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.
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.
Don't Look Now: 30th Anniversary Edition (1973)

Don't Look Now: 30th Anniversary Edition (1973)

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Released 11-Feb-2003

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Mystery Main Menu Audio
Featurette-Looking Back
DVD-ROM Extras-Press Brochure
Theatrical Trailer
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 1973
Running Time 105:43 (Case: 104)
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Nicolas Roeg
Studio
Distributor

Universal Pictures Home Video
Starring Julie Christie
Donald Sutherland
Case ?
RPI $29.95 Music Pino Donnagio


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/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
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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

Plot Synopsis

    Don't Look Now is a slightly weird, but interesting 70s thriller. I had not seen Don't Look Now before, and it reminded me of a long episode of the great British television series, Tales Of The Unexpected. Based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier, there are a number of plot twists and turns, and a climax to make one's skin crawl.

    Following the death of their young daughter, John (Donald Sutherland) and Laura (Julie Christie) leave the UK and travel to Venice to work. Once there, Laura befriends two mysterious sisters, Heather (Hillary Mason) and Wendy (Clelia Matania), who posses psychic powers. To say any more about the plot would give too much away.

    What I can comment on is the superb direction by Nicolas Roeg. While the overall pace of the movie is a little slow, Roeg's direction is erratic and disturbing. There are a number of recurrent and powerful images, and he weaves an uneasy sense of impending doom throughout. "Things are not what they seem". Another stand-out feature is the editing. There is a lot of cross-cutting, and the movie's structure resembles a puzzle that is slowly pieced together.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The grainy transfer is limited by the source material, which is 30 years old.

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

    The sharpness of the image is mostly good, but occasionally some scenes are blurry, such as at 52:10. The shadow detail is acceptable, except for very dark scenes.

    The quality of the colour was variable. At times it was very good, especially with the very vibrant reds. However, at other times, the colour was muted, or murky. Skin tones were brownish throughout.

    MPEG artefacts appeared in the form of mild pixelization throughout. Film-to-video artefacts were not a problem, but there was telecine wobble on occasion. Film artefacts appeared throughout, but most were small.

    No subtitles are present on this single-sided, single-layered disc.

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

Audio

    The audio was pretty flat and occasionally muffled, and also suffered from a few drop-outs.

    The only audio option is an English Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track.

    The dialogue quality was okay, but the audio sync suffered at times, such as at 47:57, where it appeared to be slightly out.

    The musical score is credited to Pino Donnagio, and it is subtle and understated.

    There is no surround presence nor LFE activity.

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

Extras

    Considering the age of the movie, I was surprised by the number of extras.

Menu

Theatrical Trailer (2:14)

    Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio.

Looking Back (19:31)

    Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced, with Dolby Digital stereo audio, this extra features recent, reflective interviews with the director and key crew about the movie and its production.

DVD ROM features

    Includes "elements of the original press brochure" as PDF files.

R4 vs R1

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

    Don't Look Now has been released on DVD in Region 1.

    The Region 4 DVD misses out on:

    The Region 1 DVD misses out on:

    Thus, I would favour the local release.

Summary

    I don't think that Don't Look Now is for everyone, but if you enjoy psychic thrillers, this one is well worth renting.

    The video quality is acceptable considering the age of the source material.

    The audio quality is also acceptable, although a 5.1 mix would add to the creepiness!

    The extras are genuine and decent.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Brandon Robert Vogt (warning: bio hazard)
Thursday, February 27, 2003
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-535, using S-Video output
DisplayGrundig Elegance 82-2101 (82cm, 16x9). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationSony STR DE-545
SpeakersSony SS-V315 x5; Sony SA-WMS315 subwoofer

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