Quiz Show


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Details At A Glance

General
Extras
Category Drama Theatrical Trailer(s) No
Rating Other Trailer(s) No
Year Released 1994 Commentary Tracks No
Running Time
127:18 minutes
(not 131 mins)
Other Extras No
RSDL/Flipper FLIPPER (66:42)
Cast & Crew
Start Up Movie
Region 2,4 Director Robert Redford
Studio
Distributor

Warner Home Video
Starring John Turturro
Rob Morrow
Ralph Fiennes
David Paymer
Paul Scofield
RRP $34.95 Music Mark Isham
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)
Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0 , 192 Kb/s)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
Miscellaneous
Macrovision Yes Smoking Yes
Subtitles English
Dutch
Portuguese
English For The Hearing Impaired
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits Yes

Plot Synopsis

    Did you, like me, ever wonder if there were some people on Sale Of The Century who were just a little too clever? Maybe they know a little too much about everything. What if they were being fed the answers, and the whole show was "fixed?" If that seems a little far-fetched to you, then you might think a little differently after watching Quiz Show. Basically, the people who run the Quiz Show are in the "entertainment business", as they put it, and it is their job to keep the sponsors happy, the network happy, and the audience happy. Everybody wins .... maybe.

    This movie raises some very strong moral questions, and you will have to solve them yourselves - without anyone telling you the right answer. A strong cast and a good movie. Ralph Fiennes plays innocence turned in a relaxed manner, and I felt a little more depth to his character would have aided in the drama, but that might be being picky. Watch out for a small bit part from Martin Scorsese as the ever tight-lipped sponsor.

Transfer Quality

Video

    The transfer is on the whole very nice, and only some niggling concerns of mine stop this from being of reference quality.

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

    Sharpness was at all times very high, whilst at the same time having a "soft" look to it. This gave the image a film-like appearance, and is a quality which agrees with me and seems to be the norm for Hollywood Pictures productions. Shadow detail is extremely good, and there is not a hint of low-level noise.

    The rendering of colours is quite superb, having a wonderfully natural look. It is a perfect colour balance, and skin tones are very realistic.

    Unfortunately for me, I am cursed with a condition which allows me to pick the slightest MPEG artefacting from 100 paces blindfolded, and I found it here. It is subtle, and consists of macro-blocking in background scenes, especially noticeable during panning. However, this is being very picky and it only slightly distracts from the otherwise high-quality compression. Film artefacts are very rare and are trivial at best. To round off the excellent presentation there are absolutely NO film-to-video artefacts.

    This disc is a dreaded FLIPPER, with the turn-over point occurring at 66:42 minutes. It must be said, however, that this is a perfect spot for this, and it is not intrusive to the flow of the movie.

Audio

    There are three soundtracks on this disc, being English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround, French Dolby Digital 2.0 surround and Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 surround. It is interesting - not to say annoying - that the soundtrack cannot be changed on the fly. I find this particularly irritating as it is only a switch from a software point of view, and seems unnecessary to me ....

    Dialogue was at all times clear and easy to understand, but was often coarse-sounding, and sometimes distorted as a result.

    There were only occasional problems with audio sync during the movie, the result of sloppy ADR work.

    The music is generally unremarkable, although there are some good classic pieces. A particular favourite of mine "Mac The Knife" begins the movie, and that immediately started it off on a high note with me! The front sound-stage is wide and clear.

    This is a stunningly good surround mix, and one of the best I have heard. Whilst the surrounds are not aggressive, they are used frequently and to excellent effect. Of particular note are the courtroom scenes towards the end of the movie - here is the finest use of matrix encoding you will find, and it almost has a 5.1 feel to it with the rears being surprisingly discrete.

    The subwoofer was used frequently for music, and also for sound effects. This rounded off the frequency of the mix, and made up somewhat for the shrill upper register from the vocals.

Extras

Menu

    The menu design is themed, and is wholly unremarkable.

R4 vs R1

    The R1 version misses out on:     The R4 version misses out on:     Most definitely the R4 is the version of choice, given that we have a very nice anamorphic version! Gosh, those Yanks are cheesed with Disney.... hehehehe! (snigger)

Summary

    A gripping drama with a touch of suspense makes for a fine night's viewing, though you might be annoyed with it being a flipper. I was not particularly disturbed.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio is only matrix surround, but is nonetheless excellent.

    Extras? Huh?

Ratings (out of 5)

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Extras  
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© Paul Cordingley
10th 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