Say It Isn't So (2001) |
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Say It Isn't So (2001) |
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| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Comedy |
Menu Audio Audio Commentary-James B. Rogers (Director) & Chris Klein (Actor) Featurette Deleted Scenes-6 +/- audio commentary Theatrical Trailer TV Spots-5 |
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| Rating | ? | ||
| Year Of Production | 2001 | ||
| Running Time | 91:57 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | RSDL (50:55) | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By | J.B. Rogers |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Twentieth Century Fox |
Starring |
Chris Klein Heather Graham Orlando Jones Sally Field Richard Jenkins |
| Case | ? | ||
| RPI | $39.95 | Music | Mason Daring |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0  (96Kb/s)
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
Czech Danish English for the Hearing Impaired Finnish Hebrew Hungarian Icelandic Norwegian Polish Portuguese Swedish Turkish |
Smoking | Yes, includes cigar smoking. |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
Often movies like Say It Isn't So do not bear repeat viewings well, and this is partially the case for this movie. Whilst I still enjoyed the movie the second time around, I was expecting all the gross-out moments, so I was less startled. The effect this has is that it makes the film rely more heavily on its one-liners and sight gags, which are good but not great. Say It Isn't So was still funny the second time around, but one thing that is interesting is that the romance between Gillie and Jo is far more effective when you are not waiting in anticipation of the next time you have to cringe.
So, is this disc a worthwhile addition to a DVD collection or is it really rental material only? Well, I would suggest that for those that have loved all the previous output of the Farrelly brothers, this film is too good to pass up, and for those that really don't like toilet humour, well, they should stay away. If there is any doubt at all, it would be wise to rent Say It Isn't So first just to make sure it is your cup of tea.
Presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, this transfer is 16x9 enhanced.
For the most part, this transfer is extremely sharp. The detail fairly leaps off the screen, handling without problems even the most intricate parts of the image. There are only a few occasions where grain becomes a real problem. One such occasion is from 24:28 to 24:48 where Gillie is working for the road crew - the opening tilt down literally crawls with grain. Shadow detail is also very good, presenting a decent level of visibility within the darkness - although given that there is really only one poorly lit scene in the entire movie, it makes little difference either way. There was no low level noise present.
Colours are excellent, presenting deep blacks where necessary, but also easily dealing with the many bright colours used in this movie. The only exception to this is during the sequence where Gillie is working for the road crew, where the outdoor shoot leads to a somewhat washed-out appearance - although it works quite effectively with the storyline.
The only compression artefacts in this transfer are some instances of very light pixelization during sequences of high grain. There are also only a few instances of aliasing, such as at 23:16 and 27:19 on some window blinds. The level of film artefacting is probably the most disappointing aspect of this transfer. Almost every frame is flecked by small marks, both white and black. The only saving grace is that the marks are absolutely tiny, and when playing at full speed, most are not visible at all. There are occasions, however, where they are large enough and last for enough frames to become visible during normal viewing. One such example is three vertical black marks at 77:31.
The subtitles are good, only missing out a few words, and during the time I was sampling them, none of the dropped words changed any of the comedic impact of the film.
This is an RSDL formatted disc with the layer change taking place at 50:55 between Chapters 9 and 10. The placement is not too bad as it is right on a scene change, but the break in audio does give away its presence.
| Sharpness |   |
| Shadow Detail | |
| Colour | |
| Grain/Pixelization | |
| Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
| Film Artefacts | |
| Overall | |
There are two audio tracks present on this disc, being the original English dialogue in Dolby Digital 5.1 (at 384 Kbps), and an English commentary track in Dolby Digital 2.0 surround (at 96 Kbps).
Dialogue is clear and easy to understand at all times. The mixing levels are without fault, as the music and ambient noises never overwhelm the dialogue, while the dialogue itself is not overpowering.
Audio sync was the largest problem with the original rental transfer of Say It Isn't So, so it is nice to see that it has largely been addressed for this retail transfer. There is still one sequence, from 49:00 to 50:30, that exhibits a slight sense of being not quite in sync, but compared to how this sequence ran in the original rental transfer, it is world's apart. A good test in that sequence is when Gillie slams his fist on the table - the rental transfer played the noise of the fist contacting the table clearly before it moved, while this new transfer is almost spot on. I certainly could not wait for the sound, hit pause, and still see Gillie's hand in the air this time.
There are two components to the music for this movie. The first is the score attributed to Mason Daring and the second is a collection of contemporary tunes. The score is actually quite good, delivering a wide range of musical styles to drive the story along. An interesting aspect is that the Gillie/Jo love theme effectively recalls The Corrs At Your Side (the original version of the song appears twice in the movie, including over the initial Gillie and Jo fall in love montage). Somewhat unusually, the selection of contemporary pieces works quite effectively during this movie, as the choices are particularly appropriate for the places they are used.
The surround channels receive a good workout here, carrying both score and ambient noise. There is little use of directional sound effects, but equally there is little opportunity to use them. The ambient noise is almost constant, and on a few occasions I was sure that my room had been invaded by crickets or birds.
The subwoofer has only a small part to play here, exclusively backing up the score, but as with directional sounds, there really are no opportunities for it to be used, so what it does is quite adequate.
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| Audio Sync | |
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| Surround Channel Use | |
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| Overall | |
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 video quality is good, although the change to dual layered status for the sell-through release certainly has not improved the video quality over that of the rental disc.
The audio quality is very good, making good use of surrounds, and the almost complete absence of any lip sync issues is a welcome improvement over the rental disc.
The extras are quite good, although the disc really is lacking a good "making of" featurette.
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| Extras | |
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer DV-535, using Component output |
| Display | Loewe Xelos 5381ZW. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Onkyo TX-DS787, THX Select |
| Speakers | All matching Vifa Drivers: centre 2x6.5" + 1" tweeter (d'appolito); fronts and rears 6.5" + 1" tweeter; centre rear 5" + 1" tweeter; sub 10" (150WRMS) |