Dead Man (Directors Suite) (1995)

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General		Extras
Category	Western	Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio & Animation Outtakes-And Deleted Scenes Music Video-Neil Young - 'Dead Man Theme' Theatrical Trailer Trailer-The Stroll, The Eel
Rating
Year Of Production	1995
Running Time	116:34 (Case: 115)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Jim Jarmusch
Studio Distributor	Pandora Madman Entertainment	Starring	Johnny Depp Gary Farmer Robert Mitchum Lance Henriksen Michael Wincott Iggy Pop Billy Bob Thornton Jared Harris Crispin Glover Gabriel Byrne John Hurt Alfred Molina Mili Avital
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	Neil Young

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    "It is preferable not to travel with a dead man" - Henri Michaux

    The films of Jim Jarmusch are generally multi-layered reflections of differing aspects of humanity. His films have a subtle and gentle humour that seem to ride well with his philosophical tales and poetic visions. The deliberate pacing and ambiguity of his films are generally not embraced by mainstream audiences, but are devoured by lovers of arthouse cinema.

    The fact that Jarmusch had ventured into the western genre surprised many in 1995, with the release of Dead Man, although upon viewing the film, you realise quickly that Dead Man  is much more than a simple stereotypical western. This tragic tale of a young man's decent into personal oblivion is rich in black humour, visually stunning and is highly intelligent filmmaking.

    Renowned cinematographer Robby Müller again uses black and white to perfection. The surreal and haunting atmosphere he creates with the camera in Dead Man is every bit as alluring as his black and white cinematography in a previous Jarmusch film, Down By Law.

    William Blake (Johnny Depp) is the prominent figure on a train bound for the end of the line, the town of Machine. Dressed impeccably in a smart suit and carrying a stylish briefcase, he is definitely the odd man out on this train. In a series of clever fade outs, Jarmusch introduces a myriad of bizarre and contrasting characters to the audience, while the landscape outside the train becomes increasingly barren. This important scene is played out without any dialogue, until the train's fireman (Crispin Glover) offers William a cryptic prophecy.

    William arrives in Machine to take up an accounting position with Dickinson's Metal Works. However, he is informed by manager John Scholfield (John Hurt) that he is one month late and the position has been taken by one Mr Olafsen (John North). William demands to see Mr Dickinson (Robert Mitchum), the owner of the company, in an effort to sort out the misunderstanding. To the great amusement of the office staff, William is forced from the office at gun point by Mr Dickinson.

    Down on his luck, William hits the saloon and subsequently meets Thel (Mili Avital) who makes and sells paper roses. William is invited to Thel's room, where her ex-lover Charlie Dickinson (Gabriel Byrne ) interrupts their romantic interlude. A violent exchange of gunfire ends with Charlie and Thel dead and William badly wounded. The mild mannered accountant from Cleveland is now a wanted man.

    Furious at the death of his son, John Dickinson hires three notorious killers, Cole Wilson (Lance Henriksen), Conway Twill (Michael Wincott) and Johnny "The Kid" Pickett (Eugene Byrd) to track down William Blake and present him to Dickinson, dead or alive.

    William wakes from his unconscious state to find a large Indian sitting over him, trying to remove the bullet lodged in William's chest. The Indian introduces himself as Nobody (Gary Farmer) and the two quickly establish a trusting relationship. Nobody is convinced that William is actually the spirit of the dead poet William Blake, and believes he must help deliver him back to the spirit world.

    Wanted posters begin appearing across the countryside and bounty hunters join the hunt for William. Apart from this, he also faces danger from three deranged possum hunters, played with great vitality by Iggy Pop, Billy Bob Thornton and Jared Harris.

    The transformation from meek accountant to hunted outlaw is emphasized by the weight of the wounds William carries, both physically and spiritually. His world becomes increasingly distant and he becomes ever more reliant on his Indian companion. The obscure prophecy of the train's fireman becomes clear as William's fate is realized.

Video

    Appreciatively, the video transfer of Dead Man does the film great justice.

    The film is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and features 16x9 enhancement.

    Thankfully, the transfer exhibits excellent levels of sharpness and clarity and should please fans of the film. The film occasionally displays some minor film grain, which is inherent in the source material. This grain is in no way problematic and actually complements the mood of Müller's black and white cinematography. Blacks were clean and displayed no low level noise. Shadows were also generally excellent and displayed considerable detail.

    As previously mentioned, Dead Man was filmed in glorious black and white, so there is no colour to comment on.

    There were no MPEG artefacts in this transfer. I noticed some very minor aliasing in a couple of scenes and some insignificant edge enhancement. Other than these very minor instances, film-to-video artefacts were very well controlled. Film artefacts were not an issue with this transfer.

    Unfortunately, there are no subtitles on this DVD.

    This is a single sided, dual layered disc. The layer change occurs at 87:56 during a fade to black, between scenes. While the change is not particularly disruptive, there was a noticeable pause in the music score.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio transfer is surprisingly good.

    There is only one audio track on this DVD: English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) surround encoded.

    I found that I needed to increase the volume above my normal listening level to hear the audio at a comfortable level. However, once this level was established, dialogue quality was excellent. I had no problems with clarity or comprehension throughout the film. Audio sync presented no problems and appeared to be spot on.

    The music score by rock legend Neil Young is a superb accompaniment to the film. Gentle acoustic and electric guitar melodies are combined with aggressive distortion to create a truly unique and interesting music score. Although it may not appeal to all tastes, I believe Young's score is a huge asset to the surreal nature of Dead Man. Many people who initially find the score too bold and aggressive find that they have warmed to it by the film's conclusion.

    The use of Pro-Logic surprises the viewer with some wonderfully subtle ambient sound through the rear speakers. This, combined with the spread of the music score over all channels, produced a pleasant listening experience.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    The selection of extras on this DVD is quite disappointing, offering no more than previous versions of the film.

Menu

    The menu design is brilliant. In keeping with the mood of the film, all menus are in black and white and feature subtle animation. Each menu also features 16x9 enhancement and a generous looped sample of Neil Young's score. Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) surround encoded audio.

Outtakes / Deleted Scenes

     This is a collection of seven scenes that didn't make the final cut of the film. Presented in a letterboxed 1.85:1 ratio, these non-descript scenes play consecutively for a overall running time of 14:40. Some explanation as to why this footage was not included in the final edit would have been interesting. Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) audio.

Neil Young Music Video to Dead Man Theme (3:20)

    Presented in the same aspect ratio as the deleted scenes. This music video features Neil Young playing guitar (mostly with his back to camera) with a selection of grabs from the film, which have been integrated into the video. If you're a first time viewer of Dead Man, it's worth seeing the film before you view this music video. The incorporated footage from the film could certainly be classed as spoilers. Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) audio.

Original Theatrical Trailer

    Dead Man (2:29) Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) audio.

Madman Propaganda

    The Stroll (2:27)  The Eel (1:11)

    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.

    I will compare this all region version with an R1 version released by Miramax Home Entertainment in December 2000. That R1 version is quite close to this Australian all region version, with a couple of differences.

    The R1 version features the same extras as the all region version, except of course for the Madman propaganda. It is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, which is anamorphic widescreen. The R1 version also benefits from the inclusion of English and French subtitles, which are missing from this all region version. The audio tracks are the same, Dolby Digital 2.0, which are surround encoded.

    Unless the inclusion of subtitles is an issue, I'd stick with this local all region version.

    Dead Man is one of the standout films in the increasing filmography of Jim Jarmusch. The surreal atmosphere is greatly enhanced by the superb black and white cinematography of Robby Müller and the music of Neil Young. The performances from the entire cast, including those in smaller cameo roles, are outstanding.

    The video transfer is excellent and appears to be considerably better than the previous local DVD release.

    The audio transfer is also excellent in general terms.

    Unfortunately, the selection of extras on this DVD is quite basic.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall