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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
R.S.V.P. (2002)

R.S.V.P. (2002)

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Sell-Through Release Status Unknown
Available for Rent

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Thriller Main Menu Audio & Animation
Featurette-Behind The Scenes
Deleted Scenes-11
Featurette-Film Reviews
Theatrical Trailer
Trailer-Trash
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2002
Running Time 95:49 (Case: 100)
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (90:09) Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Mark Anthony Galluzzo
Studio
Distributor

Imagine Entertainment
Starring Rick Otto
Glenn Quinn
Lucas Babin
Brandi Andres
Reno Wilson
Jeanne Chinn
Jason Mewes
Daniel Joseph
Nora Zehetner
Majendra Delfino
Grave Zabriskie
Jonathan Banks
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI Rental Music Michael Muhlfriedel


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking Yes, frequent, not always tobacco
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits Yes

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    I'm not sure why, but there seems to be a rash of DVDs recently featuring actors from Buffy and Angel. You probably noticed a film about a dog, with Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) in it. But other recent appearances include Soul Survivors, with Faith (Eliza Dushku); Don's Plum, with Tara (Amber Benson); Beyond the City Limits, with Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and Wesley (Alexis Denisof); and now we have R.S.V.P., with Doyle (Glenn Quinn). It's probably worth mentioning that Eliza Dushku also appeared in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back with the eponymous Jay (Jason Mewes), who is another major player in this piece.

    Sad to say, Glenn Quinn died recently, at the age of 32. This is the last film he made, and one of the few opportunities he had to act with his natural Irish accent (his role on Angel was the first time he got to play an Irish part).

    Glenn Quinn plays Professor Hal Evans, a criminology expert with a fascination for murder, and serial killers in particular. He claims that the fastest path to fame is by committing a spectacular murder (or series of murders). Two of his students are Jim (Lucas Babin) and Nick (Rick Otto). Jim and Nick discuss the subject of murder with Hal, with Nick arguing that a truly spectacular mass-murder would be even more impressive than serial killing. Nick is fascinated by the challenge of getting away with several murders at once, more than a series of individual killings.

    If such a calm, almost dispassionate, discussion of murder turns your stomach, then this is definitely not your film. Arguments over how much style a particular killer exhibited, and whether random killing is to be preferred over selective choice of victim, will probably upset you. Nick expresses admiration of the real-life case that inspired Hitchcock's Rope. He is very impressed with the idea of murdering someone, stuffing the body into a chest, and then holding a party for the deceased in the same room (with no one knowing why the victim hasn't shown up at the party).

    It's the last day of college, and Jim is leaving for a six-month job. Nick throws a party in Jim's honour, in his uncle Atticus's apartment. The first guest to arrive is Terry (Jason Mewes — playing a character indistinguishable from Jay — can he play any other part?), followed by Jim's girlfriend Jordan (Brandi Andres). Then three musicians: Garrett (Reno Wilson), Cricket (Jeanne Chinn), and Skyles (Daniel Joseph), followed by Jim's aunt (Grace Zabriskie), uncle (Jonathan Banks), and sister Leigh (the gorgeous Nora Zehetner). Professor Hal also shows. It's a fairly normal party, if your idea of normal includes marijuana and cocktails.

    Things start to get a little weird, and Jim hasn't shown yet. Nick is clearly up to something...

    This is a very black comedy, with plenty of suspense, and some thrills. It's not a major work of art, but it is rather entertaining, if you are open to the idea.

    As an aside: there's a mistake at 13:04 — see if you spot it.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    This DVD is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, and is 16x9 enhanced. The original aspect ratio is 1.85:1, so this is quite close.

    The picture is quite clear, but somewhat grainy — it looks fairly sharp while in motion, but any time you hit Pause the grain becomes obvious. There's no low-level noise, and shadow detail is rather good.

    Colour is very good, with no colour-related artefacts — even the neon signs look good.

    There are only a few film artefacts, but there are a couple of noticeable white spots at 3:43 and 22:36. For a brand-new film that's a bit disappointing. There's some mild aliasing, such as on the metalwork at 1:57, but it's never bothersome. There's no moire, and no MPEG artefacts.

    All things considered, this is quite a decent transfer of a lightly grained film.

    There are no subtitles, which is a shame — a couple of moments of dialogue would have been easier to understand with subtitles.

    The disc is single sided and dual layered, formatted RSDL. The layer change is at 90:09, nearly at the end of the film. It happens on a still scene, and is not especially noticeable, except that the still scene lasts a bit longer than seems natural.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The soundtrack is provided in English, in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0. I listened to the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack.

    The dialogue is mostly quite clear, but a couple of lines are not too clear — nothing that affects the plot, though. There are no audio sync problems.

    The score is from Michael Muhlfriedel, and suits the movie just fine. There are some songs and other pieces of music, including some classical music.

    The subwoofer gives support to the lowest register of the soundtrack, and there's not a lot more we can ask of it. The surrounds deepen the soundstage, but there isn't a whole heap of directional sound.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Menu

    The menu is animated with music. Nice design - something a little different from usual, but still easy to operate.

Featurette — behind the scenes (19:47)

    This is an assemblage of less than perfect video footage (apparently the camera suffered an accident or two!), making an interesting look behind the scenes of this film. Rather different from the usual fluff-piece.

Deleted Scenes (15:29)

    Eleven deleted or extended scenes, including an entire sub-plot concerning another murder. There's no commentary or introduction by the director, which is a pity, because it's good to hear why scenes were deleted. It would have been more convenient to have a Play All control — each scene must be selected individually.

Film Reviews (0:46)

    Quotes from some reviewers of the film. Nothing special.

Theatrical Trailer (1:34)

    Some important spoilers are revealed by this trailer — do not watch it before you see the film.

Trailer — Trash (2:00)

    Trailer for another film by the same director.

Website

    There's a web-site for this film: http://www.rsvpthemovie.com/

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    This film is not yet released (or even announced) on DVD in Region 1.

Summary

    An interesting, if a little gruesome, film, given a good transfer to DVD.

    The video quality is good.

    The audio quality is very good.

    The extras are decent.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Tony Rogers (bio-degrading: making a fool of oneself in a bio...)
Saturday, December 28, 2002
Review Equipment
DVDSony DVP-NS905V, using Component output
DisplaySony VPH-G70 CRT Projector, QuadScan Elite scaler (Tripler), ScreenTechnics 110. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationDenon AVC-A1SE
SpeakersFront Left, Centre, Right: Krix Euphonix; Rears: Krix KDX-M; Subwoofer: Krix Seismix 5

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