The Frighteners has Jackson’s peculiar sense of humor, but lacks the cheesy fun of his older films.
Video:
"The Frighteners" is mastered using the VC-1 codec at the full 1080p resolution and with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The film is a very clean presentation of this dozen-year-old picture and although the level of detail is not as stunning as Universal´s best efforts, "The Frighteners" is a very good offering from the studio. The picture features strong colors that hold up throughout the film´s running time. The level of detail is consistently strong and numerous scenes have a slight three dimensional feel to them. There are a couple of scenes where the picture jitters for a few seconds, but aside from these rare instances, the picture is rock steady. The film is riddled with moments of film grain and a few flaws in the source materials can also be found by keen eyes. The CGI effects and ghostly images contained in the film hold up well under high definition. The haunted walls that exist in the film look very good as well. A number of older films have had their effects betrayed by the higher resolution, but "The Frighteners" has thus far stood the test of time.
Sound:
A very effective English Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtrack is provided on the HD-DVD disc. With a number of very aggressive and enveloping sequences throughout the film, "The Frighteners" can be very pleasing with its potent Dolby mix. Highs and lows are both captured nicely by the transfer and perfectly rendered to the audience. The bass is never overly heavy, but when the .1 LFE channel is called upon, it does the job notably. Imaging across all channels is done very nicely. When Bannister and company must battle Death, the evil spectre can be heard moving across all channels and it is easy to look over your shoulder in the direction of the sound effects more than once throughout the film. Dialogue is clear throughout the film and easily intelligible, except for one or two high action moments where strong audible effects compete with vocals. They are not completely drowned out, but the aggressive soundtrack does make a couple lines a little more difficult to hear.
Extras:
"The Frighteners" on HD-DVD is a port of the 2005 standard definition DVD release. The disc contains fourteen minutes of footage that was not seen theatrically. Some of these films are minor, such as a moving chicken and Peter Jackson´s cameo, but a number of longer scenes build characters with a little more depth. The film begins with A special introduction by director Peter Jackson. Jackson offers some historical facts on the making of the film and details why this film is of importance to him as a director and how the making of this film was beneficial for his large Hollywood productions. The director also takes part in an In-depth feature commentary. This was Peter Jackson´s first running commentary and the director does a very good job. Interesting was Jackson´s purposeful attempts at providing details that were not covered in the rather long documentary on the making of the film. Jackson is chatty and entertaining. As the inserted scenes appear, Jackson points them out and discusses their original removal. He also adds nice anecdotes on the making of the film.
The packaging lists only three supplemental materials. I had fully intended to post this review a day earlier, but I was not prepared for the sheer size of The Making of "The Frighteners" (3:45:35) documentary. Jackson had created this documentary for the LaserDisc market and had set out to create a grand documentary for LaserDiscs and had done so a couple of years before DVDs were available on market. This near four hour monster is just enormous. And, I am the kind of person that finds myself sitting through these making of documentaries in their entirety if they are good. This is easily one of the finest making of productions ever created. The film´s executive director, Michael J. Fox and other stars and Peter Jackson routinely appear in the feature, which was filmed during production. This features an introduction by Peter Jackson and is presented in 4:3 full frame. Every topic under the sun is covered in this making of feature and after sitting down to this four hour film, a very true sense of knowing all there is to know about Peter Jackson´s "The Frighteners" is had. Finally, the Theatrical Trailer ends the short, but very lengthy list of extras.
Closing Comments:
The biggest surprise for me was the massive making of documentary that is contained on this HD-DVD port of the 1995 standard definition DVD release. At four hours in length, this is chocked full of tidbits and details that adds value to the film itself. As for the film, "The Frighteners" is a fun-filled paranormal detective film starring Michael J. Fox. This is not ´old school´ Peter Jackson with insane amounts of campy gore and violence, but the director´s trademark can be seen throughout the film. Michael J. Fox and the supporting cast are all good in the film and while this isn´t one of the director´s Academy Award winning films, it is not a dreadful experience, but pleasantly entertaining. The HD-DVD features a strong picture and sound. I place this film third behind "Bad Taste" and "Braindead," and it is a far cry from the more serious Hollywood epics that Jackson has made for the previous number of years. As mentioned before, the documentary contained on this disc is just awesome. That alone would be worth purchasing. This is a nice little package, although the film may not be for everybody. "The Frighteners" has Jackson´s peculiar sense of humor, but lacks the cheesy fun of his older films.
"The Frighteners" is mastered using the VC-1 codec at the full 1080p resolution and with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The film is a very clean presentation of this dozen-year-old picture and although the level of detail is not as stunning as Universal´s best efforts, "The Frighteners" is a very good offering from the studio. The picture features strong colors that hold up throughout the film´s running time. The level of detail is consistently strong and numerous scenes have a slight three dimensional feel to them. There are a couple of scenes where the picture jitters for a few seconds, but aside from these rare instances, the picture is rock steady. The film is riddled with moments of film grain and a few flaws in the source materials can also be found by keen eyes. The CGI effects and ghostly images contained in the film hold up well under high definition. The haunted walls that exist in the film look very good as well. A number of older films have had their effects betrayed by the higher resolution, but "The Frighteners" has thus far stood the test of time.
Sound:
A very effective English Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtrack is provided on the HD-DVD disc. With a number of very aggressive and enveloping sequences throughout the film, "The Frighteners" can be very pleasing with its potent Dolby mix. Highs and lows are both captured nicely by the transfer and perfectly rendered to the audience. The bass is never overly heavy, but when the .1 LFE channel is called upon, it does the job notably. Imaging across all channels is done very nicely. When Bannister and company must battle Death, the evil spectre can be heard moving across all channels and it is easy to look over your shoulder in the direction of the sound effects more than once throughout the film. Dialogue is clear throughout the film and easily intelligible, except for one or two high action moments where strong audible effects compete with vocals. They are not completely drowned out, but the aggressive soundtrack does make a couple lines a little more difficult to hear.
Extras:
"The Frighteners" on HD-DVD is a port of the 2005 standard definition DVD release. The disc contains fourteen minutes of footage that was not seen theatrically. Some of these films are minor, such as a moving chicken and Peter Jackson´s cameo, but a number of longer scenes build characters with a little more depth. The film begins with A special introduction by director Peter Jackson. Jackson offers some historical facts on the making of the film and details why this film is of importance to him as a director and how the making of this film was beneficial for his large Hollywood productions. The director also takes part in an In-depth feature commentary. This was Peter Jackson´s first running commentary and the director does a very good job. Interesting was Jackson´s purposeful attempts at providing details that were not covered in the rather long documentary on the making of the film. Jackson is chatty and entertaining. As the inserted scenes appear, Jackson points them out and discusses their original removal. He also adds nice anecdotes on the making of the film.
The packaging lists only three supplemental materials. I had fully intended to post this review a day earlier, but I was not prepared for the sheer size of The Making of "The Frighteners" (3:45:35) documentary. Jackson had created this documentary for the LaserDisc market and had set out to create a grand documentary for LaserDiscs and had done so a couple of years before DVDs were available on market. This near four hour monster is just enormous. And, I am the kind of person that finds myself sitting through these making of documentaries in their entirety if they are good. This is easily one of the finest making of productions ever created. The film´s executive director, Michael J. Fox and other stars and Peter Jackson routinely appear in the feature, which was filmed during production. This features an introduction by Peter Jackson and is presented in 4:3 full frame. Every topic under the sun is covered in this making of feature and after sitting down to this four hour film, a very true sense of knowing all there is to know about Peter Jackson´s "The Frighteners" is had. Finally, the Theatrical Trailer ends the short, but very lengthy list of extras.
Closing Comments:
The biggest surprise for me was the massive making of documentary that is contained on this HD-DVD port of the 1995 standard definition DVD release. At four hours in length, this is chocked full of tidbits and details that adds value to the film itself. As for the film, "The Frighteners" is a fun-filled paranormal detective film starring Michael J. Fox. This is not ´old school´ Peter Jackson with insane amounts of campy gore and violence, but the director´s trademark can be seen throughout the film. Michael J. Fox and the supporting cast are all good in the film and while this isn´t one of the director´s Academy Award winning films, it is not a dreadful experience, but pleasantly entertaining. The HD-DVD features a strong picture and sound. I place this film third behind "Bad Taste" and "Braindead," and it is a far cry from the more serious Hollywood epics that Jackson has made for the previous number of years. As mentioned before, the documentary contained on this disc is just awesome. That alone would be worth purchasing. This is a nice little package, although the film may not be for everybody. "The Frighteners" has Jackson´s peculiar sense of humor, but lacks the cheesy fun of his older films.
![Lost [TV Series]](/images/displaymedia.php?id=23770&sizew=70&cat=3)
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]20754[/release]