Pirates

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy Adventure	Theatrical Trailer(s)	None
Rating		Other Trailer(s)	None
Year Released	1986	Commentary Tracks	None
Running Time	107:13 minutes (not 124 minutes as stated on packaging)	Other Extras	Biographies - Cast & Crew Menu Audio & Animation Animated Scene Selections Production Notes
RSDL/Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region	4	Director	Roman Polanski
Studio Distributor	Force Video	Starring	Walter Matthau Richard Pearson Damien Thomas Olu Jacobs
RRP	$34.95	Music	Philippe Sarde

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Pan & Scan	MPEG	None
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	None	Dolby Digital	5.1
16x9 Enhancement	No	Soundtrack Languages	English (Dolby Digital 5.1, 448 Kb/s) English (Dolby Digital 2.0 , 192 Kb/s)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Macrovision	?	Smoking	No
Subtitles	None	Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Having said all that, it really is a B-movie, and that gives it free-reign to be an all-out pirating and swashbuckling affair. Most enjoyable, and a refreshing change.

Video

    The transfer is panned and scanned in an ugly aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and it is not 16x9 enhanced. This really takes me back to the brutal days of VHS (you remember that format of the last millennium....), and any framing of the 2.35:1 format intended by director Roman Polanski is well and truly butchered in this version. Do you get the impression that I don't approve of pan & scan? Well done! This alteration of the film to fit "the shape of our TVs"   is not acceptable at all, and any sea-sickness you might feel as the image swings abruptly here and there, coupled with the rocking of the galleon, is completely understandable!

    This is quite a poor print, and it exhibits very mediocre qualities. Whilst the image is fairly sharp, detail is not up to scratch. Shadow detail was non-existent - poorly lit areas were simply a uniform black, with no gradation - to my eyes, this effect was worsened due to the contrast level being too high, which also affected the colour balance. There was no low-level noise throughout the movie which I noticed above and beyond MPEG artefacting.

    Colours were somewhat over-saturated. The opening credits, which are red on black, bled dreadfully though thankfully this did not happen during the movie itself.

    Now then, this movie runs close to two hours and it is compressed onto one side. Couple this with fully enhanced menus, and the amount of bandwidth to compress this movie is reduced to below adequate levels. MPEG compression artefacting rears its ugly head almost all the time throughout the movie; especially during quick pans or fast-action. Low-level, low-contrast picture information is worst hit by this, and motion-blur occurs frequently. Whether this is a result of the transfer or compression is difficult to say, but nonetheless it is there. Having said that, the actual print itself simply does not demand any better; had this been a clean, 2.35:1 transfer in the first place, then I would say we need an RSDL disc because the movie itself is quite good.

    Film-to-video artefacts are not problematic. On the other hand, film artefacts are abundant though not particularly distracting; they consist mostly of small flecks and scratches, and only occasionally are they severe.

Audio

    There are two soundtracks, both English. One is Dolby Digital 5.1, the other Dolby Surround 2.0. Whilst it is always nice to have a 5.1 mix, I am thankful that Force decided to also include a matrix-surround mix also as this is far better! Whilst the original movie used a 6-track audio print, this 5.1 mix is simply a re-hash of the surround mix, with the front-stage delayed and repeated in the surround channels. This makes for a very echoey sound, as if you had your surround processor set to "Large Hall"! It is odd to hear sounds on a wooden raft in the middle of the ocean "echo" around the room - quite unnatural sounding, and I tired of it quickly. The Dolby Surround mix was, on the other hand, well balanced and much easier to listen to.

    Dialogue was at all times very clear and easy to understand; this is because all voices (and other sounds) we re-recorded by necessity given the nature of the on-location shooting, which sometimes gave them an unnatural sound but were on the whole well integrated into the mix.

    There were no real problems with audio sync during the movie.

    The musical score by Philippe Sarde is a most lively and fascinating one, and I enjoyed it quite a lot. Certainly, it fits the mood and is most appropriate for the action. It is well recorded, and very clean. With the 5.1 mix, it fills the room very nicely given that it is mostly orchestral work, however I did not listen to the whole movie in 5.1 given the above mentioned problems. In the 2.0 surround mix, it was less enveloping and quite centre-speaker biased.

    Surround presence is very nice in the Dolby Surround soundtrack, having subtle yet noticeable presence in the rear speakers when necessary. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, whilst sounding wonderfully enveloping initially, quickly became tiresome.

    The subwoofer was used a great deal, giving a nice bottom-end to cannon shots, guns and at times the score.

Menu

Biographies - Cast & Crew

Production Notes

• This movie entirely!

    The video quality is ugly and really lets the movie down.

    The audio is average.

    Great menus! Wow!

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall