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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.
The Crucible (1996)

The Crucible (1996)

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Released 3-Feb-2005

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama None
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 1996
Running Time 118:22 (Case: 111)
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (55:37) Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4,5 Directed By Nicholas Hytner
Studio
Distributor

Twentieth Century Fox
Starring Daniel Day-Lewis
Winona Ryder
Paul Scofield
Joan Allen
Bruce Davison
Rob Campbell
Jeffrey Jones
Peter Vaughan
Karron Graves
Charlayne Woodard
Frances Conroy
Elizabeth Lawrence
George Gaynes
Case ?
RPI $24.95 Music George Fenton


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)
Italian Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
Polish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles Danish
Dutch
English for the Hearing Impaired
Finnish
French
German
Greek
Italian
Norwegian
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Swedish
Turkish
French Titling
German Titling
Italian Titling
Spanish 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

    The Crucible is a magnificent adaptation of Arthur Miller's classic play. An exceptionally well-made and beautifully presented film, The Crucible tells a timeless and important tale with great eloquence and power.

    While it is possible to enjoy The Crucible outside of its historical context, I feel it necessary to cover this first:

    In 1692, in the Massachusetts town of Salem, a collection of girls fell ill, apparently suffering hallucinations and seizures. In an extremely religious Puritan New England, this behaviour was quickly attributed to the Devil. A climate of fear and paranoia set in, and it was not long before the girls, and then many other residents of Salem, began to accuse each other of consorting with devils and casting spells. Old grudges, greed, and jealousies spilled out into the open, fuelling the atmosphere of hysteria. The Massachusetts government and judicial system (governed by a Christian Church), swung into action. Within a few weeks, dozens of people were in gaol on charges of witchcraft. Within a few months, nineteen innocent people (and two dogs) had been convicted and hanged for witchcraft. Many more 'confessed' to witchcraft to save themselves from being executed. These people were excommunicated from the Church, and most had their land and possessions confiscated.

    These events were to form the basis of Arthur Miller's brilliant play, The Crucible. Miller was born in New York City in 1915. Miller began writing plays while at University, and at 34, Miller wrote his classic, Death of a Salesman, which won the Pulitzer Prize. Many literary critics view Death of a Salesman as "the first great American tragedy".

    Miller began working on The Crucible in the early 1950s, and it debuted on stage in 1953. Miller wrote the play during the reign of terror conducted by Senator Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy's unbridled and vitriolic anti-Communism led the US into dramatic anti-Communist fervour during the early Cold War. McCarthy's special congressional committees (House of Un-American Activities Investigation) conducted witch-hunts intended to root out Communist sympathisers in the US. As with the alleged witches of Salem, suspected Communists were forced to 'confess' and to identify others in order to escape punishment.

    As a result, fear-induced false confessions and a whirlwind of wild accusations followed, which in turn, helped perpetuate the hysteria. The relatively liberal US entertainment industry was one of the chief targets of McCarthy's witch-hunt. Some, like Academy Award winning director Elia Kazan, cooperated, but many others, like Miller, refused to give in to the inquisition. Those accused of being Communist sympathisers, and those who refused to co-operate were blacklisted, and many had their careers and lives ruined. The allegory between the Salem and Washington witch-hunts is obvious. Interestingly, in his 'defence', Kazan directed On The Waterfront (1954), a classic, considered to be one of the all-time best films, which strongly supports the concept of whistle-blowing.

    The screenplay for this 1996 film was written by Miller himself: The story begins when Reverend Parris (Bruce Davison) discovers his niece and daughter dancing in the woods around a fire with several other girls, and his Negro slave. After his daughter seemingly falls into a coma, Parris calls in the Reverend Hale (Rob Campbell) to investigate his suspicions of witchcraft. Soon, the whole town gets swept up in the witch-hunt frenzy spawned by the young girls.

    Meanwhile, the ring-leader of the girls, Parris' niece, Abigail (Winona Ryder), sees in this witch-hunt an opportunity. Abigail was previously in the service of John and Elizabeth Proctor (Daniel Day-Lewis and Joan Allen). Abigail was dismissed when Elizabeth discovered that Abigail was having an affair with her husband. Abigail is not only vengeful, but imagines that with Elizabeth executed for being a witch that she and John can resume their relationship.

    While John Proctor keeps to himself and has minded his own business, he is forced to confront and challenge both the court and Abigail when his wife is arrested.

    Blessed with a moving and thoughtful story of sacrifice, love, and truth, The Crucible is also an exceptionally well made film. The art and set direction, music, costumes, lighting, and photography are all sublime. The direction and acting performances are truly superb. While Daniel Day-Lewis reminds us why he is considered one of today's greatest screen actors, Winona Ryder provides a surprisingly authentic performance as well. Indeed, the entire cast is wonderful, and as always, English stage veteran Paul Scofield provides a powerful presence.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The transfer is excellent.

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, 16x9 enhanced.

    The sharpness is very good overall, as is the black level, and shadow detail. As the story is set before the advent of electric light, the film has brilliantly captured the look and feel of both natural and candle-light. At times this leads to a higher contrast than normal, and some detail is lost in dark scenes in the background.

    The colour is excellent, and used extensively in the story telling. The skin tones looked natural.

    There were no problems with MPEG artefacts, but film-to-video artefacts appeared in the form of aliasing throughout, such as the shimmer on the wooden slats at 6:40, or the shimmer on the roof at 39:00. I also noticed some slight telecine wobble during the opening credits.

    Small film artefacts such as tiny black flecks appeared infrequently throughout, but they were never distracting.

    Danish, Dutch, English for the Hearing Impaired, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish subtitles are present, and the English subtitles are accurate.

    This is a dual-layered disc, with the layer change placed at 55:37. It is during a scene so it is noticeable. The film is spread across 15 chapters.

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

Audio

    There are six audio options on this DVD: English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s), French Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s), German Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s), Italian Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s), Polish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s), and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s).

    The dialogue quality and audio sync are excellent on the default English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. The dialogue is spoken in the English of the period, but I never found it difficult to follow.

    The musical score is credited to George Fenton, and it is a very moving orchestral score, which expertly underlines the drama on-screen.

    As a dialogue-based drama, there is not a great deal of surround presence or LFE activity. However, there is some ambience from the rears which maintains a nice soundfield while keeping the viewer firmly focussed on the screen.

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

Extras

    There are no extras.

Menu

    A very simple menu, it is static and silent.

R4 vs R1

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

    The Crucible 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 have to favour the R1 for the extras.

Summary

    This is an important and moving film, well presented on DVD.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is also good, albeit front-heavy.

    There are no extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Brandon Robert Vogt (warning: bio hazard)
Saturday, January 08, 2005
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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