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| Category | Thriller | Theatrical Trailer(s) | Yes, 1 |
| Rating |
| Other Trailer(s) | Yes, 1 - Dolby Digital City |
| Year Released | 1998 | Commentary Tracks | None |
| Running Time | 92 minutes | Other Extras | Filmographies |
| RSDL/Flipper | No/No |
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| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region | 4 | Director | Jonathan Darby |
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Distributor |
 
Columbia Tristar |
Starring | Jessica Lange
Gwyneth Paltrow Johnathon Schaech Nina Foch Hal Holbrook |
| Case | Transparent Amaray | ||
| RRP | $34.95 | Music | Christopher Young |
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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 2.0  )
English (Dolby Digital 5.1) French (Dolby Digital 5.1) |
| Theatrical Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 |
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| Macrovision | Yes | ||
| Subtitles | English
French Dutch Arabic |
Smoking | Yes |
Jackson (Johnathon Schaech) is about to marry Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow). Unfortunately, Jackson's mother, Martha (Jessica Lange), is quite possessive of Jackson, and wants him all to herself. She outwardly welcomes Helen, but has a secret and very nasty plan in mind.
I think that people rated this movie low because they hated the character of Martha. Let me tell you, she is a nastynasty woman. I found myself wanting to smash the DVD, the TV and anything I could get my hands on so I could end her nastiness (I didn't actually smash anything in the end). Heaven forbid that anyone could have a vicious, scheming mother or mother-in-law like this one!
The transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced.
The transfer was sharp and clear throughout, with the only issue being a number of scenes with some slight camera wobble. Shadow detail was excellent, and no low level noise was apparent.
The colours were quite heavily saturated, but not to the point of being actually oversaturated.
No MPEG artefacts were seen. Film-to-video artefacts were non-existent. There are a number of scenes in this transfer that just scream out "aliasing alert" but there is basically none of this ever seen. This is one aspect of Columbia Tristar transfers that is truly marvellous - they alone of all of the DVD producing studios seem to have conquered this artefact. Film artefacts were rare and pretty much unnoticeable.
Dialogue was almost always clear and easy to understand, with only the odd word here and there hard to make out.
There were no audio sync problems.
The score by Christopher Young was appropriate but unremarkable.
The surround channels were used for music and for a small amount of ambience, but not to any great degree.
The .1 channel was used lightly for music.
The video quality is flawless.
The audio quality is unremarkable.
The extras are very limited.
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© Michael Demtschyna
16th March 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 |