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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.
Dead Poets Society: Special Edition (1989)

Dead Poets Society: Special Edition (1989)

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Released 20-Aug-2002

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama Main Menu Introduction
Main Menu Audio & Animation
Featurette-Scrapbook
Featurette-Raw Takes
Featurette-Alan Splet Tribute
Featurette-John Seale's Master Class
Theatrical Trailer
Audio Commentary-Peter Weir (Dir), John Seale (DoP) & Tom Schulman (Writer)
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 1989
Running Time 123:33
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (92:58) Cast & Crew
Start Up Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Peter Weir
Studio
Distributor

Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.
Starring Robin Williams
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI $29.95 Music Maurice Jarre


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary 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
Spanish
Swedish
Norwegian
Danish
Finnish
Icelandic
Spanish Titling
Spanish Audio Commentary
Swedish Audio Commentary
Norwegian Audio Commentary
Danish Audio Commentary
Finnish Audio Commentary
Smoking Yes, occasionally
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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

Plot Synopsis

    Dead Poets Society has something of a following, and it isn't hard to understand why, given the quality of the drama on offer. It is loosely based upon the story of a man named Samuel Pickering, who according to the IMDB, is currently a professor of English at the University of Connecticut. It was nominated for the Best Screenplay Written Directly For The Screen, Best Actor In A Leading Role, Best Director, and Best Picture awards at the 1990 Academy Awards. It won the first of those awards, but no others, which is surprising given the fact that drama films often have it easier at the Oscars than any other kind of film.

    Dead Poets Society is set in one of those very posh, very private, preparatory schools for boys that were popular in the United States during the 1950s. At the beginning of the current term, Nolan (Norman Lloyd), the headmaster, introduces a new teacher, himself a graduate of this school, who goes by the name of John Keating (Robin Williams). As soon as some of the students sit down to one of Keating's English classes, we learn that Keating's teaching methods do not fit in well with the school's standards. As Keating says in one conference with Nolan, "I thought the purpose of education was to learn to think for yourself", and Nolan's response is "At these boys' ages? Not on your life!". I'm (not so) glad to see that one tenet of how we educate our children hasn't changed since the 1950s.

    Keating's teachings really strike a chord in a young man by the name of Neil Perry (Robert Sean Leonard), who wants to try things like acting and other such creative pursuits. Unfortunately, he has a real ogre of a father (Kurtwood Smith) who stands over him, oblivious to the idea that he would like to have something other than a life entirely planned out before his birth. Of course, the big question is whether Neil can be taught to stand up for himself and pursue his dreams, or whether the herd conformity that has been drilled into him by a sickening society that we would do well to leave behind will win out. Without giving away too much about the plot, the result of this conflict will ensure that this film stays on the viewer's memory for a long, long time.

    This is one of Robin Williams' better performances for sure, mostly because he demonstrates a rudimentary capacity for restraint and control, which is something you don't see often with him. However, it is the performance of Robert Sean Leonard that hooks the viewer, and the actor manages to make every bit of the torment his character goes through apparent throughout the film. Kurtwood Smith is in fine form as a character that the audience will love to hate, and one of the featurettes has him saying that Peter Weir is one of his favourite directors to work with, or something like that. This is interesting, given that the film was originally slated to be directed by Jeff Kanew, with none other than Liam Neeson in the lead role (a performance that would have been interesting to watch). The film that we have here, however, is quite awesome, and one that reaffirms the rarefied beauty, meaning, or joy in life.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    This is a very good transfer with two specific problems which I will cover in great detail. It is otherwise a very good transfer that will please fans of the film.

    The transfer is presented in the aspect ratio of 1.78:1, and it is 16x9 Enhanced.

    This is a very crisp, sharp transfer that can be used for demonstration purposes. Snowfalls, the leaves on the ground in autumn, and other such environmental details are rendered with a clarity that can only be exceeded by a High Definition transfer. The shadow detail is good, taking into account the era in which the film was shot, and there is no low-level noise.

    The colours in this transfer are also immaculate, with the colour schemes matching the environment and changing seasons wonderfully. During some of the scenes in which Neil Perry is confronting his father about the direction of his life, the colours seem to appear more cold and lifeless, but whether this is an artistic choice or not, I couldn't say. No composite artefacts or colour bleeding were noted.

    MPEG artefacts are not present in this transfer, despite a rather low bit-rate during the first ninety minutes of the film. Film-to-video artefacts consisted of some aliasing on cars at 4:25 and 17:45, as well as on some props such as the rafters at 48:32, the typewriter at 50:27, and the desk set at 64:27. While the aliasing was infrequent, it occasionally showed with enough severity to be moderately distracting. Some fairly sizeable film artefacts also made their way into the transfer, with the occasional black or white mark appearing over or in close proximity to actor's faces.

    One specific criticism I must make of this and many other recent Buena Vista Special Edition reissues is that more chapter stops are needed. The total running length of this transfer is a hundred and twenty-three minutes, plus thirty-three seconds, yet there are only ten chapter stops provided. Chapters 9 and 10 have total lengths of eighteen minutes twenty-two seconds, and nineteen minutes forty seconds, respectively. This is just not good enough, given that both of these chapters have four or five scene changes in them, and it flies right in the face of the ease-of-navigation advantage that DVD is supposed to have over VHS.

    Another problem I had was that the subtitles, even the English for the Hearing Impaired subtitles, had some noticeable variations from the dialogue. I don't know exactly what Robin Williams is saying at 41:03, but I suspect that it isn't "Start with a canine croquette".

    This disc is RSDL formatted, with the layer change taking place in the middle of Chapter 9 at 92:58, just after Robert Sean Leonard says "...else the Puck a liar call", during a shot of Kurtwood Smith's menacing stare. This layer change is noticeable, but acceptably placed given that you get to see that icy glare just a little longer because of it.

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

Audio

    This Special Edition has been graced with a Dolby Digital 5.1 remix of the original Dolby Stereo soundtrack. They needn't have bothered, as this is one of the most front-focused 5.1 soundtracks I have ever heard in my days as a reviewer.

    There are four soundtracks on this DVD: the original English dialogue in Dolby Digital 5.1 with a 384 kilobit per second bit-rate, an English descriptive audio track in Dolby Digital 2.0 with a 192 kilobit per second bit-rate, a Spanish dub in Dolby Digital 5.1 with a 384 kilobit per second bit-rate, and an English Audio Commentary in Dolby Digital 2.0 with a 192 kilobit per second bit-rate. I listened to the original English dialogue and most of the Audio Commentary.

    The dialogue is clear and easy to understand most of the time, except for the occasional word such as the one I've mentioned in my comments about the subtitles. This is fairly typical of older films, and it doesn't impact too heavily on the general understanding of the film, so this is okay. I did not detect any major problems with audio sync.

    The score in this film was composed by Maurice Jarre. I found it strangely moving in spite of the obviously synthesised feel that some numbers had, and the overall music serves the theme of the film very well. I can't comment much more about it without giving away elements of the plot, but suffice to say that this is a very dramatic, moving score.

    The surround channels were barely, if at all, used by this soundtrack. I think I might have heard the occasional sound of leaves rustling in the surround channels, but this is really a 5.1 soundtrack that sounds more like 2.0, or even 1.0 at some points.

    The subwoofer was not used a great deal by this soundtrack, either. It supported the more percussive elements of the score, as well as the occasional fight, but it did not have much to do at all.

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

Extras

Menu

    The menu features an animated introduction with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound, and it is 16x9 Enhanced.

Audio Commentary - Peter Weir (Director), John Seale (Cinematographer), and Tom Schulman (Writer)

    Without so much as an introduction, this audio commentary begins with Peter Weir talking about why he chose to shoot the film in a private school. This is not the most engaging audio commentary, but it is well worth listening to for those who want to hear about the challenges faced in production.

Featurette - Scrapbook

    A collection of interview footage with various cast and crew members, running for twenty-six minutes and fifty-five seconds. It is presented in the aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Featurette - Raw Takes

    This seven minute and fifty-six second featurette is by far the most interesting extra on the disc. Essentially, it is a collection of footage featuring Keating taking the boys to a waterfall near the Dead Poets Society hideout. It was meant to be intercut with one of the more climactic points of the film (which it explains before showing the footage), but was deleted for unspecified reasons. It is presented in an approximate 1.78:1 ratio with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound.

Featurette - Alan Splet Tribute

    This ten minute and fifty-eight second featurette is presented in the aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Featurette - John Seale's Master Class

    This twenty-one minute and thirty-six second featurette is about the techniques used by cinematographer John Seale in making the film. It is presented in the aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Theatrical Trailer

    This two minute and forty-five second trailer is presented in the aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. It does a very good job of selling the film without giving too much of the plot away, an art that seems lost in the era of the modern blockbuster.

R4 vs R1

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

    The same Region 1 version of this disc that was available when the original Region 4 transfer was around (years ago) appears to still be available.

    The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;

    The Region 4 version, with 16x9 Enhancement and quite a number of special extras, is clearly the version of choice.

Summary

    Dead Poets Society is a well-made drama with powerhouse performances all around, and a strong, life-affirming theme that makes for a satisfying two hours viewing. Why Robin Williams didn't get the Best Actor award for this performance is beyond me, as it is one of his best (and most restrained) performances. I recommend this title to anyone who wants to see a real, believable story.

    The video transfer is very good.

    The audio transfer is pretty flat.

    The extras are fairly comprehensive.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Dean McIntosh (Don't talk about my bio. We don't wanna know.)
Tuesday, September 03, 2002
Review Equipment
DVDToshiba 2109, using S-Video output
DisplaySamsung CS-823AMF (80cm). Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 576i (PAL).
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationSony STR DE-835
SpeakersYamaha NS-45 Front Speakers, Yamaha NS-90 Rear Speakers, Yamaha NSC-120 Centre Speaker, JBL Digital 10 Active Subwoofer

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