...a multifaceted film of worlds within worlds that works at all levels and touches one in every direction.
Video:
In its 1080, VC-1 HD DVD transfer, the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio fills out a 16x9 widescreen television nicely. The video engineers maintain deep black levels and a clear, clean screen, the picture quality looking pretty much as I remember it from its theatrical release. However, I am one of the few people who didn't think the movie looked all that good in a theater, the colors seeming a bit too oversaturated for my taste, the facial hues too yellowish or too orangish, and the overall appearance too glossy. Of course, I'm sure this was del Toro's intention, to present better his idea of a fantasy world within a real world. So, although the colors may not be entirely normal or natural, neither is the film's story entirely normal or natural.
I have little doubt the HD DVD transfer remains faithful to the film's original print. The image is crisply detailed and delineated. The lush greens and browns of the forest show up well, and everything has an appropriate fairy-tale quality to it. A small warning, though: the film is violent and bloody, and the high-definition reproduction only intensifies the brutality. If you're at all squeamish at the sight of blood, seeing it in all its pristine glory may not be entirely right for you.
Audio:
New Line provide the movie with some of the finest audio I've heard in quite some time, a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 soundtrack. "Pan's Labyrinth" is in the main a quiet film, the music a soft lullaby, yet there are many moments of intense drama and horrific effects, too, of which the sound is very much a part. Appropriately, the new high-definition audio displays a very wide frequency response from lowest bass to highest treble; an extremely wide dynamic range from the softest flicker of leaves to the loudest gunshots and explosions; a strong, visceral impact, with exceptionally fast transient attacks; and an impressive low end, taut and deep. Equally important, though, there are subtle nuances that encircle the listener in the surrounds, especially evident during the forest and labyrinth scenes--noises in the forest, the "fairy" sounds of insects flittering around, and, of course, the inevitable thunder and rain. "Pan" has quite a lovely yet powerful soundtrack, and it easily takes its place alongside "Letters from Iwo Jima" as one of my sonic reference standards.
Extras:
New Line have carried over all of the extras from their two-disc special-edition DVD package to this HD DVD and added two more important items: an Enhanced Video Commentary (picture in picture) and some Web-enabled features available through your HD player's Internet connection. Del Toro introduces and narrates the Enhanced Video Commentary, which includes picture inserts of him and others of the filmmakers explaining things to us, plus two more options: productions galleries and storyboards that appear on the side of the screen and link-outs that take you deeper into the moviemaking. You can watch the Enhanced version of the movie with any one or all of the features enabled. In addition, the HD DVD's several Web bonuses include a scene shuffle and share, some trivia, highlights, polls, and a New Line portal.
Among the repeat items, there is a very brief prologue by del Toro and the director's uncommonly analytical, informative, no-nonsense audio commentary. If you're serious about the film, you might want to get serious about the audio commentary as well as the Enhanced Video Commentary.
The next items are all in standard definition. Among them, we find a set of brief featurettes that the disc's producer might well have combined into a single documentary. They are "The Power of Myth," fourteen minutes, in which the director discusses the story idea; "Pan and the Fairies," thirty minutes, in which the director discusses the movie's creatures and their design; and "The Color and The Shape," four minutes, in which the director discusses his choice of color palette.
After those, there is a section on the film's marketing campaign that includes poster art, trailers, and TV spots, followed by a "Charlie Rose Show" episode in which the host converses with filmmakers del Toro, Alfonso Cuaron, and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. Then, there are some DVD Comics, animated sequences from the film; a "Director's Notebook" containing del Toro's preliminary notes and sketches for the movie; a multi-angle storyboard and VFX plate comparison; and various galleries of creature design, production design, and the like.
Things conclude with twenty-two scene selections but no chapter insert; Spanish as the only spoken language; English and Spanish subtitles; English captions for the hearing impaired; pop-up menus; and an Elite Red HD case.
Parting Thoughts:
Be aware that despite the seeming fairy-tale motif of "Pan's Labyrinth," it is quite a harsh film, and its violence, while always at the service of the story, is most certainly too intense for youngsters. It carries an R rating for the ferocity of its bloodshed, as well it should. Please, do not be mislead into thinking the movie is a children's fantasy. It most assuredly is not.
The organization to which I belong, the Online Film Critics Society, voted "Pan's Labyrinth" the best Foreign Language Film of 2006. More important, the Wife-O-Meter, who is a far more demanding critic than anyone in the OFCS, gave the film a 9.998/10 vote. Who am I to argue?
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