Bounce: Special 2 Disc Edition (2000)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Drama	Main Menu Introduction Menu Animation & Audio Audio Commentary-Don Roos (Director) & Bobby Cohen (Co-Producer) Deleted Scenes-14 +/- commentary Music Video-Need To Be Next To You Featurette-All About Bounce Featurette-Ben And Gwyneth Go Behind The Scenes Outtakes-Gag Reel Featurette-Selected Scenes With Audio Commentaries (8)
Rating
Year Of Production	2000
Running Time	102:02
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (54:56) Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Don Roos
Studio Distributor	Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.	Starring	Ben Affleck Gwyneth Paltrow Joe Morton Natasha Henstridge Tony Goldwyn Johnny Galecki Alex D. Linz David Dorfman Jennifer Grey Caroline Aaron
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Dual
RPI	$39.95	Music	Mychael Danna

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired English	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	Yes, Coke
		Action In or After Credits	No

    The first version of this movie released on DVD in Region 4 was a rental — it was a one disc version, but not completely extra-free, because they gave us the first disc of the planned 2 disc Special Edition. Anyway, the movie hasn't changed, so here's what I said about it then:

    Bounce was advertised as a love story. It is that, but it is rather more. There is an intriguing question of ethics, too. You can enjoy this film as a romance, or you can think about it, and what you might do in the same circumstances.

    Buddy Amaral (Ben Affleck) is a rising young advertising man. He has just landed a huge deal with Infinity Airlines, much to the satisfaction of his friend and senior partner, Jim Weller (Joe Morton). He is about to fly home to LA from Chicago. When he gets to the airport he finds that all the flights are delayed or cancelled because of the snow. He chats with a couple of people in the bar: Greg Janello (Tony Goldwyn) and Mimi Prager (Natasha Henstridge). Greg accepts a deal (two free tickets and some money) to give up his seat on the flight to LA. On impulse, Buddy gives his boarding pass to Greg because Greg is talking about selling Christmas trees with his son, and Buddy would rather spend the night with Mimi. Seems like a great deal, right?

    Then the flight crashes, killing everyone on board.

    It shatters Buddy, and he starts drinking heavily. Later, he feels he owes something to Greg's family, so he looks them up. He finds Abby Janello (Gwyneth Paltrow) trying to manage on her own, with two children: Scott (Alex D Linz) and Joey (David Dorfman). She's working as a realtor (American language for real estate agent). He sets up a deal for her (because he feels guilty); she really appreciates it, and tries to pay him back (because she feels guilty) - a complicated state of affairs. They start to fall for each other. But, hanging over their heads is the truth of why he came into her life...

    This is a moving story about two damaged people who are better together than apart, even if it's hard to see how they can get together.

    These are magnificent performances from Ben Affleck (he really can act) and Gwyneth Paltrow (we already knew she could act, but this is a tour de force) - you can see everything on their faces. Oh, and really good work from Johnny Galecki as Buddy's assistant, and Caroline Aaron as Abby's close friend and confidante.

    Yes, this movie is a love story. And a lot more. Give it a try.

Video

    I'm pleased to report that the Special Edition has used a reprint of the rental disc (albeit with a lighter colour label) as Disc 1. That's a really good thing, because that disc was reference quality — I like it when something good is not messed up. Here's what I said about that disc back then:

    This film is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, 16x9 enhanced. That's the original theatrical aspect ratio.

    The picture is beautifully sharp and limpidly clear. Shadow detail is excellent. There's no low-level noise. This is reference-quality video — gorgeous stuff.

    Colour is beautiful — fully-saturated and lush; there's no over-saturation or colour bleed.

    There is no visible aliasing, no moire, and no MPEG artefacts. I saw one microscopic film artefact. This is a very clean transfer.

    There are subtitles in English: both plain subtitles, and captions for the Hearing Impaired. I sampled the plain subtitles, and watched the captions all the way through (while listening to the commentary - which helped me keep track of the story) - they are well-timed, accurate, and easy to read in white with black edging.

    The disc is single-sided and dual-layered (RSDL formatted). The layer change is at 54:56, at a scene change with no sound. It is pretty much invisible. Gotta love that.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    There are only two soundtracks; the film soundtrack proper (in Dolby Digital 5.1), and the commentary soundtrack (in Dolby Digital 2.0). I listened to both.

    The dialogue is easy to understand, and very natural. There are no audio sync problems.

    The score is by Mychael Danna. It is excellent, and beautifully suited to the movie. Interestingly, they mention during the commentary that the original score was lush and orchestral, and they asked for a much lighter score — that was definitely the right decision.

    The surrounds and the subwoofer get nothing significant to do — that's not a problem. They aren't missed, because this is a dialogue-oriented movie. For a frontal soundtrack, this is a nice job.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    Wow, there are a lot of extras, and a lot of content in them! You know there are a lot of extras when the extras disc is dual layered.

Menu

    The menu is animated with music, softly pleasant music. The one slip-up is that they didn't match the ends of the music — it starts to pick up, ends abruptly, and restarts quietly, which is a bit jarring.

Audio Commentary — Don Roos (writer / director) and Bobby Cohen (producer)

    This audio commentary is good, but not great. They discuss some interesting material, but there are some periods where they are busy talking about how wonderful it is to work with X, or how talented Y is — this gets a little tiresome.

Deleted Scenes with optional commentary (45:12)

    There are fourteen deleted scenes which can be viewed with original sound or with commentary from Don Roos and Bobby Cohen. They don't have a lot to say, often confining themselves to commenting on how obvious it was to cut the scene — you may as well watch the scenes without the commentary. They do mention where the scenes used to be in the film, but you can usually guess, anyway. The scenes are presented in editing form, with timing above and below the frame. They are not 16x9 enhanced.

    The last two deleted scenes are alternate endings. Both take place at the airport, but the first is at night, and the second during the day. I prefer the ending that's in the film.

Music Video — Need to be Next to You (3:25)

    This is a full frame music video of Leigh Nash performing this theme song. She gives a lovely performance.

Featurette — All About Bounce (22:00)

    This is a classic making of, made for the On The Set programme (shown on US cable TV). It's a bit better than the usual, with less mutual admiration, and rather more information. It gives some background to both the leads, the director, and the music. It is presented full frame, which is to be expected given that it's a TV programme.

Featurette — Ben and Gwyneth go behind the scenes (22:06)

    This is an interesting effort. The two leads interview a host of the crew, starting with the writer / director, but running through: boom man, sound mixer, co-producer, best boy - electric, gaffer, director's assistant (his sister!), still photographer, makeup artist, production assistant, Director of Photography, and hairstylist. Really interesting, and entertaining, as well as conveying some real information.

Featurette — Gag Reel (5:27)

    The usual fluffed lines, but even including a shot of Ben Affleck mooning the camera!

Selected Scenes with Commentary (40:33)

    Eight scenes presented with commentary from the director, Ben Affleck, and Gwyneth Paltrow. Rather interesting, but not providing a lot of new information. Makes it clear, if you hadn't guessed already, that these three really enjoyed working together.

    The Region 1 version of this disc is a two disc special edition, so it compares directly with this Special Edition.

    The Region 4 disc misses out on:

• French soundtrack
• Spanish subtitles
• eight trailers for other Miramax films
• TV spot for the Bounce soundtrack album
• theatrical teaser (2:04)

    The Region 1 disc misses out on:

• picture disc label
• standard thickness case (the Region 1 version has one of those ugly bulky cases)

    The R4 has slightly the better transfer for the movie; the difference is slight, but discernible.

    We have the most important extras (all the ones that relate to the movie, except for the teaser trailer). I can't see any reason to choose the R1 now, unless you really want French or Spanish. A definite win for the R4 release.

    Bounce is a marvellous film, given a superb transfer onto DVD.

    The video is reference quality.

    The audio quality is superb, but very much frontal.

    The extras are extensive, and quite interesting.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall