Fatal Attraction (1987)

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General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio & Animation Featurette-Forever Fatal: Remembering Fatal Attraction Featurette-Social Attraction Featurette-Visual Attraction Featurette-Rehearsal Footage Alternate Ending-with Introduction by director Adrian Lyne Audio Commentary-Adrian Lyne (Director) Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	1987
Running Time	114:30
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (49:27)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Adrian Lyne
Studio Distributor	Paramount Home Entertainment	Starring	Michael Douglas Glenn Close Anne Archer
Case	?
RPI	$29.95	Music	Maurice Jarre

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	Greek English Spanish French Hebrew Croatian Italian Portuguese Slovenian Spanish Titling Italian Titling English Audio Commentary Spanish Audio Commentary French Audio Commentary Italian Audio Commentary	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Fatal Attraction is a film about a married man's affair with a woman who does not take rejection well.

    Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) is a happily married New York lawyer with a young daughter. When his wife (Anne Archer) and their daughter leave town to visit relatives, Dan must stay behind due to work commitments. Over this weekend he meets Alex Forest (Glenn Close) and they have a short but passionate affair. When his wife and child return home Dan tries to continue with his life but Alex begins to demand his attention. Beginning with calls to his home and visits to his office, Alex refuses to move on from the weekend and her harassment increases. This eventually builds to a stunning climax that will put more than Dan's marriage in danger.

    Despite the involvement of Michael Douglas in this project many studios and directors passed on the film as they felt it would be a commercial failure. Eventually the film was backed by Paramount, and Adrian Lyne, who had recently completed work on 9 1/2 Weeks, was chosen as the director. When released the film was a box office success worldwide and it was nominated for six Academy Awards®.

Video

    The transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer is quite sharp throughout, with high levels of detail always visible. During most shots the backgrounds are very soft but this is due to the lens choice and not a fault of the transfer. No low-level noise was detected at any time. During the numerous dark sections of the transfer disappointing levels of shadow detail may be seen. Many dark parts of the transfer display almost no shadow detail.

    The colour palette displayed is often very muted and at times almost monochromatic. This colour choice by the director was intentional and during some parts of the film brighter and vibrant colours are introduced effectively.

    During a small number of scenes some minor MPEG artefacts may be seen. Some examples of these artefacts may be seen at 31:55, 104:44 and 106:35. Some posterization may also be seen during the scene at 106:35. All of these artefacts are quite minor and they are only minimally distracting.

    No aliasing artefacts were detected at any time during the transfer.

    There are numerous film artefacts. Some examples of these may be seen at 4:10, 4:15, 7:27, 10:07, 11:00 and 11:50. While all of these artefacts are relatively minor they are moderately annoying due to their frequency. There's some obvious film grain during some of the darker scenes but this is never irritating.

    Eleven sets of white subtitles are included for the main feature. I sampled the English stream extensively and found it to be consistently accurate. Unfortunately the font used for the subtitles is very thick and quite ugly, this same font is also used for all subtitles found during the disc's extras.

    The layer change occurs at 49:27 partway through chapter seven. This change is located on a scene change and is not disruptive.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The dialogue was clear and easy to understand at all times.

    During two scenes, at 32:02 and 38:36, a slight problem with audio sync can be seen. These problems with sync appear to be due to ADR work and due to their very short duration they are not distracting.

    The score by Maurice Jarre is used effectively throughout but, as intended, never draws attention to itself.

    The surround channels are used very minimally.

    The LFE channel is also used only minimally to support the score and a very occasional effect.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The animated menu is presented at an aspect ratio of either 1.78:1 or 1.33:1 depending upon the player setup.

Audio Commentary: Adrian Lyne - Director

    This scene specific feature length commentary was recorded this year by director Adrian Lyne. Despite being recorded fifteen years after making the film Adrian is able to maintain an almost constant discussion, discussing the locations, casting, set design, musical score, performances and the alternate ending. English, Spanish, French and Italian subtitles are provided for the commentary; I sampled the English stream and found it to be consistently accurate.

Forever Fatal: Remembering Fatal Attraction (28:17)

Alternate Ending (8:38)

    This is the original ending for the film that was initially shown to test audiences. Due to the audience response an alternate ending was filmed and included in the theatrical release. This segment is introduced by Adrian Lyne and is presented with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack and English, Spanish, French and Italian subtitles. The introduction is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with the ending presented at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and not 16x9 enhanced.

Featurette: Social Attraction (10:00)

    This is a short featurette discussing the social impact that the film had and the controversy it created when released. This featurette was recorded this year and is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with clips from the film presented at 1.85:1. A Dolby Digital 2.0 surround soundtrack is provided along with English, Spanish, French and Italian subtitles.

Featurette: Visual Attraction (19:40)

    This featurette discusses the visual design for the film including set design, make-up, wardrobe and cinematography. This featurette was recorded this year and is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with clips from the film presented at 1.85:1. A Dolby Digital 2.0 surround soundtrack is provided along with English, Spanish, French and Italian subtitles.

Rehearsal Footage (7:09)

    This segment is introduced by Adrian Lyne and is a collection of rehearsal footage featuring Glenn Close, Michael Douglas and Anne Archer that was shot before making the film. This segment is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 surround soundtrack and English, Spanish, French and Italian subtitles.

Theatrical Trailer (1:22)

    This trailer is presented with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced.

   Both versions of this film appear to be identical and I therefore would have no preference for either version.

    Fatal Attraction is still a very entertaining film fifteen years after it was first released and it features excellent performances by Michael Douglas and Glen Close.

    The slightly disappointing video transfer displays a significant number of film artefacts and poor shadow detail.

    The re-mastered English 5.1 track is tightly front-focused and does not vary significantly from the original stereo mix.

    The extensive collection of extras provides some interesting insights into the making of this film.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall