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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 Accused (1988)

The Accused (1988)

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Released 4-Sep-2002

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama Theatrical Trailer
Rating Rated R
Year Of Production 1988
Running Time 105:57
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (53:33) Cast & Crew
Start Up Language Select Then Programme
Region Coding 4 Directed By Jonathan Kaplan
Studio
Distributor

Paramount Home Entertainment
Starring Kelly McGillis
Jodie Foster
Bernie Coulson
Leo Rossi
Carmen Argenziano
Case ?
RPI $39.95 Music Brad Fiedel


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Hungarian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
English for the Hearing Impaired
Slovenian
French
German
Swedish
Danish
Norwegian
Finnish
Dutch
Bulgarian
Icelandic
Portuguese
Hebrew
Greek
Croatian
Arabic
Turkish
Polish
Italian
Spanish
Romanian
Czech
Hungarian
French Titling
German Titling
Italian Titling
Spanish Titling
Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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

Plot Synopsis

     A controversial issue such as rape needs to be dealt with in a very mature manner. It has to be both educational and inoffensive to a certain degree. Sure, it’s pretty hard to make it inoffensive to everyone, but it is a subject that has to be treated with the utmost care and respect. Based on a true story, Jonathan Kaplan’s The Accused fits into those categories, and is a film that, while hard to watch at times, is one that should be seen.

    The film begins with Sarah Tobias (Jodie Foster) with half-torn clothes, screaming and running frantically out the front door of The Mill, a local pub. Ken Joyce (Bernie Coulson) is on the phone with 911, reporting a gang rape at the pub. Sarah is picked up by a passing truck, and taken safely to a hospital. After a thorough check over, Sarah is met by Deputy D.A. Kathryn Murphy, who will be her prosecutor. It seems that there were three men that assaulted Sarah in front of a cheering crowd of men. Not just satisfied with putting away those who raped her, Murphy is out to get all those who watched it happen. After finding a few of the culprits, all are taken to court in a bid to bring justice to all involved.

    Jodie Foster’s efforts won her an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a National Board Of Review award for best actress, and deservedly so. This was her first Academy Award of two to date, and further proof of her ability to take on controversial and difficult roles and give an outstanding performance. Foster really is one of the greatest actors of the past 20-25 years, and it’s fantastic to see her still going strong with a great performance in 2002’s Panic Room. I think that she thoroughly deserved her awards for this film, as with Silence Of The Lambs. McGillis is strong in her role as Deputy D.A. Kathryn Murphy, but outshone by Foster.

    The Accused is a good film about a very touchy subject. The acting is pretty good across the board, with a superb effort from Jodie Foster. It’s hard to give a recommendation for this film, as it will not appeal to everyone. I think its importance is significant due to the sensitivity of its subject matter, and that is one of the film’s strongest points.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The transfer is good considering the film’s age, but not perfect.

    The film is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer is fairly strong when it comes to sharpness and detail, but it does show its age a bit. Shadow detail is good throughout, but again lacking a bit due to the print’s age. A constant amount of low level noise is present, but never becomes distracting, and is what one might expect for a 14 year old print.

    Colour levels are not as vibrant as other more contemporary DVDs, but never go against the director’s original intentions.

    Some aliasing is present at times, but never becoming excessive. I detected slight edge enhancement on a few light-on-dark shots (or vice versa), along with very infrequent dirt and scratches. Both of these problems were never of an excessive amount, and were never distracting.

    This is an RSDL disc, and the layer change occurs at 53.33, without interrupting any dialogue.

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

Audio

    This is a fairly good audio transfer, which is almost completely front-heavy.

    There are six audio tracks to chose from; English Dolby Digital 5.1, German Dolby Digital 2.0, French Dolby Digital 2.0, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0, Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 and Hungarian Dolby Digital 2.0. I chose to listen to the English Dolby Digital 5.1 track.

    Dialogue was always clear and intelligible, never becoming distorted or sounding muffled or tinny as some older films tend to do. There were no problems with audio sync during the entire program. There were no clicks, pops or dropouts either.

    The film’s music was composed by 80s synth king Brad Fiedel (The Terminator, Terminator 2, True Lies). Dating the film in a way that only 80s synths can, the film’s score is perhaps not the most memorable, but still fits the film. The clarity of the music is as good as it can be, and it gets some great support from the subwoofer.

    Surround channel usage was virtually non-existent. The film’s original soundtrack never really demands any surround activity, which means there is no great loss here. Perhaps some support for the film’s score could have lifted the atmosphere a bit, but at least nothing sounds forced with a front-heavy mix.

    The subwoofer was used to support the music quite well, providing some low-end to Fiedel’s wonderfully 80s score. Never drawing attention to itself, it was a welcome presence.

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

Extras

Theatrical Trailer (2.02)

    The film's theatrical trailer is the only extra present, and is hardly worth getting excited about.

R4 vs R1

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

    The Region 1 version is identical to the local release, so there's no need to import this title.

Summary

     The Accused is a good film about a very touchy subject. It's worth seeing, if only for Jodie Foster's Academy Award winning performance.

    The video transfer is quite good.

    The audio transfer is quite good, without the help of surround channel usage.

    The only extra feature is the film's theatrical trailer.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Pockett (If you're really bored, you can read my bio...)
Saturday, August 03, 2002
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-525, using Component output
DisplayTeac 82cm 16x9. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationSony STR DE-545
Speakers5 Sony speakers; Sherwood 12" 100w Powered Subwoofer

Other Reviews NONE