Prelude to a Kiss (1992)

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General		Extras
Category	Romantic Comedy	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1992
Running Time	101:02
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Norman René
Studio Distributor	Twentieth Century Fox	Starring	Alec Baldwin Meg Ryan Kathy Bates Ned Beatty Patty Duke Richard Riehle Stanley Tucci Sydney Walker Rocky Carroll Debra Monk Ray Gill Ward Ohrman Annie Golden
Case	?
RPI	$24.95	Music	Howard Shore

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 4.0 L-C-R-S (384Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 4.1 L-C-R-S-Sub (384Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 4.1 L-C-R-S-Sub (384Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 4.1 L-C-R-S-Sub (384Kb/s) Polish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 4.0 L-C-R-S (384Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	Unknown	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	Dutch English for the Hearing Impaired French German Greek Italian Spanish Swedish French Titling German Titling Italian Titling Spanish Titling	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

Prelude to a Kiss (1992) on the surface looks like the usual Meg Ryan + leading man romantic comedy but this one couldn’t be any more different to the standard fare. Based on an acclaimed original stage production and perhaps influenced by the surprise success of Ghost (1990), the love story includes a supernatural theme and a strange one at that.

Many reviewers disregarded the supernatural themes in the film upon its release, but this isn’t unusual - many mainstream audiences cannot accept such fantastical themes in film either, unless the film is a comedy and as a result Prelude to a Kiss (1992) is highly underrated.

Starring a luminous Meg Ryan and Alec Baldwin and directed by the late Norman René, the film tells the tale of Rita Boyle and Peter Hoskins, who meet at a party at the insistence of Peter’s friend, Taylor (Stanley Tucci). The two are immediately drawn to each other and they discover they have many things in common but their outlook on the world is quite different - she is frightened of living while he is hopeful and drawn to the prospect having children and settling down. Nevertheless they continue to see each other and discuss the meaning of life in the way most Hollywood films do. They decide to marry after several months of dating but after the wedding Rita dramatically changes, causing Peter much angst.

Overall Prelude to a Kiss (1992) is a romantic tale with a twist, which is executed quite well and remains intimate, much like a play. It feels old-fashioned yet it isn’t particularly conventional and if you are a fan of either of the leads or films of this genre you will enjoy it. The film also stars Sydney Walker, Patty Duke and Kathy Bates.

Video

Presented at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and 16x9 enhanced the picture looks reasonable considering the age of the film. There are no intrusive flaws and the colour remains vibrant and flesh tones natural, although the image isn’t particularly striking due to some minor grain and minimal white specks. Overall it is an average affair and subtitles are clear and true to the onscreen dialogue.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

Prelude to a Kiss (1992) is a dialogue based film as it is derived from a play. The discrete English Dolby Digital 4.0 L-C-R-S (384Kb/s) soundtrack is practical for this film and as expected the film is directed at the front soundstage. The sound is clear and audible without any flaws and Howard Shore's melodramatic score has been produced nicely. There are a few songs which appear in the background by artists such as The Divinyls, Annie Lennox, and Bryan Ferry.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

There are no extras presented on this disc. The main menu is static without any audio. There are twenty scene selections and a host of subtitle options.

The R1 presentation is almost identical to the local release. The difference is that the R1 includes trailers for other 20th Century Fox titles including the original theatrical trailer, Courage Under Fire and French Kiss, both of which star Meg Ryan, as well as Picture Perfect, A Walk of the Clouds and Ever After.

Prelude to a Kiss (1992) is an admirable film with a solid cast. The presentation of the romance film is typical of its era and there are no extras included.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall