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Category | Action | Theatrical Trailer(s) | None |
Rating | Other Trailer(s) | None | |
Year Released | 1990 | Commentary Tracks | None |
Running Time | 100:50 minutes | Other Extras | None |
RSDL/Flipper | No/No |
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Start Up | Movie | ||
Region | 2,4 | Director | Warren Beatty |
Distributor |
Warner Home Video |
Starring | Warren Beatty |
Case | Amaray | ||
RRP | $34.95 | Music | Danny Elfman |
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Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None | MPEG | None |
Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | Dolby Digital | 5.1 |
16x9 Enhancement | Yes | Soundtrack Languages | English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
French (Dolby Digital 5.1) Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0 ) |
Theatrical Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 |
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Macrovision | ? | Smoking | Yes |
Subtitles | English
English for the Hearing Impaired |
Annoying Product Placement | No |
Embroiled in all the action is Big Boy Caprice's girlfriend, Breathless Mahoney (Madonna) who fancies Dick Tracy.
The story doesn't really get much beyond the stereotypical good guy vs bad guy movie, but that is the nature of its origin and it remains true to form. It is predominantly shot in bright primary and secondary colours and retains an animated comic book feel. If you don't critically analyse the plot, it is a visually and aurally entertaining piece of filmmaking.
The transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. It is 16x9 enhanced.
The transfer was sharp and clear throughout, except for the odd amount of motion blur here and there. Shadow detail was generally quite good, but some scenes were a little lacking, such as the movie's climax which could have had more detail in the shots. There was no low level noise apparent.
The colours were strong and vibrant, consistent with the overall feel of the movie. Generally, the very large splashes of red, green and blue were perfectly rendered, though on rare occasions, there was a small amount of chroma noise apparent in the reds, and very occasionally the reds tended to bleed a little. This tended to happen early on in the movie, and this problem seemed to settle down as the movie progressed.
No MPEG artefacts were seen. Film-to-video artefacts consisted of a minor amount of aliasing on one shot of some venetian blinds, but no other artefacts of this type were seen. Film artefacts were surprisingly rare and virtually unnoticeable.
Dialogue was always clear and easy to understand.
There is a minor pop in the audio at 5:05.
There were no audio sync problems with this disc.
The musical score was by Danny Elfman and is in his usual quite whimsical style - eminently suited to the over-the-top imagery of this movie. Additionally, Stephen Sondheim composed a number of the more sophisticated songs in the score which were performed by Madonna. These were excellent and well in keeping with the overall feel of the movie.
The surround channels were used reasonably aggressively during this movie, with music and special effects placed throughout the soundfield. The overall effect was one of a nicely enveloping soundtrack.
The .1 channel was used nicely to support the action sequences and to support the music. It was very well integrated into the overall soundtrack.
The video quality is very good, especially considering the age of the movie.
The audio quality is very good.
The extras are non-existent.
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | nil |
Plot | |
Overall |
© Michael Demtschyna
29th July 1999
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DVD | Pioneer DV-505, using S-Video output |
Display | Loewe Art-95 95cm direct view CRT in 16:9 mode, via the S-Video input. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials. |
Audio Decoder | Denon AVD-2000 Dolby Digital AddOn Decoder, used as a standalone processor. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials. |
Amplification | 2 x EA Playmaster 100W per channel stereo amplifiers for Left, Right, Left Rear and Right Rear; Philips 360 50W per channel stereo amplifier for Centre and Subwoofer |
Speakers | Philips S2000 speakers for Left, Right; Polk Audio CS-100 Centre Speaker; Apex AS-123 speakers for Left Rear and Right Rear; Yamaha B100-115SE subwoofer |