Not since Lenny Small in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men has a character with such a low IQ come to be such a hero to so many.
Video:
The folks at Paramount Home Video present all of this in close to picture-perfect quality in a wide 2.17:1 ratio anamorphic DVD transfer. Colors are deep and rich, definition is sharp and clear, and only some very minor grain is noticeable, I assume at the beginnings of reels. The photography and scenery are particularly well rendered in natural, vibrant, but not overly glossy tones.
Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio is actually pretty ordinary sounding until the Vietnam War sequence, where it suddenly comes to life with a shattering frequency and dynamic range. I thought the surround speakers remained relatively calm and subdued throughout the film but found either they were lending only a mild sense of ambiance to background music or not playing at all. I suspected the latter but found the absence of surround information pleasing to the ear. When I pressed my ear to a rear speaker (something I wouldn't normally do), I found there was almost nothing coming out at all except during the opening and closing credits and only faintly at other times, like during the Vietnam sequence. A measurement with a sound-pressure meter indicated a difference of about twenty-five decibels between front and rear speaker output during the loudest passages, which translates to hearing almost no difference at all from the center listening position. Apparently, the mild sense of ambiance I was hearing the rest of the time was coming mostly from the sound of the front speakers reflecting off the walls and ceiling. Still, it's darned good, if mainly front-channel, sound. On the other hand, the Dolby Surround in the French language track synthesizes quite a lot of monaural information for the rear channels.
Extras:
Because the film is so well appreciated by so many filmgoers, Paramount offer it in a Special Edition two-disc set with a suitable accompaniment of bonus items. Disc one contains the widescreen movie itself; English and French spoken languages; English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing; and two separate audio commentaries, one with director Robert Zemeckis, producer Steve Starkey, and production designer Rick Carter and another with producer Wendy Finerman; it concludes with an oddly skimpy nineteen scene selections. Disc two contains a thirty-minute documentary, "Through the Eyes of Forrest Gump," made about the time of the film´s production in 1994. It affords numerous interviews with the stars and crew, and it goes behind the scenes to look at a few of the film´s special digital effects. Next, there are five featurettes that are fun and informative. They include segments on screen tests, production design, sound design, visual effects, and make-up. Yes, we get to learn how they created those mobs of people at the Washington Monument using only a small group of extras, and, of course, we see how Gary Sinise digitally lost his legs. Fascinating stuff. Lastly, there´s an attractive photo gallery and a pair of widescreen theatrical trailers.
Parting Thoughts:
"Forrest Gump" won Oscars for just about everything in sight: Best Picture, Director (Zemeckis), Actor (Hanks), Writing (Roth), Film Editing (Arthur Schmidt), and Visual Effects (Ken Ralston, George Murphy, Stephen Rosenbaum, and Allen Hall); and what it didn´t win, it was nominated for: Art Direction, Set Decoration, Cinematography, Supporting Actor (Sinise), Makeup, Music, Sound, and Sound Effects.
"Mama said you´ve got to put the past behind you." Maybe that´s why Forrest runs so much, from one end of the country to the other, time and again. Life has a way of leveling things out for each of us. As Emerson wrote, "For everything you have missed, you have gained something else; and for everything you gain, you lose something." Forrest may be dumb, but he ain´t stupid.
"Have a nice day."
The folks at Paramount Home Video present all of this in close to picture-perfect quality in a wide 2.17:1 ratio anamorphic DVD transfer. Colors are deep and rich, definition is sharp and clear, and only some very minor grain is noticeable, I assume at the beginnings of reels. The photography and scenery are particularly well rendered in natural, vibrant, but not overly glossy tones.
Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio is actually pretty ordinary sounding until the Vietnam War sequence, where it suddenly comes to life with a shattering frequency and dynamic range. I thought the surround speakers remained relatively calm and subdued throughout the film but found either they were lending only a mild sense of ambiance to background music or not playing at all. I suspected the latter but found the absence of surround information pleasing to the ear. When I pressed my ear to a rear speaker (something I wouldn't normally do), I found there was almost nothing coming out at all except during the opening and closing credits and only faintly at other times, like during the Vietnam sequence. A measurement with a sound-pressure meter indicated a difference of about twenty-five decibels between front and rear speaker output during the loudest passages, which translates to hearing almost no difference at all from the center listening position. Apparently, the mild sense of ambiance I was hearing the rest of the time was coming mostly from the sound of the front speakers reflecting off the walls and ceiling. Still, it's darned good, if mainly front-channel, sound. On the other hand, the Dolby Surround in the French language track synthesizes quite a lot of monaural information for the rear channels.
Extras:
Because the film is so well appreciated by so many filmgoers, Paramount offer it in a Special Edition two-disc set with a suitable accompaniment of bonus items. Disc one contains the widescreen movie itself; English and French spoken languages; English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing; and two separate audio commentaries, one with director Robert Zemeckis, producer Steve Starkey, and production designer Rick Carter and another with producer Wendy Finerman; it concludes with an oddly skimpy nineteen scene selections. Disc two contains a thirty-minute documentary, "Through the Eyes of Forrest Gump," made about the time of the film´s production in 1994. It affords numerous interviews with the stars and crew, and it goes behind the scenes to look at a few of the film´s special digital effects. Next, there are five featurettes that are fun and informative. They include segments on screen tests, production design, sound design, visual effects, and make-up. Yes, we get to learn how they created those mobs of people at the Washington Monument using only a small group of extras, and, of course, we see how Gary Sinise digitally lost his legs. Fascinating stuff. Lastly, there´s an attractive photo gallery and a pair of widescreen theatrical trailers.
Parting Thoughts:
"Forrest Gump" won Oscars for just about everything in sight: Best Picture, Director (Zemeckis), Actor (Hanks), Writing (Roth), Film Editing (Arthur Schmidt), and Visual Effects (Ken Ralston, George Murphy, Stephen Rosenbaum, and Allen Hall); and what it didn´t win, it was nominated for: Art Direction, Set Decoration, Cinematography, Supporting Actor (Sinise), Makeup, Music, Sound, and Sound Effects.
"Mama said you´ve got to put the past behind you." Maybe that´s why Forrest runs so much, from one end of the country to the other, time and again. Life has a way of leveling things out for each of us. As Emerson wrote, "For everything you have missed, you have gained something else; and for everything you gain, you lose something." Forrest may be dumb, but he ain´t stupid.
"Have a nice day."
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]7683[/release]