Shiloh (1997)

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General		Extras
Category	Family	Main Menu Audio Listing-Cast & Crew Introduction-Roger Ebert Featurette-Public Service Announcement Theatrical Trailer Interviews-Cast & Crew
Rating
Year Of Production	1997
Running Time	86:52
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Dale Rosenbloom
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	Michael Moriarty Scott Wilson Blake Heron Rod Stieger
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	Joel Goldsmith

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Dutch 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
Subtitles	English French Dutch English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Shiloh is a very well-acted Family Movie about a boy's quest to save an abused dog from its vicious owner. Marty, played extremely well by Blake Heron, one day discovers an injured beagle puppy on one of his many excursions. The dog follows him home, but his father (Michael Moriarty) refuses to take the animal in. The family has recently become financialy destitute -- barely able to support themselves, let alone a pet. The animal is returned to its owner Judd, who is played with great animosity by Scott Wilson. His character was an abused child, and as such he has manifested an abusive streak that unfortuntely finds solace in the abuse of animals. Marty decides that one way or another he is going to save the dog, no matter what the cost.

    Based on an award winning children's book, I found Shiloh to be an extremely intelligent, well-crafted family movie. The acting is all top notch, as is the rest of the production. The film delicately balances many moral questions about responsibility, love and loyalty. It is a credit to director Rosenbloom that the film never becomes overly sentimental. He also adapted the book into a fine screenplay that appears to have captured the magic of author Phyllis Naylor's novel.

    The quality of acting from the cast was an unexpected pleasure. Moriarty, Stieger and especially the two protagonists Wilson and Heron are outstanding. It is a real shame that a quality family movie like this basically gets a direct-to-video release. The film was greeted with much critical acclaim in 1997 but never found a wide audience. This film deserves to be seen by everyone regardless of age, because it is not just a children's film, but one that is to be enjoyed by all.

Video

    Shiloh is presented with a 16x9 1.85:1 transfer. To Warner Brother's credit, it has been given an exceptional reference-quality transfer.

    An extremely sharp image with flawless shadow detail and strong black levels is the highlight of this wonderful print, with absolutely no sign of grain or low level noise to distract the viewer.

    Colours are well rendered and add warmth to an already pristine picture.

    There are absolutley no MPEG artefacts or other blemishes to be found on this disc.

    This is one of the best transfers to come from Warners in quite a while.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    A somewhat dissapointing audio track supports the stunning print.

    Shiloh is presented with 2.0 Dolby Digital surround audio tracks in three languages: English, French and Dutch.

    Dialogue is always clear and well maintained, and there are virtually no audio sync problems.

    The music by Joel Goldsmith is appropriate and not distracting. This is an old-fashioned score that adds depth to the onscreen proceedings.

    Surround channel usage is almost non-existent, which is disappointing for such a fine film. The soundfield is located almost entirely around the left and right front speakers. Not being an action film, Shiloh does not suffer as a result.

    There is hardly any subwoofer usage.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Main Menu

    Has audio.

Listing - Cast & Crew

Introduction By Film Critic Roger Ebert

    This is a brief three-minute intro to Shiloh, obviously recorded at a festival screening. Interesting to see a professional's take on the film.

Featurette - Interviews with Cast and crew

    A 14-minute series of interviews with all the principle actors and production staff. Basically your usual press kit fluff.

Theatrical Trailer

Publc Service Announcement

    Essentially an ad to encourage children to read.

    Other than the usual PAL vs NTSC debate, both versions are almost the same. Region 1 misses out on a Dutch Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack, whereas we are lacking a cropped, unmatted video transfer of the film.

    Shiloh is a great family film that should be rediscovered for the holiday season. There are more moral lessons to be learnt from this terrific little film than in anything else proclaiming to be a 'family adventure' on offer lately. The disc offers a stunning transfer with a dissapointing, but acceptable audio track.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall