Go

Deluxe Collector's Edition


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Details At A Glance

General
Extras
Category Comedy Theatrical Trailer(s) Yes, 1 - 1.78:1 non 16x9, Dolby Digital 5.1
Rating Other Trailer(s) Yes, 1 - Dolby Digital Trailer City (in 2.0)
Year Released 1999 Commentary Tracks Yes, 1 - Director & Editor
Running Time 97:48 minutes Other Extras Main Menu Audio & Animation
Featurette - Behind The Scenes (6:20)
Deleted Scenes (x14)
Music Videos (x3)
- "New" by No Doubt
- "Magic Carpet Ride" by Philip Steir with Steppenwolf
- "Steal My Sunshine" by Len
Biographies - Cast & Crew
RSDL/Flipper RSDL (70:36 minutes)
Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region 2,4 Director Doug Liman
Studio
Distributor

Columbia TriStar
Starring Scott Wolf
Jay Mohr
William Fichtner
Katie Holmes
Sarah Polley
RRP $39.95 Music BT

 
Video
Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None MPEG None
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Dolby Digital 5.1
16x9 Enhancement
Soundtrack Languages English (Dolby Digital 5.1, 384 Kb/s) 
German (Dolby Digital 5.1, 384 Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary (Dolby Digital 2.0 , 192Kb/s)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
Miscellaneous
Macrovision Yes Smoking Yes
Subtitles English
German
Dutch
Polish
Czech
Hungarian
Icelandic
Hindi
Hebrew
Turkish
Danish
Swedish
Finnish
Norwegian
Greek
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

Plot Synopsis

    I was a bit hesitant when I was asked to review this movie. On the surface, it looked like another ho-hum romp into the seedy life of young drug-taking rave-going "youths", and not at all my type of movie. Thankfully, I couldn't have been further from the truth. This is a thoroughly well made, clever and above all entertaining example of this genre done right.

    If you like Pulp Fiction (which, by the way, I don't) you will feel at home with the style of this movie, or at least the spirit of the style. That is to say, the movie is not your average linear excursion through time which we are used to; rather, it consists of three what is best described as "short stories" which all follow the basic plot but from different angles and/or time frames. The first story, called "Ronna" focuses on a girl who wants to make some extra cash via a drug deal. Her usual dealer is out of town, in Vegas, so she goes direct to the source which he gets his drugs from, and sells over his head. This, of course, gets her into trouble and her fate initially seems terminal. The next story, "Simon", follows the same dealer's trip to Vegas, and the hilarious antics which befall him and his friends. The last story, "Adam and Zack" are the glue for these two stories, and we see a sting operation in action. This movie could have been a mess, given the complexity of the plot; however, it is handled with care and director Doug Liman has done a superb job with  keeping this cohesive and well paced.

    The difference between this movie, and others which would want to be as good is that there is some really good acting here. What? This is a brilliantly edited movie, with great music, great camera work and a good, inventive story. We can't have all that and acting, can we? Well, that is the surprise to this movie. The performances by all involved make this movie a little special, and perch it clearly above the pack of "also ran" movies. The lack of good acting to carry any plot results in such lame efforts as Jawbreaker. However clever the intentions, it all falls apart without this magic ingredient.

    As for the truly inspired scenes in this move, you can't go past William Fichtner as the very creepy cop-cum-Amway recruiter; funny stuff, and I feel he will go far as an actor. Scott Wolf even puts in a good performance; however Jay Mohr is brilliant. His facial expressions during some, shall we say, difficult periods are classic. The rest of the cast are beginners, and I can see Sarah Polley enjoying many more roles on the strength of her performance here.

    And as for my comparisons with Pulp Fiction, the one reason I like this movie above all, is that there is almost NO VIOLENCE. Hurrah! See, you don't have to kill people left, right and centre to make a unique movie.

    I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and heartily recommend it to anyone who wants to experience something refreshing, different and unique.

Transfer Quality

Video

    An excellent transfer is what we have here, and it is by all means reference quality. All DVDs should look this good ...and pigs might fly.

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced.

    The image was uniformly sharp and very detailed. Shadow detail was perhaps a little less than perfect at times, but otherwise it was fine and well acceptable. Film grain was not evident for the majority of the film, which is all the more impressive given the high contrast the print exhibits. There was no low level noise.

    The colours were rendered extremely well, with skin tones being extremely well presented. The rest of the palette did seem to have an ever so slightly "hard" look to it, unlike most other Columbia TriStar films which are generally softer. This does not detract from the look in any way, it is just slightly different. The colours are certainly well saturated and very pleasing.

    I simply could not see any hint of MPEG artefacting throughout this movie - none at all. I can usually spot tell-tale signs here and there, but not with Go. It is extremely well authored in this respect. There was also no film-to-video artefacting of any kind, even when there could have been plenty with less careful transfers. There were occasional film artefacts, but very minor and only in a few scenes. The print was on the whole very clean indeed.

    This disc is RSDL formatted, with the layer change occurring at 70:36 minutes. This is mid-scene, but is so quick and well-placed as to be non-intrusive. Indeed, I did not notice it on my first viewing.

Audio

    This is a rocking soundtrack, and it brought many a smile to my face. In keeping with the great video, this is a reference soundtrack.

    There are two audio tracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1 and German Dolby Digital 5.1. Naturally, I listened to the default English soundtrack.

    Dialogue was at all times clear and easy to understand, with only one instance of distortion during the entire movie.

    There were no problems with audio sync during the movie.

    The music is credited to a "BT", whoever he/she may be (okay, I know I'm not hip - am I meant to know? Throw me a frickin' bone). This is a brilliant soundtrack, and it fits the mood and action of the film to perfection. The music was well recorded, with clarity and detail the likes of which would make a grown man weep. I was pleased to hear "Steal My Sunshine", albeit only briefly during the movie, and was thrilled to find that it is included as a music video! Sweet! The music is dynamic, thumping and full of energy, with bass aplenty enough for even the most serious raver.

    The surrounds got plenty of action with this aggressive soundtrack, and they were put to very good use. The rears were very well integrated into the mix, and had the effect of immersing you into the movie. Want to hear what it is like to be stoned? Well, you will know after watching this movie...

    The subwoofer was also put to heavy use, giving weight to the music and really having a good time with it all. Excellent stuff. "BT", whoever you are, well done.

Extras

    Roll up, roll up. Come and get yeeeeer extras.

Menu

    The menu system is very well implemented, and up there with the best of them. The main menu has audio and animation enhancement, which they all should have but sadly don't. The dissolve from the main menu to sub menus is also a nice touch.

Commentary - Director & Editor

    This is a very good commentary, with both the Director (Doug Liman) and the Editor (Stephen Mirrone) speaking in centre-channel over the muted soundtrack. These men obviously had a great time making this movie, and are very proud of it - as they should be. Well worth a listen.

Theatrical Trailer (1:12)

    A short, sharp, fast trailer very much in the mood of the movie. Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 non-16x9 enhanced and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio.

Featurette - Behind The Scenes (6:20)

    This is a better-than-average promotional trailer, and is well presented in 1.33:1, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono.

Deleted Scenes - 14

    A rather good collection of scenes which are sometimes not in the movie, but often are. Consider them out-takes more than anything else. As a nice touch, they are all in 2.35:1, but not 16x9 enhanced, and in Dolby Digital 2.0 mono.

Dolby Digital Trailer - City

    Hmmm. Message to Columbia TriStar - your fab 5.1 audio demonstration is still wrongly encoded in 2.0. Won't someone fix it? Please!

R4 vs R1

    The R4 version misses out on:     Clearly, given the superiority of the PAL format, the local R4 version is the choice. Given the excellent use of the 2.35:1 framing of this movie, the mind boggles at the thought of this being watched in Pan & Scan (shudder). Oooh .. not good. Also interesting is the fact that R1 has two copies of the film on the one disc, whereas our single-ratio version has plenty of room to breathe on the RSDL disc. Interesting.

Summary

    A thoroughly entertaining and very different movie. I enjoyed it immensely.

    The video quality is perfect. You are not going to do much better than this.

    The audio is also of excellent quality - enveloping and dynamic.

    Being a Deluxe Collector's Edition, we have the extras we pay for. Plenty.

Ratings (out of 5)

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© Paul Cordingley
23rd January, 2000
Review Equipment
   
DVD Panasonic A350A; S-Video output
Display Pioneer SD-T43W1 125cm Widescreen 16x9
Audio Decoder Internal Dolby Digital 5.1 (DVD Player)
Amplification Sony STRDE-525 5x100 watts Dolby Pro-Logic / 5.1 Ready Receiver, 4 x Optimus 10-band Graphic EQ
Speakers Centre: Sony SS-CN35 100 watt, Main/Surrounds: Pioneer CS-R390-K 150-watt floorstanders, Subwoofer: Optimus 100-watt passive