Chasing Amy: Collector's Edition (Shock) (1996)

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General		Extras
Category	Romantic Comedy	Main Menu Audio & Animation Scene Selection Anim & Audio Introduction Audio Commentary Deleted Scenes Outtakes Theatrical Trailer System Setup-Colour Bars (with introduction)
Rating
Year Of Production	1996
Running Time	108:30 (Case: 105)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (25:17)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Kevin Smith
Studio Distributor	Shock Entertainment	Starring	Ben Affleck Joey Lauren Adams Jason Lee Dwight Ewell Jason Mewes Kevin Smith
Case	PUSH-23
RPI	$59.95	Music	David Pirner

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Auto Pan & Scan Encoded	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) English Audio Commentary 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	None	Smoking	Yes, constant
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Chasing Amy is a brilliant film. I really like this film, even though it makes me angry every time I watch it — (SPOILER ALERT: highlight with mouse to read) a guy gets something he has no right to expect, then completely screws it up. This is the third film in Kevin Smith's New Jersey trilogy. The complete trilogy is: Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. I think this is the best film of the lot.

    The first version of Chasing Amy released in Australia was presented at 1.33:1 — it was pan-and-scan, and that was a dreadful decision. This film was shot to be seen in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 — that's how we should be seeing it. The Region 1 version is a Criterion Collection DVD, presented widescreen, 16x9 enhanced. I really rather liked the Criterion Collection disc, even though it has more film artefacts than I'd expect for a Criterion disc. This new release Australian disc was a bit of a surprise — it has the Criterion Collection label on the menu, the extras made for the Criterion disc (with many mentions of the Criterion Collection, including an appearance by Susan from Criterion) — but the important thing is that this version is widescreen, 16x9 enhanced, just as it should be. We get a PAL transfer, which is good to see.

    I went to a lot of trouble in my previous review of Chasing Amy not to give away the plot, so I won't spoil that here. There are so many brilliant scenes in this film — like the early scene with Dwight Ewell, for example.

    This disc is currently only available in a box set with Clerks, but that is not a tragedy — the version of Clerks included is the new widescreen version, too. If you want one of these movies, you'll probably want the other, too.

Video

    This DVD transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. It is 16x9 enhanced. That is the intended aspect ratio, which is exactly what we want.

    The image is a bit soft, but actually sharp enough to enjoy — the softness looks like it is attributable to film grain (the film was shot on Super 16 colour film), but that's not the whole reason — the R1 transfer is not quite as soft, indicating that grain isn't the only reason. Shadow detail is rather good. There's no low-level noise.

    Colour is really rather good. There are no colour-related artefacts.

    There are quite a few film artefacts, but I suspect they are rather difficult to avoid — every version I've ever seen has shown plenty of film artefacts. Admittedly, the original R4 was really awful, and this is much better, but that doesn't mean that this transfer is clean — there are plenty of film artefacts, flecks, spots, hairs, and so forth, but they are mostly small, momentary, and not annoying. There's some mosquito noise in addition to the film grain, especially in backgrounds.

    There's no significant aliasing, no moire, and no other noticeable MPEG artefacts.

    There are no subtitle tracks. That's a real shame — it means that hearing-impaired viewers can't enjoy this new and improved transfer. The Region 1 disc offers subtitles for the hearing impaired.

    The disc is single-sided and dual-layered, formatted RSDL. The layer change is at 25:17. It is rather obvious, and a bit jarring, because the sound is interrupted. If anything, it's even more jarring on the commentary.

    When the movie ends, and all the credits have rolled, the DVD stops playing, rather than returning to the menu. The only other disc I've seen do this is the Clerks disc included in the same box as this one. I don't like it — I'm used to discs returning to the menu.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The soundtrack is provided in English, in Dolby Digital 2.0, not surround encoded, at 192kbps. The commentary is the same: Dolby Digital 2.0, not surround encoded, at 192kbps. This is not the same soundtrack as on the previous R4 version — it's better quality, even though the previous one was 224kbps (that one had quite audible hiss).

    The dialogue is clear and comprehensible. There are no visible audio sync problems.

    David Pirner has provided an interesting score. There are lots of contemporary songs too, well-chosen to add to the atmosphere.

    This 2.0 soundtrack, not surround-encoded, provides no signal for the surrounds and subwoofer. It is a stereo soundtrack with some width to the soundstage, but nothing special.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    Unlike the original R4 disc, this one offers extras. Rather good ones.

Menu

    The menu is animated, with music. It is the menu from the R1 Criterion Collection disc — not only is it identical, but it has "The Criterion Collection" across the top, which is a touch inappropriate, given that the Criterion Collection hasn't been released in R4 (or is that something they are about to announce?). I suspect that the menu has been converted directly from NTSC to PAL — it shows some ugly aliasing.

Introduction (2:59)

    This introduction by Kevin Smith is basically a long apology for his decrying of DVD at the start of the commentary — the commentary was originally recorded for laserdisc, back at the very beginning of the DVD era, before it became obvious that laserdisc was dead and DVD ruled.

Audio Commentary

    This commentary features Kevin Smith, but he is accompanied by Ben Affleck, Scott Mosier (producer and bit-part player), Jason Mewes (not drunk this time), Robert Hawk (associate producer), Jon Gordon (Miramax), and Vincent Pereira. It's a typical Kevin Smith commentary, with a lot of really interesting information buried in among some abuse of Ben Affleck, and the occasional pointless anecdote. He points out a couple of scenes that were thrown into Chasing Amy after being dropped from the earlier films Clerks and Mallrats. It is well worth a listen.

Trailer (3:15)

    It is not often that you get an introduction to a trailer, but Kevin Smith likes to defy tradition...

Deleted Scenes

    There are ten deleted scenes, each introduced by Kevin Smith and/or other guilty parties. There's an introduction to this section playing on the menu — it's worth watching.

• tell 'em Steve-Dave (5:12)
• the original love story (6:00)
• bring on the free hooch (1:54)
• money and power (7:20)
• help a brother out (1:19)
• the right man (2:18)
• shoes? (1:56)
• b****, you're schooling no-one (2:16)
• a more tolerant age (3:54)
• the mata-f—ing-hari (2:29)

Outtakes (5:28)

    These are included in the deleted scenes menu, but they are outtakes rather than deleted scenes.

Colour Bars (1:54)

    Now here's a silly thing: Jason Mewes introducing colour bars.

    The Region 1 disc is a Criterion Collection disc. The Criterion Collection discs are supposed to be the best possible efforts, at a premium price (although this disc has been marked down from the original price I paid). This Region 4 release has all of the extras that were included on the Criterion disc — it even uses the Criterion menu.

    The Region 4 disc is missing:

• 5.1 soundtrack
• subtitles
• interesting and informative 8 page booklet

    The Region 1 disc is missing:

• 2.0 soundtrack

    The interesting part is the respective video transfers. The R1 video is a bit dark, causing some of the finer details to disappear, but it's a little sharper, and shows slightly fewer film artefacts. The R4 video is brighter, showing better shadow detail, but a few more film artefacts. Honestly? Neither is perfect. Both are acceptable.

    The 5.1 soundtrack sounds like a big plus to the Criterion disc, but it really isn't that huge a difference. Oh, you can tell the difference, but this is a dialogue-driven movie, and it doesn't need the surround sound.

    In the end, it comes down to this: if you have the Criterion disc, then you don't need this one. If you don't have it, then you have a decision to make, and I don't envy you — I'm leaving the choice up to you.

    Another re-release of a Kevin Smith film that is a huge improvement over the initial version.

    The video quality is good, hurt only by fairly frequent film artefacts.

    The audio quality is good.

    The extras are very good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall