Manchurian Candidate, The (HD DVD)

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However, after this initial scene, "The Manchurian Candidate" shines. Colors are quite vivid and detail is incredibly sharp. The picture takes on a definite 3D quality during many scenes. You can see every whisker and pock mark on Denzel´s face. The salt and pepper look of his stubble is very easy to spot on HD-DVD, where it was not so apparent on the SD-DVD release. Black levels are deep and dark. The scene where Marco and Shaw are ambushed looks very good visually and the dark blues and blacks from this night sequence are very cold and appealing in hue. There is some film grain throughout the picture, but it is never distracting and hardly noticeable. Contrast and skin tones are quite good, though skin looked slightly pink here and there. Maybe it was just Meryl Streep´s makeup.

Sound:

"The Manchurian Candidate" comes equipped with two English surround soundtracks. Both Dolby Digital Plus and DTS 5.1 mixes are included. French and Spanish speaking folk can select overdubbed 5.1 mixes in their native languages. Before watching this HD-DVD, I checked out "Click" at the Elks Theatre in Middletown, Pennsylvania. The Elks is one of the longest running theaters in North America. It is a throw back to the good old days. Balcony seating and a large screen. Well, "Click" has a funny scene where Adam Sandler selects "Spanish," so I had to watch a scene or two in Spanish after watching the film entirely in English. It was enough to humor me and write about it in the review. The soundtrack sounded pretty good in Espanol and this probably the first and last time I´ll spend time reviewing a Spanish alternate soundtrack.

Back to the English speaking world, "The Manchurian Candidate" sounded pretty good. Dolby Digital Plus continued its dominance over DTS as the folks at Dolby presented a slightly better sounding experience. The soundtrack for "The Manchurian Candidate" is good, but nothing overly exciting. A few scenes sound very good and feature good directional effects. Namely the ambush sequence and one or two dramatic moments where the theatrical score helps pick up the suspense. This is a thriller and not an action film, so this is not a film that would warrant an aggressive soundtrack. Most of the film´s sounds come from the front three speakers. Dialogue is quite clear, bass is deep in the few fleeting moments when it is called upon. The soundtrack is clean and clear and does the job.

Extras:

All of the great supplements from the original standard definition DVD have been carried over for the HD-DVD release. This has been a great trend for Paramount to continue with, though I eagerly await HD only extras. The Commentary by Director Jonathan Demme and Screenplay Co-Writer Daniel Pyne is a very good running commentary. The two men are quite chatty and informative. One of the hot topics is, of course, the process of remaking such a classic film. They cover choices made in updating the original story and provide a lot of background on changes between the two pictures. Demme and Pyne are very relaxed in their commentary and always have something to say. This is certainly in the best twenty five percentile of commentaries and should be checked out.

The prerequisite press kit style documentaries are included that detail the making of the film. The Enemy Within: Inside The Manchurian Candidate runs for about fifteen minutes. Most of the principal cast and crew offer a few bits and pieces during the relatively short featurette. Some nice behind-the-scenes features are thrown in, but with only fifteen minutes, this is right out of the cookie sheet and never dives into anything for more than a couple quick quotes. The Cast of The Manchurian Candidate is another relatively short reaturette that spends more time looking at the actors and the characters of the film. A few nice bits of insight are given on the characters in this dozen minute featurette.

A few nice supplements are included aside from the commentary and making of featurettes. First up are 5 Deleted Extended Scenes with Optional Commentary by Jonathan Demme and Daniel Pyne These five scenes would have been nice additions to the main picture and are simply longer versions of existing scenes. Demme and Pyne provide insight as to why they were excised, but I enjoyed them and thought they would have added more to the storyline. A very quick Outtakes with Optional Commentary by Jonathan Demme and Daniel Pyne is your typical outtake reel and I thought it a bit funny that commentary was provided. Liev Schreiber Screen Test is exactly what it sounds like. It is Liev Schrieber´s screen test. Why does Microsoft Word continually make ´Liev´ into ´Live´? Political Pundits with Optional Director Commentary shows that Demme really cared about his film as he continued to add commentary tracks to pretty much everything. This is a look at the political climate today and if you are into politics, here is fifteen minutes for you. Not for me. Finally, Paramount continues to throw in HD trailers and the Theatrical Trailer is provided here.

Closing Comments:

I didn´t mind watching "The Manchurian Candidate." However, I felt the film was subpar when compared to the Frank Sinatra original. The story is remade and retold in more modern times and features a bit more science into the brainwashing than the original. This is a decent thriller in its own right, but on its own, it does not rise against the large number of similar films and sits comfortably in the shadow of its predecessor. Hollywood needs to start using Liev Schreiber more. And Microsoft needs to stop changing my words. Denzel is in autopilot here, but he is still pretty damn good. The HD-DVD transfer is very good looking and the sound isn´t bad, but nothing to get excited over. Paramount has included all of the supplements from the standard definition DVD. Though this is not a great film, it is still something that fans of Denzel will want to watch and those that enjoyed the original may also want to see what Jonathan Demme cooked up.

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