Girlfight (Tribe) (2000)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Main Menu Audio & Animation Menu Audio Featurette Theatrical Trailer Featurette-Behind The Scenes Trailer-Grey Owl Music Video-I Can Do Too-Cole
Rating
Year Of Production	2000
Running Time	106:24 (Case: 98)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (63:02)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Karyn Kusama
Studio Distributor	Tribe Enterprises	Starring	Michelle Rodriguez Jamie Tirelli Paul Calderon Santiago Douglas
Case	Soft Brackley-Transp
RPI	$34.95	Music	Theodore Shapiro

    Diana Guzman (Michelle Rodriguez) is a New York high school student who has problems finding an outlet for her emotions. She has few friends and receives little respect or love in her personal or home life. After deciding to take up boxing, she is able to find some of the things that she was missing in her life and is able to look forward to a more prosperous future.

    At the 2000 Sundance Film Festival this film received both the Grand Jury Prize for Best Dramatic Film and also the award for Best Direction. This was an excellent achievement for first time director Karyn Kusama who works with newcomer Michelle Rodriguez in her debut role. Convincing performances are given by all the actors involved in the production.

   While there have been numerous films where a youth finds direction in their life through sport, Girlfight is able to engage the viewer and provide a highly entertaining experience.

Video

    The transfer is unfortunately presented in Pan and Scan at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. When comparing the shots in the feature to those shown in their correct aspect ratio in the trailer and featurette, we can see that the majority of shots have had the matte opened and a near full frame exposed. Unfortunately, there are still a number of occasions when obvious artificial panning is introduced.

    The transfer is slightly soft throughout, but at no stage does this pose a problem for the viewer. Shadow detail is acceptable during the transfer, with the darkly lit scenes revealing significant levels of detail. There is no low level noise present.

    The colour palette is slightly muted during this film, but remains consistent at all times.

    No MPEG artefacts were detectable. Aliasing occurs at only one place during the transfer - at 36:19 during a shot of a speaker box - and is not distracting.

    Small film artefacts are present for the duration of the transfer and occur quite regularly. These artefacts are quite minor and are seen as small black or white flecks. Examples of these artefacts can be seen at 27:05, 38:25 and 43:18. The presence of these artefacts is only mildly distracting and could be easily overlooked by most viewers. There is significant grain present in this film, but this is understandable when the low budget of the movie is taken into consideration.

    The layer change occurs at 63:02 during a scene change and is not distracting to the viewer.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The dialogue is always clear and easy to understand. At no stage were dropouts or sync problems detected.

    The score by Theodore Shapiro is employed quite subtly during the film. There are frequent periods with no accompanying music, but when employed the score suits the on-screen action quite well. The score is classically-based with Latin and Cuban influences. Numerous quiet scenes utilize piano and woodwind instruments and when the action moves to the boxing ring the inclusion of drums works well. The track by Cole, presented as an extra on the disc, is not heard until during the final credits but the track's opening sample is taken from the score where it occurs numerous times.

    If Dolby Surround decoding is manually engaged, there is little activity from the rear speakers and they are only active during a small number of scenes. The subwoofer channel is only utilized by the background music on a few occasions.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Main Menu Audio & Animation

Cast and Crew Interviews (5.23)

Theatrical Trailer (2:16)

Behind-The-Scenes Footage (6:12)

Music Clip: Cole - I Can Do Too (3:42)

Trailer: Grey Owl (1:57)

• 1.85:1 Widescreen transfer
• 16x9 enhancement
• Director's Commentary
• English, French, Spanish Subtitles
• English Dolby Digital 5.1 Soundtrack
• French Dolby Digital 2.0 Soundtrack
• Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Soundtrack

• RSDL-formatting
• Music Video
• Behind the scenes footage
• Grey Owl Trailer

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall