Sniper: 23 Days of Fear in Washington D.C. (D.C. Sniper: 23 Days of Fear) (2003) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Drama | None | |
Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 2003 | ||
Running Time | 85:38 | ||
RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Language Select Then Menu | ||
Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By | Tom McLoughlin |
Studio
Distributor |
Universal Pictures Home Video |
Starring |
Charles Dutton Jay O. Sanders Bobby Hosea Trent Cameron Helen Shaver Tom O'Brien Charlayne Woodard Garwin Sanford Doug Abrahams Mike Kopsa David Neale Veena Sood Nels Lennarson |
Case | ? | ||
RPI | $29.95 | Music | Mark Snow |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) |
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Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
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Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles |
English French German Czech Dutch Greek Hungarian Polish |
Smoking | No |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
Who could forget the bizarre chain of events during 2002, when a sniper, targeting random civilians, spread fear through Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia, USA? Nightly News footage showing people crouching behind their cars as they filled up at gas (petrol) stations? Images of people quickly darting through car parks and open shopping centre malls, hiding under awnings, or just staying inside? DC Sniper attempts to tell the story behind these events, but leaves more questions than answers.
John Allen Muhammad (AKA John Allen Williams) is an ex-US soldier who served in the Gulf War. The US Defence Department claimed he was an "expert marksman" who had won awards for his rifle skills. Indeed, he was stationed at Fort Lewis, just south of Tacoma, Washington State, which offers an intensive sniper training program. Muhammad was arrested in October 2002 with his 'step-son', Lee Boyd Malvo (AKA John Lee Malvo), a 17-year-old Jamaican boy. Muhammad has since been sentenced to death over one of the murders in a string of sniper killings in and around Washington that left 10 people dead and three injured.
"A FEDERAL ARREST WARRANT HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR JOHN ALLEN MUHAMMAD ALSO KNOWN AS JOHN ALLEN WILLIAMS, A BLACK MALE, 42 YEARS OF AGE, APPROXIMATELY 6"01" TALL AND APPROXIMATELY 180 POUNDS IN WEIGHT. THE WARRANT ALLEGES VIOLATION OF FEDERAL FIREARMS LAWS. THIS CHARGE IS NOT RELATED TO THE RECENT SHOOTINGS BEING INVESTIGATED BY THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY TASK FORCE . . . WE BELIEVE THAT MUHAMMAD MAY HAVE INFORMATION MATERIAL TO OUR INVESTIGATION." (Statement from Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, US Dept. of Justice, found at www.atf.gov/sniperinvest/photo.htm)
The problem I have with this movie is that Muhammad's motives remain unclear and empty. The other problem I have is that the story takes an extremely sympathetic look at Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose (Charles Dutton). What shocked me about these events is that Muhammad basically handed himself in, by giving authorities a tip-off (via a priest) as to who he was. This was after many failed attempts by Muhammad to contact the police themselves via phone calls (due to Police procedure). In short, if Muhammad didn't tell them who he was, it was unlikely that the pair would have been caught, as the investigation was completely misdirected -- the police were looking for a white male in a white van, not two black males in a dark sedan. Of course, it later comes to light that this dark sedan had been spotted at many of the shootings (Oops!)
Overall, the transfer is very good.
The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced.
The sharpness is excellent. The black level is good, and there are plenty of shadowy scenes showing off the great shadow detail. The colour is also very good, and the skin tones are accurate.
There are no problem with MPEG or film-to-video artefacts. A few tiny film artefacts appear throughout, and most are barely noticeable, even when the image is projected.
English, French, German, Czech, Dutch, Greek, Hungarian, and Polish subtitles are present, and the English ones are accurate. This is a single-sided, single-layered disc, which is acceptable considering the limited content.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/Pixelization | |
Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
There are three audio options on this DVD: English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s), French Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s), and German Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s).
The dialogue quality and audio sync are excellent.
The musical score is credited to Mark Snow, and it comprises a lot of eerie sounds which help build the tension.
Considering that this is a made-for-television production, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the surround sound mix. It's quite effective, and a good example is the helicopter circling the crime scene at 7:19. The LFE track is subtle, but lends a hand when required.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
There are no extras
A very simple menu, it is static and silent.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
Strangely, I can not find any trace of this movie being available in R1.
DC Sniper features great photography and editing, and it builds the tension well throughout. The acting was good, and in particular, Bobby Hosea provides a brilliantly restrained performance as Muhammad. However, overall, the movie is just a collection of events, rather than a fluid story. It also ends rather abruptly, with no postscript to advise viewers as to what happened to the pair. I'm assuming this made-for-television production was rushed out very quickly.
The video quality is very good.
The audio quality is good.
There are no extras.
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Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | Pioneer DV-535, using S-Video output |
Display | Grundig Elegance 82-2101 (82cm, 16x9). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
Amplification | Sony STR DE-545 |
Speakers | Sony SS-V315 x5; Sony SA-WMS315 subwoofer |