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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 Forsyte Saga-Series 1 (Shock) (2002)

The Forsyte Saga-Series 1 (Shock) (2002)

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Released 3-Feb-2007

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama Main Menu Audio & Animation
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 2002
Running Time 433:56 (Case: 440)
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (27:23)
Multi Disc Set (3)
Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By Christopher Menaul
Dave Moore
Studio
Distributor

Shock Entertainment
Starring Damian Lewis
Rupert Graves
Gina McKee
Corin Redgrave
Ioan Gruffudd
Case Amaray-Transparent-S/C-Dual
RPI $39.95 Music Geoffrey Burgon


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Pan & Scan English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.59:1
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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Plot Synopsis

    As with a number of other recent releases from Time Life, The Forsyte Saga (2002)  is a re-release of a previously released title from a different distributor. The original review is available here. This new release is quite different despite containing the same material. The differences are summarised below.

 

Original Universal Release

Time Life / Shock Release

Video

1.78:1 16x9 enhanced OAR

1.59:1 4x3 Not OAR

Audio

DD 2.0 Stereo 192 Kb/s issues with clicks and pops

DD 2.0 Stereo 192 Kb/s. No issues.

Extras One featurette Nothing

No of Discs/Episodes

6x80 minute episodes over 2 discs.

Recut to 8x54 minute episodes over 3 discs

    On the basis of these differences it is very hard to recommend buying this new version if you have the old one unless you find the audio issue on the original release very annoying. The change of aspect ratio is quite annoying and it is obvious that some of the picture is missing in some scenes. The recutting into 8 episodes is a bit odd but I can only assume this was done for a different television showing, possibly along with the cropping. The total run time is quite close and can probably be explained by extra credits and a long Granada logo at the end rather than any change in the material itself, although I cannot say this categorically.

    In terms of the program itself, the previous review includes an excellent plot synopsis. In my opinion this is a very well made series with excellent acting and some wonderful use of music. The material is highly recommended. I enjoyed it despite having seen it before.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The video quality is average and at the wrong aspect ratio.

    The feature is presented in a 1.59:1 aspect ratio non 16x9 enhanced which is not the original aspect ratio. I will remove one star from the overall video rating due to this incorrect aspect ratio.

    The picture was of average sharpness and clarity and sometimes, such as at 39:00 in episode 3, became significantly worse. There was light grain throughout which also became worse in spots. There was no evidence of low level noise. I did notice some very minor macro-blocking in backgrounds. Shadow detail was also average.

    The colour was not overly bright considering how new this production is and some colour bleeding was evident.

    There was quite a bit of edge enhancement to be seen along with some minor aliasing here and there.

    There are no subtitles.

    The layer changes occurred at 27:23 in Episode 2 and 28:43 in Episode 5. Both caused bad pauses..
    

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

Audio

    The audio quality is decent but somewhat quiet.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was mostly clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync. Some accents and a bit of mumbling made some lines of dialogue hard to decipher. Subtitles would have been a great help.

    The score of this series is by Geoffrey Burgon and some other classical works are also used. The theme song is sung by Bryn Terfel. The combination of music is excellent and very well used.

    The surround speakers added some mild atmosphere when played with Pro Logic II.

     The subwoofer occasionally added some bass due to my amp's bass management.

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

Extras

   

    None

Menu

    The menu included motion and music and does its job quite well.

R4 vs R1

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

    The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on:

    The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on:

    Region 1 is the pick here.

Summary

    An excellent television adaptation of the John Galsworthy novels.

    The video quality is average and in the wrong aspect ratio.

    The audio quality is decent.

    No extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV667A DVD-V DVD-A SACD, using Component output
DisplaySony FD Trinitron Wega KV-AR34M36 80cm. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 576i (PAL)/480i (NTSC).
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-511
SpeakersMonitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Yamaha YST SW90 subwoofer

Other Reviews NONE