Rounders

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General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Theatrical Trailer(s)	Yes, 1
Rating		Other Trailer(s)	Yes, 1 - Dolby Digital Canyon
Year Released	1998	Commentary Tracks	None
Running Time	115:52 minutes (not 120 as per cover)	Other Extras	Cast Biographies Featurette - On The Set (4 mins) Cast & Crew Interviews Menu Audio
RSDL/Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region	4	Director	John Dahl
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Matt Damon Edward Norton John Turturro Famke Janssen Gretchen Mol John Malkovich Martin Landau
RRP	$34.95	Music	Christopher Young

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	No	MPEG	2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Dolby Digital	5.1
16x9 Enhancement	Yes	Soundtrack Languages	English (Dolby Digital 5.1) English (MPEG 2.0 )
Theatrical Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Macrovision	Yes	Smoking	Yes
Subtitles	None	Annoying Product Placement	Yes, mildly

    Nine months passes, and Mike is now a budding law student. His friend and card playing partner, Worm (Edward Norton), is let out of prison. Unfortunately, Worm owes a number of very unpleasant people a considerable sum of money. The net result of this is that Mike starts playing cards again, only this time, it isn't just for the money, it's for their lives.

    Rounders is an excellently crafted film. We learn a great deal about the principal characters, and we learn to care about them. This is more than just a story about card sharks. This is a story about being true to yourself. I enjoyed it immensely.

Video

    The transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer is very clear and very sharp. Shadow detail is good, and there is no low level noise.

    The colours were unusually rendered, often having a very hard edge to them. They varied from undersaturated to almost oversaturated, and there were some very unusual colour palettes on show. Not having seen this movie in the theatre, I can only surmise that this was the cinematographer's intent - it certainly enhances the visual impact of the story. The last movie I recall having a similar "look" to this one was Gattaca.

    There were no MPEG artefacts seen. Aliasing is exhibited mildly from time to time, but this never reaches a level where it is of any significant concern. Film artefacts were rare.

    The running time of this movie is 115:52 minutes, not the 120 minutes as claimed on the packaging.

Audio

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

    Audio sync was a big problem on my Pioneer DV-505, with the majority of the movie marginally out of sync. In particular, Chapters 6 and 8 were notable for this problem. This problem improves as the movie progresses, but never completely disappears. I compared these spots on a Panasonic 8583B DVD-ROM drive using PowerDVD, and no sync problems were evident.

    The musical score by Christopher Young was frequently present and enhanced the mood of the movie significantly. Tension was built nicely by the score.

    The surround channels had subtle but frequent use for music and for ambience. The overall effect was of a pleasantly enveloping soundtrack which was much more involving than would have been expected given the material being presented.

    The subwoofer was active a reasonable amount of the time, providing a subtle underscoring of the music and some of the effects.

What's Missing / What's Extra

• 16x9 enhancement
• Featurette
• Cast & Crew Biographies
• Cast & Crew Interviews

Menu

Theatrical Trailer

Cast & Crew Biographies

Cast & Crew Interviews

Featurette - On The Set

    The video quality is excellent, and unlike the Region 1 version of this disc, this disc is 16x9 enhanced.

    The audio quality is good, but given the significant audio sync problems exhibited on my setup, I would advise you to rent this disc before buying it to make sure that the problems do not affect your setup. Pioneer owners in particular should be wary of purchasing this disc sight unseen.

    There are a few more extras on the Region 4 version of this disc compared with the Region 1 version of this disc, but nothing to get particularly excited about.

     For everyone but Pioneer DVD player owners, I would recommend this disc over the Region 1 version because of its 16x9 enhancement. For the Pioneer owners, rent or borrow the disc first before committing to a purchase as the audio sync problem is not a minor one.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Michael Demtschyna
9th August 1999