ "All That Money Can Buy" version in that there are insert shots of Mr. Scratch following each mishap that Jabez Stone encounters early in the movie (the insert shots are done as negatives, so they look like x-rays of Walter Huston).
You can listen to actor Alec Baldwin read Stephen Vincent Benet´s short story "The Devil and Daniel Webster". (Oh! had Criterion been able to get its hands on Baldwin´s footage of his not-quite-completed remake.) You can listen to two radio shows from the The Columbia Workshop, one each of "The Devil and Daniel Webster" and "Daniel Webster and the Sea Serpent". There are some text notes about the The Columbia Workshop on the DVD, too. "´The Devil´ in Context" is a multimedia examination of Bernard Herrmann´s music for the film. Finally, there is a Gallery of still photos.
--Miscellaneous--
A glossy fold-out insert provides chapter listings, an essay about the film, a brief article about the film by the author of "The Devil and Daniel Webster", film production credits, and DVD production credits.
Film Value:
John, I´m sorry that I didn´t like the movie as much as you seem to do. Well, maybe you show it to your students for reasons other than the idea that "it´s a good movie", but I doubt it. At any rate, if you´re a fan of the movie, then you´ll want to get it one day to replace your Beta tape copy.
Sincerely,
Eddie
Audio:
It´s funny that I´m rating the audio a "5" because it has survived through the ages better than the film´s picture elements. However, there´s only a Dolby Digital 1.0 English track on the DVD, and since I rate audio against audio and not audio against video, the "5" might make it look like I´m rating the DVD´s audio less than the video´s "7". (It´s all subjective, really.) That being said, most of the audio is fine, with clearly-reproduced actors´ voices (had it not been so for the guy who plays Jabez Stone!) and par-for-the-course sound effects. Occasionally, the music "wavers" (due to the age of the technology), but you still get a sense of how great it is.
Optional English subtitles support the audio.
Extras:
Criterion´s DVD has a couple of cool things. The Extras section is called "Scratch´s Black Book", and it shows why Criterion is still the best in the special edition business when they are able to find extras for a movie. First things first, there´s something called the "´Here Is a Man´ Comparison". Basically, the movie was called "All That Money Can Buy" and "Here Is a Man" before it became known by the title of the short story that inspired it. "Here Is a Man" is the shorter version, and it differs from the "The Devil and Daniel Webster"/ "All That Money Can Buy" version in that there are insert shots of Mr. Scratch following each mishap that Jabez Stone encounters early in the movie (the insert shots are done as negatives, so they look like x-rays of Walter Huston).
You can listen to actor Alec Baldwin read Stephen Vincent Benet´s short story "The Devil and Daniel Webster". (Oh! had Criterion been able to get its hands on Baldwin´s footage of his not-quite-completed remake.) You can listen to two radio shows from the The Columbia Workshop, one each of "The Devil and Daniel Webster" and "Daniel Webster and the Sea Serpent". There are some text notes about the The Columbia Workshop on the DVD, too. "´The Devil´ in Context" is a multimedia examination of Bernard Herrmann´s music for the film. Finally, there is a Gallery of still photos.
--Miscellaneous--
A glossy fold-out insert provides chapter listings, an essay about the film, a brief article about the film by the author of "The Devil and Daniel Webster", film production credits, and DVD production credits.
Film Value:
John, I´m sorry that I didn´t like the movie as much as you seem to do. Well, maybe you show it to your students for reasons other than the idea that "it´s a good movie", but I doubt it. At any rate, if you´re a fan of the movie, then you´ll want to get it one day to replace your Beta tape copy.
Sincerely,
Eddie
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[release]11448[/release]