The Duellists (1977)

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General		Extras
Category	Action	Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Ridley Scott (Director) Isolated Musical Score-and commentary by Howard Blake Featurette-Duelling Directors: Ridley Scott & Kevin Reynolds Storyboard Comparisons-Storyboards; Storyboard/Shot Comparison (Multi-Angle) Featurette-Boy And Bicycle: Ridley Scott's First Short Film Gallery-Photo-Portraits; From The Film; Behind The Scenes Gallery-Poster-International Posters Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	1977
Running Time	96:26
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (76:51)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Ridley Scott
Studio Distributor	Paramount Home Entertainment	Starring	Keith Carradine Harvey Keitel Albert Finney Edward Fox Cristina Raines Tom Conti John McEnery
Case	?
RPI	$24.95	Music	Howard Blake

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English Danish German Spanish French Italian Dutch Norwegian Swedish English for the Hearing Impaired English Audio Commentary German Audio Commentary Spanish Audio Commentary French Audio Commentary Italian Audio Commentary English Audio Commentary German Audio Commentary Spanish Audio Commentary French Audio Commentary Italian Audio Commentary	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    The Duellists is a film about two officers in the French army who participate in numerous duels over a period of sixteen years.

    After learning about a duel that French lieutenant Gabriel Feraud (Harvey Keitel) has participated in against a local man, his commanding officer dispatches lieutenant Armand D'Hubert (Keith Carradine) to return him to his barracks. When the two men meet they have a minor argument about a seemingly inconsequential topic and this eventually leads to the men having a duel. While both are injured, neither man is fatally wounded in this duel but Feraud vows revenge and he continues to face D'Hubert in a number of duels over the next sixteen years. Despite being unclear about the origins of this dispute, the men continue to participate in these duels through their sense of honour.

    This was the debut feature for director Ridley Scott who made this film in 1977. Although this was his first feature, Ridley had previously directed almost two thousand television commercials and a number of short films. This previous experience is clear when watching the film and few viewers would guess that it is the director's debut. Despite having a relatively small budget of only $900,000, the movie was shot in Europe and has beautiful costumes and stunning cinematography, lighting and shot composition. The film went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes that year as the official British entry.

    If you are a fan of Ridley Scott's work or have never had the opportunity to see this film before, this is definitely a disc you will want to check out.

Video

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

    The transfer is extremely sharp throughout and it always displays high levels of detail. No low-level noise was detected at any time during the transfer. During the numerous dark scenes, excellent levels of shadow detail are always displayed.

    The colour palette displayed during the transfer has a heave emphasis upon the browns and greys found in the film's locations. This colour design works well and helps to emphasize the often cold and inhospitable environments of the movie.

    No MPEG artefacts were detected at any time during the transfer.

    A number of minor aliasing artefacts were detected during the transfer. Some examples of these artefacts may be seen at 5:19, 7:57, 10:33, 11:44 and 16:35. These artefacts are all quite minor and are only slightly distracting.

    A very small number of film artefacts were present during the transfer. Some examples of these artefacts may be seen at 5:41, 15:06, 15:55, 18:53 and 20:22. Considering the age of this film, the number of these artefacts is extremely low.

    A small amount of telecine wobble may be seen during the opening and closing credits but this is quite minor and never irritating.

    Twenty white subtitle streams are included on this disc. I extensively sampled the English streams and found them to be consistently accurate.

    The layer change occurs at a scene change at 76:51 part way through chapter eleven and it is not disruptive.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The dialogue is always clear and easy to understand at all times.

    No dropouts or problems with audio sync were detected at any time during the transfer.

    The stunning atmospheric score by Howard Blake makes its presence felt throughout the film and it always suits the on-screen action.

    The surround channels are used relatively minimally throughout to support the score and occasional effects but this non-aggressive mix works well with the material presented.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The animated menu is presented at either 1.78:1 or 1.33:1 depending upon player setup.

Audio Commentary-Ridley Scott (Director)

    During this feature-length scene-specific audio commentary, director Ridley Scott discusses his work on this film. Topics covered during the commentary include the origins of the project, locations, budgeting, casting, costumes, lighting and cinematography. This commentary is quite interesting and contains only a small number of very short pauses. White English, German, Spanish, French and Italian subtitles are included for the commentary. I sampled the English stream and found it to be consistently accurate.

Isolated Musical Score-and commentary by Howard Blake

    This track contains a feature-length scene-specific audio commentary by composer Howard Blake mixed with an isolated musical score. During this track, Blake discusses his inspirations and the various consistent themes found throughout the score. White English, German, Spanish, French and Italian subtitles are included for the commentary. I sampled the English stream and found it to be consistently accurate.

Featurette: Duelling Directors - Ridley Scott & Kevin Reynolds (29:11)

    During this featurette, Ridley Scott and fellow director Kevin Reynolds discuss various scenes from the film and their inspirations and influences. This featurette is quite interesting and it reveals numerous pieces of interesting information. This featurette is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced. It has a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. White English, Danish, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish and English for the Hearing Impaired subtitles are included for the featurette.

Storyboard Comparisons (3:56)

    This extra displays a series of storyboards from the film and an alternate angle provides a storyboard / shot comparison. These storyboards are presented at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and are 16x9 enhanced. Audio accompaniment is by way of a Dolby Digital 2.0 musical soundtrack 

Short: Boy And Bicycle (26:47)

    This is reportedly Ridley Scott's first short film, about a boy who skips school for the day and travels around town on his bicycle. This short is presented in black and white at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. White English, Danish, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish and English for the Hearing Impaired subtitles are included for the featurette.

Photo Gallery

    This photo gallery is divided into the following sections: Portraits (5); From The Film (35); Behind The Scenes (30) and International Posters (7).

Theatrical Trailer (2:56)

    This theatrical trailer displays a wide range of artefacts and is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. It is 16x9 enhanced and comes with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio.

    Both versions of this film appear to be identical and I therefore would have no preference for either version.

    The Duellists is a highly entertaining film that will now hopefully gain the wide audience it deserves with this DVD release.

    The high quality video transfer displays only a very small number of minor artefacts.

    The audio transfer is of high quality and is suitable for the material presented.

    The large collection of extras provides some interesting insights into the making of the movie and will appeal to all fans of the film.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall