Mississippi Burning

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Drama	Theatrical Trailer(s)	Yes, 1 - 1.33:1 non-16x9, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
Rating		Other Trailer(s)	None
Year Released	1988	Commentary Tracks	None
Running Time	121:33 minutes	Other Extras	Biographies - Cast & Crew
RSDL/Flipper	No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region	2,4	Director	Alan Parker
Studio Distributor	Columbia TriStar	Starring	Gene Hackman Willem Dafoe
RRP	$34.95	Music	Trevor Jones

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	No	MPEG	None
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Dolby Digital	2.0
16x9 Enhancement	Yes	Soundtrack Languages	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 , 192 Kb/s) French (Dolby Digital 2.0 , 192 Kb/s) German (Dolby Digital 2.0 , 192 Kb/s) Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0 , 192 Kb/s) Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 , 192 Kb/s)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Macrovision	Yes	Smoking	Yes
Subtitles	English German French Spanish Italian Dutch	Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    The plot involves two FBI agents investigating the disappearance of civil rights workers in Mississippi. Willem Dafoe plays Ward - a straight suit who is disgusted with what he finds, yet plays it straight down the line all the way. Gene Hackman is superb as the ex-small town Sheriff, a man who is street-wise in the backward towns of southern America. Their relationship throughout the movie is uneasy and strained, yet they both have the same motive - to get to the truth. They are confronted by a town steeped in their ways of hatred for black people; indeed, even the local law are members of the Klan. This is a town at war with justice and basic human rights.

    The acting in the movie is superb, and the plot runs at a well timed pace. Perhaps the events in this movie did not happen as shown, but certainly no one can deny the truth behind the story.

Video

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, and it is 16x9 enhanced.

    Very early on it is apparent that this transfer is problematic, and the first indication of this is during the dark beginning scenes. Shadow detail here and throughout the movie is quite poor - dim areas appear black rather than dark. The transfer has quite a soft look to it, with little detail or clarity. There is a harshness to the image which is difficult to pin down to one particular area. I have my suspicions that this transfer is not a genuine PAL master, but simply a rehash of the old non-anamorphic NTSC transfer; however, I cannot confirm this. There was no low-level noise to speak of.

    The colours throughout the movie appear very odd. Again, it is hard to say why. Certainly the opening scenes with the flaming buildings are rendered very well, but in the brightness of day the colours appear recessed and muted. Skin tones do not look very natural, and there is a general faded quality to the image in this regard.

    There were at times image breakup due to MPEG compression artefacts, especially evident during the dusty introduction to the town of Mississippi. Motion blur was often apparent and particularly distracting. Of particular note is the style in which the movie is filmed. For some reason, parts of the movie are shot with high shutter speeds. This is VERY distracting as it destroys the persistence-of-vision illusion which motion pictures rely on the look natural and smooth; this is the same technique which sports events are often shot in to capture fine detail of fast movement, and is not appropriate for a motion picture at all. Film artefacts were prevalent and distracting during the first chapter, but virtually disappeared afterwards. Film-to-video artefacts consisted of mildly problematic aliasing.

Audio

    Dialogue was at all times clear and easy to understand.

    There were no problems with audio sync during the movie.

    The musical score by Trevor Jones is a mixture of deep, pulsing electronic tones and rich sometimes dissonant strings which effectively created tension and underpinned the emotional nature of many scenes. The front soundstage is very wide and detailed with a wonderful clarity and presence. Whilst not up to contemporary standards, it is nonetheless a fine soundtrack and was very satisfying.

    Surround presence is subtle yet effective. Whilst never calling attention to itself, the surround channel helped deepen the soundstage, particularly with the score.

    The subwoofer was called upon to strengthen the score and was well used at times.

Menu

U.S. Theatrical Trailer (1:08)

   Presented in 1.33:1, it is not 16x9 enhanced and is in Dolby Digital 2.0 mono. It has an unusual style, and gives a slightly biased indication of the plot.

Biographies - Cast & Crew

• 16 x 9 enhancement
• Biographies - Cast & Crew

• Audio Commentary - director Alan Parker
• Production notes

    The video quality is poor.

    The audio is very good for a surround mix.

    Little extras - and where's the commentary?

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall