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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.
Deathtrap (1982)

Deathtrap (1982)

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Released 14-Oct-2003

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy None
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 1982
Running Time 111:18
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Sidney Lumet
Studio
Distributor

Warner Home Video
Starring Michael Caine
Christopher Reeve
Dyan Cannon
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI $14.90 Music Johnny Mandel


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.75:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
English for the Hearing Impaired
Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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

Plot Synopsis

"The trap is set...for a wickedly funny who'll-do-it."

    Playwright Sidney Bruhl is not having a good day. The curtain has just set on the premiere of his latest Broadway thriller Murder Most Fair, and the critics have not been kind. Every writer has their low points, but this is another in a string of failures for the playwright. Once renowned for his hugely popular crime thriller The Murder Game, Sidney (Michael Caine) is quickly falling into the dreaded category of 'has-been'. His wife Myra (Dyan Cannon), frail due a heart condition, stands by her man and tells him that it'll all come back to him one day soon and the latest Sidney Bruhl hit is just around the corner. This is all too much for Sidney, who seems impatient for a hit play to once more carry his name.

    A breakthrough is waiting in the wings however, as Sidney announces that one of his students from a theatrical writing seminar has written a most promising play. A play so brilliant and captivating that, as Sidney says, "Even a gifted director couldn't hurt it."  This seems to be the break that Sidney has been waiting for, and he arranges for the young student playwright join him and his wife to talk about the play. Sid also hints about a plan to kill the young student and pass the work off as his own, but his wife reacts in horror at the concept, and seems safe in the knowledge that her husband speaks in jest...or does he? When the student playwright comes to the Bruhl house, he seems excited to talk to the famous Sidney about his first play, called Deathtrap. At first, Clifford Anderson (Christopher Reeve) seems enthused to be speaking about his play and perhaps a collaboration with the famous Sidney Bruhl, but all is not what it seems...and there is murder afoot!

    I can't go into the ins and outs of the plot here, as to do so would give away far too much. Suffice it to say, there are twists and turns like the Great Ocean Road here, and it all ends in a whole lot of fun. This film is based on Ira Levin's play of the same name, which has the distinction of being the longest running thriller in Broadway history. When you see the story here in the film, you can see why. While there are just a couple of characters in the film, they all have a pivotal role to play and the twists and turns really keep you on your toes. Director Sidney Lumet has had quite a bit of success over the years with films such as Dog Day Afternoon, Network and the classic 12 Angry Men which featured Henry Fonda. While this is nowhere near the the status of those films, it nonetheless is very much a fun and entertaining story and you'll have a hell of a time keeping up with all the twists and turns that Ira Levin throws our way. With the solid direction of Lumet and some great acting by Caine and Reeve in the lead roles, Deathtrap is a great example of how good a thriller / whodunit (or who'll-do-it as the tagline says) can be, a genre that we see far too seldom in these days of the big budget blockbuster. Make no mistake, this film is styled very much as the stage play would have been, with simple but effective sets that give the intimate feel of the stage. The clothes have dated and the playwrights in the film used typewriters (remember those?), but this is a snapshot of a story and so it's not so much of an issue. It's the story that is the key here, and this one's a ripper. A really fun film that shows just how good Christopher Reeve and Michael Caine really are. If you haven't seen a good mystery thriller in a while and have missed this one, then here's your chance to check it out. Well worth having a look.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    We don't have any sort of reference quality transfer here, but what we do get serves the material well.

    The film is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.75:1, which differs slightly from the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. This movie was filmed using a Spherical process. This means that the full frame, full screen transfer afforded Region 1 might be an open matte version of the film and that our 1.75:1 transfer might be a slightly opened matte of the originally filmed image. In any case, our transfer in regards to aspect ratio still suits the material well. While the box states that this is a full frame transfer, this is in fact incorrect and the transfer is indeed widescreen and 16x9 enhanced.

    The level of image sharpness here is good, although not near reference standard. Still, the image is clear and clean enough for it not to be a distraction while watching the film. The shadow detail here is adequate, but a bit lacking at times (56:48 as an example). I tended to forgive a little with this film as it is the story that is meant to draw you in, not any sort of audio-visual extravaganza. I had no problems with low level noise.

    You can always tell when a movie was made by the palette of colour used in the production. This film, from 1982, features the typical palette of earthy tones such as brown and beige. We also have the pastels and whites of the clothing of the era. Colour's use in the film is quite natural and fitting for the material. Colour's commitment to this disc is good and the image surprisingly stands up quite well despite the years that have passed since the film's production.

    I had no problems with MPEG artefacts during this program. The bitrate during the program is quite stable and hovers between 4.55 Mb/s and 5.50 Mb/s, which is enough to convey the film in a decent fashion on a single layer and not display any compression nasties. There is a bit of telecine wobble visible during the opening credits, but I really didn't have any issues with it after they finished. Despite being killed off in several features, edge enhancement rises from the dead to avenge his killer. Sadly, this film isn't that killer and edge enhancement lives here (but not too much) to plot his next irritating offence. There is the occasional nick and fleck visible during the film, but the print used for the transfer is actually quite clean and has scrubbed up well.

    I watched most of this film with the English subtitles enabled and I found them to be reasonably accurate and able to convey the meaning of the story well, though they were not word for word.

    This disc is formatted as a single layer, and as such there is no layer change.

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

Audio

    While not overly active, the soundtrack as offered on this disc is reasonable and serves the material well.

    There is only one audio option here, that being an English Dolby Digital 2.0 mix.

    The dialogue quality is all important here, as this is completely a dialogue driven piece. Therefore, if the dialogue fell over, then we'd have a real problem. Thankfully, this isn't the case and the spoken word is quite understandable throughout the film. The one exception would be the heavy accent of the Helga Ten Dorp character, whose thick accent was a bit hard to understand at times. I found the English subtitles the cure for this problem, which was a fairly isolated one. The audio sync is fairly good and I had no problems in this regard.

    The music for this feature comes from composer Johnny Mandel, who'll probably be most remembered for his song Suicide Is Painless which was the theme for the classic television show (and successful film) M*A*S*H. He has also composed the scores for such films as Escape to Witch Mountain, Caddyshack and The Verdict. Music doesn't play a huge role in this film, and is sparsely used. However, when it does come in, it is completely complementary to the happenings on-screen and suits the material well.

    The English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack (running at a very basic 192 Kb/s) is enough to suit the goings on on-screen, but you'll get no huge dynamic range here. My receiver was able to derive some slight atmospheric audio for the program, but it was of a very limited fashion. The LFE channel was also pretty much left alone during the film.

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

Extras

    "Extras? Extras?!? We don't need no stinkin' extras!"  Okay, fair enough, then. No extras.

Menu

    After the normal distributor's logos, we are taken to the disc's Main Menu which offers us the following:

    The menus are static, silent and are 16x9 enhanced. Told you there wasn't much here.
 

Censorship

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

R4 vs R1

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

    This film was released on DVD in Region 1 July 27, 1999, so our stateside cousins have had this for a fair bit longer than we have. That said, we do get a better package than they do.

    The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on:

    The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on:     While both disc feature no extras at all, at least we get a PAL widescreen version with 16x9 enhancement. This, coupled with local affordability and availability would make this a hands-down win for Region 4.

Summary

     We just don't see films like this anymore. Perhaps not bankable in a world that demands the latest CG enhanced blockbuster with Colin Farrell, this is still a worthwhile picture that turns on a good fun story realised by a good director, a quality writer and some fantastic acting performances. If you haven't seen a good whodunit in a while, this'll fit the bill quite nicely.

     The video quality is good (but not great) and is able to portray the material well.

     The audio is adequate.

     There are no extras at all.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Sean Bradford (There is no bio.)
Friday, January 09, 2004
Review Equipment
DVDPanasonic DVD RP-82 with DVD-Audio on board, using S-Video output
DisplayBeko TRW 325 / 32 SFT 10 76cm (32") 16x9. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderYamaha RX-V2300 Dolby Digital and dts.
AmplificationYamaha RX-V2300 110w X 6 connected via optical cable and shielded RCA (gold plated) connects for DVD-Audio
SpeakersVAF DC-X Fronts (bi-wired), VAF DC-6 Center, VAF DC-2 Rears, VAF LFE-07 Sub (Dual Amp. 80w x 2)

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