Disappearing Acts (2000) |
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Disappearing Acts (2000) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Drama |
Menu Audio Dolby Digital Trailer-Egypt Theatrical Trailer |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2000 | ||
| Running Time | 111:00 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Ads Then Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Gina Prince |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Roadshow Home Entertainment |
Starring |
Sanaah Lathan Wesley Snipes John Amos |
| Case | Soft Brackley-Opaque | ||
| RPI | $34.95 | Music |
Meshell Ndegeocello Cato |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 2.0  (320Kb/s)
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | English for the Hearing Impaired | Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
Disappearing Acts tells the story of Franklin Swift (Wesley Snipes), an aspiring renovation contractor who spends more time out of work than in it. Zora Banks (Sanaa Lathan) is a schoolteacher and aspiring singer/songwriter with a steady job and dreams aplenty. Franklin and Zora meet on the doorstep of Zora's recently-renovated apartment, sparks fly from the outset, and a tumultuous relationship ensues.
Franklin and Zora fight through all the usual problems (and more) in this up and down story. Poverty and lack of work loom large, and the situation in 2000 for black construction workers is fairly bleak, especially without a GED (the equivalent of our VCE or HSC) and contractors license.
Although lengthy and somewhat predictable, this is an enjoyable story about the all-too-real struggles involved in a committed relationship. Not a movie to watch if you are after light-hearted entertainment, this certainly has a bit more meat to it.
The transfer is presented in the 16x9 enhanced aspect ratio of 1.78:1.
This transfer is so sharp that you could shave with it. With the level of sharpness on display you would expect plenty of aliasing - but no! There was only one obvious occurrence of aliasing at 97:41 on a bench. Shadow detail is good but could have been a little better, as shown by the theatrical trailer.
Colour was well-rendered and saturated throughout, and I had no complaints about it.
There were no MPEG artefacts on display, and the DTV source ensured that film artefacts were not presented. The only film-to-video artefact was the aliasing mentioned above. Very impressive.
The subtitles (English for the Hearing Impaired) were accurate for the first 30 minutes of the feature so I assume they remained accurate throughout.
| Sharpness |  |
| Shadow Detail | |
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| Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
| Film Artefacts | |
| Overall | |
There was only one Dolby Digital 2.0 surround mix available in English at a bitrate of 320Kbps(!).
Dialogue quality was fine throughout with no lip sync issues. Occasionally the New York street dialogue that Snipes uses can be a little difficult to understand but this is certainly no fault of the transfer.
The music used throughout is from contemporary artists. Mostly bass-heavy hip hop tracks, they do support the on-screen action well. In a story about black Americans, the hip-hop tunes are not annoying. Indeed, they are well-suited to the movie.
I didn't hear anything from the surrounds at any stage. Not really surprising given a dialogue-driven movie of this calibre.
Unlike the surrounds, the subwoofer gets a huge workout. The heavy beats of the hip-hop music used throughout really hammer through from the sub in this transfer. However, a few dB less on the bass in the mastering probably would have been good.
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| Audio Sync | |
| Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
| Surround Channel Use | |
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| Overall | |
Quite good audio and video with some pixelization. Presented in 1.78:1 16x9 with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio. Shadow detail is marginally better than the feature.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;
The video quality is superb.
The audio quality is very good.
The extras are almost non-existent.
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Extras |  |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer DV-535, using S-Video output |
| Display | RCA 80cm. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Onkyo TX-DS787, THX Select |
| Speakers | All matching Vifa Drivers: centre 2x6.5" + 1" tweeter (d'appolito); fronts and rears 6.5" + 1" tweeter; centre rear 5" + 1" tweeter; sub 10" (150WRMS) |