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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 Astronaut's Wife (1999)

The Astronaut's Wife (1999)

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Released 9-May-2001
Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Horror	Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio & Animation Dolby Digital Trailer-Rain Scene Selection Anim & Audio Theatrical Trailer-1.78:1 16x9 enhanced (2:12) Biographies-Cast & Crew Alternate Ending
Rating
Year Of Production	1999
Running Time	104:39
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (58:00)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu	Cast & Crew
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Rand Ravich
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Johnny Depp Charlize Theron Joe Morton Clea DuVall
Case	C-Button-Version 2	Starring	Johnny Depp Charlize Theron Joe Morton Clea DuVall
RPI	$34.95	Music	George S. Clinton

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Auto Pan & Scan Encoded	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No	Miscellaneous
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

The Astronaut's Wife is a difficult movie to describe without giving away some of the important plot points. Don't read the next paragraph if you haven't seen the movie, because I feel a need to talk about a couple of plot elements.

This movie's plot feels very derivative. There are echoes of Rosemary's Baby, traces of Species II, and even a touch of The Omen. At the same time, it is hard to point at specific things and say "that, there, that's plagiarism". Maybe plagiarism is more common in horror movies - it certainly seems that way. The ending, for example, seemed like deja vu (literally...).

Even so, the cast give this one a distinctive flavour. Charlize Theron is absolutely gorgeous, and she can really act. Johnny Depp is suitably menacing and mysterious. Joe Morton does a wonderful job.

I do wish Roadshow Home Entertainment would stop using these horrible C button cases. These newer ones are better than the originals, but still seem too fragile to withstand repeated use.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

This is a very good transfer - near perfect. If it weren't for some light grain, and a few touches of aliasing, I'd be giving this a perfect score. I cross-checked it on a smaller screen (70cm widescreen), and I found the flaws pretty much invisible - maybe it deserves a perfect score.

The movie is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. It is 16x9 enhanced.

The image is quite sharp almost all the time, but there are moments of light grain. You have to be watching intently to notice them, even on a big screen, so I doubt they'll detract from your viewing. Shadow detail is good, but not perfect. There is no low-level noise to be seen. There are no problems with colour, either.

There are a couple of instances of aliasing, but they are not distracting. There are no film artefacts - the film was absolutely clean.

The only subtitles on the disc are English. Unfortunately they defaulted to on on my DVD player, so you may have to take a moment to switch them off before you start the film.

This is an RSDL-formatted disc, with the layer change at 58:00 minutes. It is in the middle of a scene, but it is not disruptive.

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

Audio

This is an excellent soundtrack for a horror film.

There are two soundtrack choices: English 5.1 or English 2.0. It is good to see studios providing both a 5.1 and a 2.0 soundtrack, because this means that the quality of the 5.1 soundtrack has not been compromised for stereo listening. I listened to the 5.1 soundtrack. If I may comment, I'd like to mention that I don't like the way that the cover has Dolby Digital, dts, and SDDS soundtrack logos - sure, the original film offered these soundtrack options, but this disc is exclusively Dolby Digital - for a moment I thought we might be getting a dts soundtrack option.

Dialogue was mostly clear and easily understood. Unfortunately, there were a few moments when the dialogue was a little too quiet, although that may have been partly because I had the volume down somewhat in response to a few moments of very loud sound - this soundtrack has a wide dynamic range.

There were no audio sync problems.

The music was good horror movie music - it did an excellent job of enhancing the suspense, and supporting the drama of the movie.

The sound stage was mostly frontal during much of the dialogue, but the surrounds provided more than just music - there are some strong directional cues in parts of the soundtrack.

The subwoofer was an integral part of this soundtrack. It was vital in supporting the music, and the occasional sound effect.

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

Extras

There is not a lot in the way of extras on this disc, but I really liked seeing the original ending.

Theatrical Trailer

This is of excellent quality, presented 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced, with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. It runs for 2:12 minutes.

Cast / Crew Bios

Bios are presented for Johnny Depp, Charlize Theron, Joe Morton, Clea DuVall, and Rand Ravich (Director). I hope you weren't wanting to read much of Charlize Theron's bio, because the first page of it is linked to the last page of Clea DuVall's bio. That's an oops.

Original Ending

This is quite a good extra. The footage is presented 1.78:1, non-16x9 enhanced, and runs 8:56 minutes. It was taken off an AVID tape, and has studio markings on it - apparently this is the only complete copy in existence. It is interesting to note that part of this footage is included in the trailer, even though it is not in the theatrical release of the movie.

I can't decide if I prefer this ending over the one used in the film - both have appeal.

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:

extra trailers: Don Juan De Marco, Nightmare on Elm Street, Trial and Error
DVD-ROM extras, including Script to Screen comparison

The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on:

original ending

Both discs appear to have excellent video and audio quality, so you win with either. The DVD-ROM extras sound quite impressive. If you use a PC to view your DVDs, you might consider the R1 disc. Otherwise, I'd choose the R4, for the PAL transfer and the original ending.

Summary

The Astronaut's Wife is a well-made horror movie. Its plot is somewhat derivative, but that shouldn't stop you enjoying it.

The video quality is excellent, and is of near-reference quality.

The audio quality is superb, and is of near-reference quality.

The extras are acceptable.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Review Equipment
DVD	Pioneer DV-737, using Component output
Display	Sony VPL-VW10HT LCD Projector, ScreenTechnics matte white screen with a gain of 1.0 (280cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio Decoder	Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
Amplification	Denon AVC-A1SE
Speakers	Front Left and Right: Krix Euphonix, Centre: Krix KDX-C Rears: Krix KDX-M, Subwoofer: Krix Seismix 5

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