The Edge of the World (2005)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Main Menu Introduction Menu Animation & Audio Featurette-Making Of Biographies-Cast & Crew Featurette-Soap Opera Theatrical Trailer-2 Gallery-Photo
Rating
Year Of Production	2005
Running Time	87:09 (Case: 107)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Shaun M. Jefford
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Shaun M. Jefford John Andrews Malcolm Ian Connell Darren K. Hawkins Patrick Kenrick Tom Lanni Clare Mackey Lee Martin Robin Queree Ellouise Rothwell Ian Swallow
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$19.95	Music	Tim Rollinson

    The Pacific Hotel is nothing but a shadow of its former glory. The dingy rooms, with their paint peeled walls, now play host to hookers and drug addicts. The current owner, Blue (Malcolm Ian Connell), is an ex-convict who is in the process of securing another drug deal with the chemist Prinz (Dominic Stone).

    In the 1950s the Pacific Hotel was a classy bordello by the sea which offered women, booze, gambling and illegal boxing. At the time it was run by Frankie Delgato (Tom Lanni), an American who thought of himself as a gangster. It was even rumoured that Frankie had slept with the niece of a New York mob boss and run off with diamonds belonging to the mob.

    The only constant to bridge the gap of time is Marvin (Robin Royce Queree), the aging, ether addicted porter who has worked at the Pacific all his life.

    Through circumstance, three former colleagues find themselves drawn back to the Pacific Hotel to confront the ghosts of the past. They are Frankie’s prize boxer, Bennie (James Studdert – young/Lee Martin - old), his standover man, William (Ripley Hood – young/John Andrews - old) and a con man named Claude (Chris Lynch – young/Ian Swallow - old).

    The Edge Of The World won’t appeal to everyone. The numerous characters and subplots are thrown at the viewer and although everything comes together by the movie’s end, it is all too late. The early stages of the movie are confusing and there is too little action to keep the viewer interested. That being said I am sure it will appeal to those who follow the Australian film industry and those who fiercely support independent films.

Video

    The video transfer is good, though it could be improved by 16x9 enhancement.

    Despite being listed as 1.78:1 on the DVD’s cover sleeve, the transfer is actually presented in an aspect ratio of 1.59:1. As stated above, it is not 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer is generally sharp and the shadow detail is good. There is no low level noise.

    The colour palette looks good and skin tones appear natural.

    I didn’t notice any MPEG artefacts though mild grain is evident in many scenes, for example the darkened hotel room at 10:42 and the gym at 29:01. Aliasing was almost non-existent, but it could be seen in the roof at 22:40 and the radiator at 59:12. Minor film artefacts are evident throughout the movie but, for the most part, they aren't too annoying.

    The only subtitle stream available is English for the Hearing Impaired. The subtitles are easy to read and accurately reflect the spoken word. There are numerous audio cues for the Hearing Impaired.

    There is no layer change during the movie.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    Contrary to the listing on the DVD’s cover sleeve there is no English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) is the only audio track available.

    The dialogue is generally clear and easy to understand, though at times it sounds a little distant and muted. I did not notice any audio sync problems with this DVD.

    The musical score by Tim Rollinson is fairly sparse but this doesn’t detract from the overall movie experience.

    Being a Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track the surround speakers and subwoofer were not utilised.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    A number of extras are available, though they are either too short or trivial in nature.

Menu

    The animated menu is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.59:1, non-enhanced, and it is accompanied by a Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track.

Theatrical Trailers (1:26 and 1:34)

    There are two trailers included. Both are presented in the same aspect ratio as the main feature and they are accompanied by Dolby Digital 2.0 audio tracks. The first trailer looks at the movie from Bennie’s perspective, while the second is from Marvin’s.

    Apart from film artefacts, both trailers are of good quality. There is also a buzzing in the audio track whenever Bennie is speaking during the first trailer.

Making Of (2:58)

    Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, non-enhanced, and accompanied by a Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track. Writer/director Shaun Jefford discusses the process of creating a truly independent film on a “micro” budget.

    The image is marred by aliasing and MPEG artefacts, but this is due to the source material.

Biographies (4:14)

    This segment contains a page long biography for Shaun Jefford and eleven of the cast members. Many of the actors covered are well known icons of the Australian stage, cinema and television landscapes.

Soap Opera (7:46)

    Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, non-enhanced, and accompanied by a Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track. Lost But For Love is the soap opera that plays in the background during many of the movie’s scenes.

    Starring Darran Moran, Leanne Zaccar and Daniel Bird, this intentionally overacted melodrama was written and directed by Shaun Jefford specifically for use in The Edge Of The World.

    While some aliasing is evident the quality is otherwise good.

Photo Gallery (1:55)

    The photo gallery consists of 50 images of the cast, crew and sets. Although presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 some of the images have been cropped. The images are accompanied by a Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track.

    For some inexplicable reason, my DVD player would temporarily stop outputting video after displaying the 36th image and then resume on the 37th. There are no visible scratches on the disc so the problem must lay with the source.

    Not to be confused with Michael Powell's The Edge of the World (1937), it appears Shaun Jefford’s The Edge of the World (2005) has only received a Region 4 release. I guess that this isn’t surprising given the low budget, independent nature of this Australian movie.

    You will either love or hate The Edge Of The World. In many ways it typifies Australian film making, with a simplicity that is dictated by a tight budget. I actually enjoyed this movie more on subsequent viewings, when I could take in the quirky characters, knowing where the story was headed.

    Roadshow Entertainment needs to take more care when printing disc specifications on the cover sleeve. Aside from the incorrect aspect ratio and audio track details, the running time is listed as 107 minutes - far from the actual 87 minutes.

    The video transfer is good, though it could be improved with 16x9 enhancement.

    The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track was adequate.

    A number of extras are available, though they are either too short or trivial in nature.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall