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.
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.
Eye for an Eye (1996)

Eye for an Eye (1996)

If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD
Released 4-Sep-2002
Cover Art

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Thriller	None
Rating	?
Year Of Production	1996
Running Time	97:07
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (54:24)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Programme	Cast & Crew
Region Coding	4	Directed By	John Schlesinger
Studio Distributor	Paramount Home Entertainment	Starring	Sally Field Kiefer Sutherland Ed Harris
Case	?	Starring	Sally Field Kiefer Sutherland Ed Harris
RPI	$24.95	Music	James Newton Howard

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

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

Plot Synopsis

Eye For An Eye is a well-crafted, suspenseful, vigilante-revenge movie on a decent DVD.

Directed by John Schlesinger, and based on the novel by Erika Holzer, Eye For An Eye is set in the suburbs of Middle-America. Following the brutal rape and murder of her daughter, an outraged and indignant mother (Sally Field) plots revenge when the scum-bag responsible (Kiefer Sutherland) is allowed to walk free due to a legal technicality.

Vigilante-revenge movies, such as Eye For An Eye, Death Wish, and Dirty Harry provide a cinematic catharsis and find a ready audience. An audience who believe that the law fails to match public morality, and an audience that has grown cynical and disillusioned with a justice system that is seemingly obsessed with the rights of criminals as opposed to the rights of the victims and their families.

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

Transfer Quality

Video

I found the transfer to be a little hazy at times, but generally it is okay.

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

The sharpness is reasonable, but the shadow detail is poor. For example, consider the complete lack of shadow detail at 3:43 and 64:34.

The colour appears to be a tad under-saturated, and it is often a little dark as well.

The image suffers from some pixelization throughout, and some mild posterization occasionally, but I found neither distracting. In regard to film-to-video artefacts, aliasing appears as a slight shimmer at times, but again it was not distracting. Film artefacts appear throughout, but they are mostly small.

There are 24 sets of subtitles present, and the English ones are simplified, but accurate.

This is a RSDL disc, with the layer change placed between scenes, at 54:24.

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

Audio

There are five Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks on this DVD: English, French, Italian, Spanish, and German.

The dialogue quality and audio sync are fine.

The musical score is credited to James Newton Howard, and it is ominous, creepy, and very effective.

I'm guessing that this movie was originally released in stereo, as it remains very front-heavy. That said, the surround presence and activity takes the form of ambience, such as the traffic sounds at 4:44.

The subwoofer is used very effectively to support both the score, and the sound effects.

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

Extras

There are no extras.

R4 vs R1

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

Eye For An Eye was released on DVD in Region 1 in April 2002.

The Region 4 DVD misses out on:

French and English Dolby Digital stereo surround-encoded sound tracks.

The Region 1 DVD misses out on:

French, Italian, Spanish, and German Dolby Digital 5.1 sound tracks.

It's pretty even, but I would favour the local release for its affordability, and most importantly, its superior PAL image.

Summary

Eye For An Eye is an enjoyable and well-made movie, and it is well worth renting if you haven't already seen it.

The video quality is slightly disappointing but still very watchable.

The audio quality is very good albeit quite front-heavy.