Jade (1995)

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General		Extras
Category	Action	Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	1995
Running Time	90:22
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	William Friedkin
Studio Distributor	Paramount Home Entertainment	Starring	David Caruso Chazz Palminteri Michael Biehn Linda Fiorentino
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$24.95	Music	James Horner

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

    Jade is an erotic thriller in the vein of Basic Instinct. It was written by the same writer (Joe Eszterhas) and was directed by legendary thriller specialist William Friedkin. When the film was released in 1995 it was critically mauled by the press who heavily criticised the film's portrayal of women. It is hard to see now, eight years later, what all the fuss was about, but at the time writer Eszterhas had just written Showgirls for Paul Verhoeven so the press were ready to pounce. The story revolves around the murder of a prominent art collector who had been keeping secret sex files on government officials. These officials were being filmed in sexual situations with high priced prostitutes, only to be blackmailed at a later date. One of the most requested women was Jade, a mystery girl who may be linked to the murder.

    Personally, I found the film to be quite a decent thriller, with generally solid performances. Friedkin, a director famous for making two of the best films of the seventies in The Exorcist and The French Connection, gives Jade a slick look with some very unsettling moments. The opening tracking shot through a house to a murder scene is an absolute corker. He also provides a fabulous car chase that begins with one of the most graphically staged hit and run pedestrian collisions ever filmed.

    The cast are a mixed bag. David Caruso is excellent as the Assistant D.A. and is ably supported by Chazz Palminteri and the always dynamite Michael Biehn. It is in the performance of Linda Fiorentino where the film becomes unstuck. Her performance is flat and unappealing. The story requires the character of Jade to be a sexual predator, irresistible to men, but as played by Fiorentino she is nothing more than an emotionless tart. Making matters worse is the fact that she is also supposed to be a brilliant psychologist, but instead comes across as an incompetent twit. This small complaint aside, Jade is a nifty little thriller that is ripe for re-discovery.

Video

    Jade was filmed in an aspect ratio of 1:85:1, but at the request of Director William Friedkin, all home video, DVD, and Laserdisc versions of the film are presented full frame, so what we are presented with is a Full Frame version, approximately 1:33:1 in aspect ratio and not 16x9 enhanced, which I find totally bizarre and somewhat annoying.

    Sharpness levels are excellent, with solid shadow detail. There are occasional patches of grain in some of the darker moments, but they never last long enough to distract the viewer. I was not aware of any low level noise problems.

    Colours are muted intentionally to increase the film's dark atmosphere. They are consistent throughout the print and pleasing to watch.

    There were occasional film artefacts present throughout the transfer, but they were never distracting.

    In fact, my only real complaint about the transfer is the fact that it is not presented in the original aspect ratio of the film's theatrical release.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    Jade is presented with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Additionally present are three 2.0 surround tracks in French, Italian and Spanish. The English track is reviewed here.

    Dialogue is first rate and always clear, and there are absolutely no audio sync problems.

    The film's score is by James Horner and it is a very moody, eerie and extremely effective score.

    Surround channel usage is terrific. The rear speakers get quite a work-out and the directional effects are superb. This is a first rate use of the 5.1 system.

    The subwoofer supports the 5.1 soundtrack with the required ferocity.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Theatrical Trailer

    A solitary non-anamorphic trailer.

    All versions of the film are the same.

   Jade is well made thriller that showcases the talents of Director William Friedkin. The transfer provided on the DVD is very reasonable and the soundtrack exceptional. Unfortunately, extras are severely lacking.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall