Out of Africa: Special Edition (1985)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Sydney Pollack (Director) Featurette-A Song Of Africa Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	1985
Running Time	154:19
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (76:15) Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Sydney Pollack
Studio Distributor	Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Meryl Streep Robert Redford Klaus Maria Brandauer Michael Kitchen Malick Bowens Joseph Thiaka Stephen Kinyanjui Michael Gough Suzanna Hamilton Rachel Kempson Graham Crowden Leslie Phillips Mike Bugara
Case	?
RPI	$34.95	Music	John Barry Henry Carey

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English dts 5.1 (768Kb/s) Hungarian Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired Dutch Hungarian Danish Finnish Norwegian Swedish Icelandic Hebrew English Audio Commentary Dutch Audio Commentary Danish Audio Commentary Finnish Audio Commentary Norwegian Audio Commentary Swedish Audio Commentary Hungarian Titling	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Out Of Africa is one of my favourite films. It is an intoxicating and enchanting movie. The story is thoroughly absorbing, the cinematography (largely shot on location in Kenya) is breathtakingly beautiful, and the acting and direction is sublime. On the whole, it remains an expertly-crafted, wonderful movie, and arguably one of the greatest epic romantic movies ever made. Now, three years after its original DVD release, Out Of Africa returns as a Special Edition.

    As I wrote in my original review, the movie Out Of Africa is based on the book of the same name, which contains the memoirs of Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen is her pen-name). I own a copy of the book, and find that Blixen effortlessly casts a spell over the reader as the wonderful images of an idealised Africa pour from the pages. I was born in South Africa and I have always held a fascination for the amazing and varied people, fauna, and flora of Africa. I have returned a few times and enjoyed safaris through South Africa and up the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe. I vividly recall sleeping in a tent and hearing the cackle of hyenas, or the moaning, guttural growl of a lion at night -- so full of yearning -- or wandering through a thicket and into a clearing, only to come across a zebra, a giraffe or a cape buffalo. The sounds, sights and smells of Africa never leave you, and movies like this bring some of the amazing sights and sounds of Africa flooding into the home-theatre (or living room).

    The story begins in 1913, with a marriage of convenience. Karen's (Meryl Streep) family has money and Baron Bror Blixen's (Klaus Maria Brandauer) family has a title and prestige, so Karen leaves her home in Denmark to marry Bror in Kenya. They establish a farm with Karen's money and she soon discovers that her husband has very little interest in either her or the farm. Bror departs to pursue his own selfish interests -- hunting animals, drinking, and womanising. Karen soldiers on against considerable adversity and reveals herself to be a fiery, very capable and head-strong woman. While this shocks and outrages the fine sensibilities of many of the English colonials, others are attracted to this. One such person is a safari guide, big-game hunter and free-spirit, Denys Finch Hatton (Robert Redford). Denys is bewitched by this independent and feisty woman. A romance ensues, but it is not just a personal romance -- it is a romance with Africa herself. Through Karen's courage and dedication against some very long odds, she slowly manages to win the respect and admiration of both the indigenous people, the Kikuyu, and the European settlers.

    This movie exhibits outstanding production values and deserved the seven Academy Awards it won in 1985: Best Picture, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Directing, Best Sound, and Best Screenplay. All of those elements are truly superb. Furthermore, in the lead role, Meryl Streep clearly exhibits why she is the finest film actress of all time. Indeed, the entire cast all turn in brilliant performances. In their supporting roles both Robert Redford and the brilliant Klaus Maria Brandauer are exceptional.

    As Out Of Africa is one of my favourite films, I was very excited to receive this disc to review.However now I am a little confused and disappointed. The video transfer appears to be exactly the same as the original. It is certainly from the same print, as the same film artefacts appear throughout. Strangely for a Special Edition, while there are now two discs, there are actually less extras than the original version. So what's new? The addition of new Dolby Digital 5.1 and dts audio tracks.

Video

    As I mention above, I was disappointed with the quality of the transfer for this Special Edition. Obviously the source material has not aged that well. While being infinitely superior to my old VHS tape, the image is grainy throughout, and quite hazy at times.

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

    The image is reasonably sharp throughout, but some scenes are very soft, such as at 135:51, which bordered on being blurry. The shadow detail was not too great either, as evidenced in many scenes, such as the shot of the bookshelf at 15:51, or the exterior night shot at 16:54.

    The overall picture was a little dark throughout, and the colour generally appeared a little faded and 'washed out'. Despite this, the movie still successfully captures many of the rich colours of Africa.

    MPEG artefacts are present, but I never found them distracting. There is slight pixelization throughout, and some mild Posterization.html" target=Posterization>posterization occasionally, such as at 52:59. Very slight macro-blocking was also occasionally present, such as on the background wall at 132:38.

    Film-to-video artefacts are also present. While it is tempting to claim that there is no Aliasing.html" target=Aliasing>aliasing, there is a slight shimmer on a few objects, such as on the pattern on the blanket at 54:56. Sadly, there is also telecine wobble throughout. While it is most noticeable during the opening credits, for example at 5:48, some scenes are very, very shaky, for example 34:14.

    A variety of mostly tiny film artefacts appear throughout, and larger examples can be seen at 27:58 and 86:54.

    Sometimes there appeared to be very slight edge enhancement, but it never drew attention to itself.

   English for the Hearing Impaired, Dutch, Hungarian, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic, Hebrew, English Audio Commentary, Dutch Audio Commentary, Danish Audio Commentary, Finnish Audio Commentary, Norwegian Audio Commentary, Swedish Audio Commentary, and Hungarian Titling  subtitles are present on this DVD. The English subtitles are accurate.

    This is a Dual Layer disc, with the layer change placed at 76:15.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    Originally released in six-track 70mm Dolby Stereo, and winning Best Sound at the Academy Awards, this a great audio track for a mid 1980s movie. Of course now - about twenty years later - it lacks some fidelity, but it remains good overall.

    There are four audio options for the feature on this DVD: English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s), English dts 5.1 (768Kb/s), Hungarian Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s), and English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s). I was a bit surprised by the addition of a dts track, and assume this has more to do with marketing than listening. While there are many films that benefit from the greater capability of dts, especially in range and depth, this is not one of them. Apart from volume, the dts and Dolby Digital tracks are virtually indistinguishable.

    The dialogue quality and audio sync are fine on both the English Dolby Digital and dts audio tracks.

    Winning Best Original Score at the Academy Awards, the music is credited to the very talented John Barry, who of course is best remembered for his work on numerous James Bond movies. Similar to his brilliant work on the epic movies Dances With Wolves and Zulu, Barry has crafted a very emotive and sweeping orchestral score, with lush arrangements, well-suited to this romantic epic. A number of concertos and sonatas by Mozart are also woven into the movie's music.

    I was quite surprised by the relatively high level of surround presence and activity on the original disc. However, the presence in the rears now is even greater. The rear speakers are used extensively to help carry the beautiful score, such as at 125:53, and for ambience, such as the crowd at 11:20. There are also a few clever panning-between-speaker moments, such as the plane passing overhead at 107:39. As a dialogue-based drama, the subwoofer is utilised very subtly, but occasionally LFE activity was noticeable, such as during the fire at 127.17.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    This Special Edition release actually has less extras than the original version (as the text-based extras have been removed), so don't be fooled by the addition of the extra disc. Frankly, I'm surprised a second disc was even needed.

Disc One

Menu

    The menus are now animated with audio.

Feature Commentary

    Presented in Dolby Digital Stereo Surround, the movie's Producer and Director, Sydney Pollack, provides a very informative commentary track filled with anecdotes, background information, as well as a thoughtful discussion of the script, technical features of the production, and even how the movie varied from actual events in a few places. While there are a few lengthy gaps this is a very detailed commentary, with Pollack even quoting at length from the biography which was the basis for the script.

Disc Two

Theatrical Trailer (2:51)

    This is the original trailer, presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, with Dolby Digital stereo audio.

Song Of Africa (49:33)

    Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio, this is a genuine documentary. It is composed of letterboxed clips from the movie, with recent interviews with Sydney Pollack, John Barry, Meryl Streep, Kurt Luedtke (screenwriter), and one of Blixen's biographers, Judith Thurman. A number of behind-the-scenes shots from the making of the movie, and stills of the 'real' characters from the movie are also included.

    I can find no reference to a Special Edition of Out Of Africa being released in Region 1.

    Those who have read my reviews of Doctor Zhivago or The Last Of The Mohicans may be aware that I absolutely love well-crafted, epic romantic movies. If you've read those reviews, it is perhaps because you too love those sorts of movies. If so, this is one of the best ever made, and despite the flaws in the transfer, this DVD deserves a place in any movie-lover's collection.

    However, if you already own the previous DVD version, you might not find the 'upgrade' worth it, as that version still had a very nice soundfield.

    The video quality is slightly disappointing but still very watchable.

    The audio quality is slightly dated, but the remix for Dolby Digital 5.1 and dts is good.

    The extras are genuine and enrich the movie experience. The text-based extras from the last DVD release have been removed.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall