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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.
The Ring (2002)

The Ring (2002)

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Released 27-Jun-2003

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Horror Main Menu Audio & Animation
Scene Selection Anim & Audio
Featurette-Don't Watch This
Featurette-Look Here
Easter Egg
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2002
Running Time 110:33 (Case: 109)
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (57:16) Cast & Crew
Start Up Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Gore Verbinski
Studio
Distributor

Universal Pictures Home Video
Starring Naomi Watts
Martin Henderson
David Dorfman
Richard Lineback
Daveigh Chase
Jane Alexander
Brian Cox
Case ?
RPI $34.95 Music Hans Zimmer


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
French Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
German Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/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 English
French
German
Dutch
Bulgarian
Arabic
French Titling
German Titling
Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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

Plot Synopsis

    If you are reading this review, thinking that it is something to do with Lord of the Rings, then I recommend that you stop reading now. Press Back on your browser. Get out, while you still can.

    Have you had a check-up recently? Heart nice and strong? No irregular pulse, or heart murmur?

    This is, simply put, the most effective horror film I have ever seen. I have no intention of outlining the plot to you, because I want you to be as scared as I was. Make sure you watch it by yourself late at night, preferably when it's raining, in a cold blacked-out room lit only by the sepulchral glow of the TV. But make sure you have a current will first...

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Transfer Quality

Video

    This DVD is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced. The intended ratio was 1.85:1, so this is very close. There are no obvious framing errors.

    The image is exquisitely clear, and quite sharp throughout. Shadow detail is limited, but this looks to be a deliberate choice. There is no accidental low-level noise or film grain.

    Colour has been manipulated in some way. I don't know how it has been done, but most of the colour has been leached from the image, yet the individual colours look fairly faithful. It is quite effective in adding to the atmosphere. There are no colour-related artefacts.

    There are no accidental film artefacts, and no noise in the image that isn't deliberate. There is aliasing (see 6:07 for the only heavy example). There's no moire, and no MPEG artefacts.

    There are subtitles in six languages, but I only checked the English subtitles — they are adequately accurate, well-timed, and easy to read, although sometimes they subtitled something that was very quiet before I could hear it.

    The disc is single-sided and dual layered. The layer change comes at 57:16, at a cut. If you know where it is, you can discern it, but it is not too obvious.

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

Audio

    The soundtrack is provided in English, French and German. All of them are Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks, and that is a very good thing. This film uses sound to help scare you to death.

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

    Hans Zimmer's score is another contributor to scaring the daylights out of you, and it is very effective at achieving this task.

    The surrounds are quiet during the periods when the director is sneaking up behind you, then they burst into life as part of the exercise in seeing how much they can scare you. Without 5.1 sound this film loses a lot. The subwoofer is barely called upon until about 15 minutes in, at which point it rumbles to life, and spends most of the rest of the film increasing tension with rumbles and other ominous noises.

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

Extras

Menu

    The menu is animated with backing sound. It's well-themed to the movie.

Deleted / Extended Scenes — Don't Watch This (14:47)

    This appears to be (there is nothing to identify it) a reel of deleted or extended scenes.

Trailer —  Look Here (2:21)

    This is a well-made trailer for Catch Me If You Can.

Easter Egg

    This disc contains the same Easter Egg as the R1. To see it: (SPOILER ALERT: highlight with mouse to read) on the main menu, press Right, Down, Down, and the cursor will disappear. Press Enter and a hidden video segment will play. It looks strangely familiar, once you've seen the movie.

R4 vs R1

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

    In Region 1 this film is available in both wide-screen and full-screen (reportedly pan-and-scan) versions. The Region 1 wide-screen version is quite similar to this one, but with the addition of a dts soundtrack, and no German. Although a dts soundtrack might be nice, this Dolby Digital soundtrack does a marvellous job of scaring the daylights out of the viewer.

Summary

    The Ring is a superb horror movie, given a beautiful transfer to DVD.

    The video quality is extremely good.

    The audio quality is excellent.

    The extras are limited, but they add to the ambience.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Tony Rogers (bio-degrading: making a fool of oneself in a bio...)
Saturday, May 10, 2003
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-S733A, 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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