Die Hard: With A Vengeance

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General		Extras
Category	Action	Theatrical Trailer(s)	Yes, 1 - 2.35:1 16x9 enhanced, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
Rating		Other Trailer(s)	Yes, 1 - Dolby Digital Canyon
Year Released	1995	Commentary Tracks	None
Running Time	123:46 minutes (not 128 as per packaging)	Other Extras	Menu Audio Cast Biographies Music Video-Summer In The City, The Lovin' Spoonful Cast Interviews
RSDL/Flipper	RSDL (107:06)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region	4	Director	John McTiernan
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Bruce Willis Jeremy Irons Samuel L. Jackson Graham Greene Colleen Camp Larry Bryggman Sam Phillips
RRP	$34.95	Music	Michael Kamen

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	No	MPEG	2.0 silent
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Dolby Digital	5.1
16x9 Enhancement	Yes	Soundtrack Languages	English (Dolby Digital 5.1, 448Kb/s) English (Dolby Digital 2.0 , 384Kb/s) English (MPEG 2.0 silent, 112Kb/s)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Macrovision	Yes	Smoking	Yes
Subtitles	None	Annoying Product Placement	Yes
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Our old friend John McClane (Bruce Willis) is back, this time with a sidekick - Zeus (Samuel L. Jackson). They are battling the apparently psychopathic Simon (Jeremy Irons) who threatens to blow up New York landmarks if John does not comply with his childish games. Greater things are afoot, however. Will John McClane triumph over the bad guys? C'mon, you know the answer to that question - the fun is in watching him do it.

Technical Note

    I have discussed my opinions of the earlier two attempts at Die Hard: With A Vengeance, and the article can be found here.

Video

    The transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. It is 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer is generally clear and sharp throughout with good shadow detail and no low level noise.

    The colours were clear and well-balanced, unlike the second version of this disc.

    There was one definite MPEG artefact seen, which was at 59:36. At this point, the picture momentarily loses definition and becomes pixelated. This is the same point at which the first master exhibited this problem, although it is not as bad in this version. The first master had a second MPEG artefact present, which appears to have been corrected in this version, leaving merely severe aliasing in its wake.

    Aliasing remains very problematic, with frequent and severe aliasing. This is not as bad as in the original master of this disc, where aliasing combined with dot crawl to create an almost unwatchable picture. Dot crawl is not present in this transfer, alerting us to the fact that at least this version has been taken from a component video source rather than from a composite video source. The level of aliasing on this disc is on a par with that seen in Fathers' Day.

    Film artefacts were not a problem.

    This disc is an RSDL disc, with the layer change at 107:06, between Chapters 20 and 21. There is an artificially inserted and unacceptable fade-to-black immediately before the layer change. This occurs right over the middle of an action sequence. This butchery of the film should not be acceptable under any circumstances. To top things off, the Noriko DVD player which I was watching this transfer with did not correctly continue playback after the layer change, dropping every second frame until I restarted the chapter.

    The running time of this movie is 123:46, not 128 minutes as claimed on the packaging.

Audio

    The dialogue was easy to understand at all times, though there was some distortion of the dialogue at times which I do not recall from any previous version of this DVD.

    I watched this DVD on a Noriko DVD-390K because it quickly became apparent that this disc also suffers from the usual Pioneer audio sync problem on my DV-505. There were no audio sync problems on the Noriko DVD player.

    The musical score by Michael Kamen was nicely suited to the on-screen action, without calling any particular attention to itself.

    The surround channels were aggressively used for action sequences, creating a nicely enveloping soundfield.

    The subwoofer was heavily used to support the action sequences.

Menu

Theatrical Trailer - 2.35:1, 16x9 enhanced, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono

Music Video - Summer In The City, The Lovin' Spoonful

Cast Biographies

Cast Interviews

• 16x9 Enhancement
• Cast Interviews

• Menu Animation
• Featurette
• Photo Gallery

    The video quality is better than previously presented, but still below par.

    The audio quality is good as long as your player is not affected by the audio sync problem. Pioneer DVD owners, especially owners of the earlier models, should rent this disc before purchasing it to verify that the problem is not present on their player.

    The extras are acceptable.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Michael Demtschyna
29th October 1999