Attraction (2001)

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General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Menu Animation & Audio Dolby Digital Trailer-Aurora Audio Commentary-Director, Editor, Director Of Photography Interviews-Cast & Crew Interviews-Character Music Video Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2001
Running Time	91:31
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (57:18)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Russell Degrazier
Studio Distributor	Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Matthew Settle Gretchen Mol Tom Everett Scott Samantha Mathis
Case	?
RPI	$36.95	Music	Graeme Revell

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (384Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	Unknown	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Attraction, a fairly uninspiring title for a film if ever there was one, is basically a story about a stalker, although not just one but two. Incidentally, the film was originally to be entitled Stalk, but the director thought it might be mistaken for a slasher/horror flick. I don't get the connection personally. I would have thought there would have been more chance of mistaking it for a fairy tale about Jack and that bone-grinding giant!

    Mathew (Matthew Settle) has broken up with his gorgeous girlfriend Liz (Gretchen Mol) and is having some serious problems dealing with it. He writes a magazine column and has a regular spot on a radio talk show about relationships. Whilst he manages to dispense plenty of advice to others about their love lives, but is not handling his own too well at all. In fact, he has become so disturbed that he now spends his nights camped in his car outside Liz's house, watching and essentially stalking her. Matthew's editor at the magazine, Garrett (Tom Everett Scott) is openly concerned about the way Matthew is behaving and is also worried about Liz's safety.Meanwhile, Liz's actor friend, Corey (Samantha Mathis) meets Matthew in a bar and after spending the night with him, quizzes Liz if she would mind her seeing him more regularly. Liz doesn't think much of this idea and even though she warns Corey that Matthew is a crazy man and is best avoided, Corey continues to date him. Having the attention of a new girl does seem to mellow Mathew somewhat, though his stalking of Liz does continue. Garrett meanwhile decides that Matthew could use some of his own medicine and so begins stalking him, basically following his every move while he is out with Corey. Garrett is also getting closer to Liz, without Mathew's knowledge. Of course, in the true sense of a story with a twist, there is more to Garrett than meets the eye.

    All four characters that are the focus of this story are flawed in some way or other. Each of them has their own problems, wants, and desires, and will seemingly stop at nothing to get them. Call it selfishness I guess. As a result, no one is really an innocent victim of the stalking or obsession that occurs - even poor old Liz who is playing her options for her own gains despite the unwanted attention from the unstable Mathew.

Video

    In general, the video quality of this transfer is pretty good, with only one problem. Unfortunately, it is a problem that is present during almost the entire film.

    Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, this transfer is 16x9 enhanced.

    The overall level of detail is excellent, with sharp images throughout. There are only a couple of minor instances of noticeable edge enhancement, but certainly not at a level worth worrying about. Shadow detail is handled pretty well considering much of the action takes place in the dingy interiors of bars and corridors, and also at night. Grain is another matter altogether and the level of grain in this transfer is probably amongst the worst I have seen. It is really quite appalling. Lots of it,  and in virtually every scene.

    Colours are well rendered with little evidence of any problems such as bleeding, oversaturation, or noise. They are certainly nothing really vibrant, as much of the story occurs in very low light and in dingy interiors.

    There are no apparent MPEG artefacts. Other than the odd spot or two the print is very clean of all film artefacts of any sort.

    There are no subtitles available.

    This is a dual layered disc with RSDL formatting. The layer change occurs at 57:18 and is perfectly placed on a fade to black scene change. It is about as perfect as they can get.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    There are three audio tracks available on this DVD for your listening pleasure; English Dolby Digital 5.1, English Dolby Digital 2.0, and an English Dolby Digital 2.0 audio commentary track. I listened to the 5.1 soundtrack and the commentary track in their entirety. Concentrated mostly in the front centre channel, there is little panning between left and right and remarkably little use of the surrounds.

    The dialogue is clear at all times and there are no audio sync problems.

    The score is a mix of music composed by Graeme Revell. Not really striking or memorable, but I guess it provides the right balance of threatening behaviour and menace. The song by Joydrop, Beautiful is played throughout and is quite distinct (the whole music video for this song is included as an extra).

    The use of the surrounds is limited to the first couple of minutes. From thenceforth, they are pretty much silent for the duration.

    The subwoofer is also mostly silent, supporting the music on occasion. There are few bangs or crashes that need it anyway.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    A reasonable selection of extras are available, though the quantity outshines the quality.

Menu Animation & Audio

Dolby Digital Trailer - Aurora

Audio Commentary

    The audio commentary is provided by the Director, Russell Degrazier, the Editor Glenn Garland, and the Director of Photography Michael Price. I think somebody forgot to tell these guys that the key element to a commentary is to actually remember to talk. Despite the fact that there are three of them present, there are plenty of lengthy pauses in this commentary. I have a feeling that the three of them were recorded separately as there is no interaction between them at all during the commentary and they talk about each other as if they are not in the same room. The pauses are so lengthy (several minutes at a time), that you forget who is who and what they were talking about. I very quickly lost interest. When they do speak, they mainly concentrate on the technical aspects of the film, such as why scenes had particular camera angles, why scenes 'felt' the way they did, and other stuff like that.

    This is certainly not the most engaging commentary track I have heard.

Interviews-Cast & Crew

    Interviews with three of the four cast members and the director (notably absent is Tom Everret Scott). They answer the standard questions. You know the sort - "What attracted you to the script", "What's it like working with a first time director", "How did you prepare for the character". All interviews are presented in 1.33:1 full screen and are complemented by a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Interviews-Character

    These are more like deleted scenes. There are four "interviews" that were shot for inclusion in the film. Other than an abridged version of those by the character Mathew, the rest were cut and now appear here. Interviews with Liz, Samantha, and Garrett are included with a longer version of Mathew's monologue. Audio is again provided by a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Music Video

    The music video for the main song featured in the film, Beautiful by Joydrop, quite a distinctive song that is actually quite good. Presented full screen 1.33:1, it is obviously not 16x9 enhanced. The audio is Dolby Digital 2.0. Total running time is 3:59 minutes.

Theatrical Trailer

    A pan & scan trailer, presented 1.33:1 with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio. Running for 2:22 minutes, it constructs a reasonable outline of the plot without giving away the key plot twist at the end of the film.

    The Region 1 disc is identical to the local product. I'd favour the Region 4 title on price and superior PAL formatting.

    Attraction is a fairly dull thriller, that doesn't really have a twist in the plot, more of a kink. Additionally, I found that the characters just didn't develop enough for me to actually care whether they lived, died, left, or fell in love.

    The video quality is acceptable, although the amount of grain is quite disappointing as it is extremely distracting at times.

    The audio is fairly basic for a 5.1 mix, with very little surround use and the majority of the focus on the centre channel.

    The extras are numerable, but the quality is somewhat lacking.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall