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Category | Documentary | Theatrical Trailer(s) | None |
Rating | Other Trailer(s) | None | |
Year Released | 1995/1997 | Commentary Tracks | None |
Running Time | 91:57/49:08 minutes | Other Extras | Production Notes
Cast & Crew Biographies |
RSDL/Flipper | No/No |
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Start Up | Menu | ||
Region | 2,4 | Director | Peter Kuran |
Distributor |
Magna Pacific |
Starring | Mr A
Mr H |
Case | Magna/Carlton | ||
RRP | $39.95 | Music | William T. Stromberg |
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Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Frame | MPEG | None |
Widescreen Aspect Ratio | None | Dolby Digital | 2.0 |
16x9 Enhancement | No | Soundtrack Languages | English (Dolby Digital 2.0) |
Theatrical Aspect Ratio | 1.37:1 |
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Macrovision | ? | Smoking | Yes |
Subtitles | None | Annoying Product Placement | No |
Atomic Filmmakers is the story of the cameramen who worked for the military, documenting the explosions. It is interesting viewing, but nowhere near as compelling as Trinity and Beyond.
The transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. It is not 16x9 enhanced. According to the IMDB, Trinity and Beyond is supposed to be exhibited in a 1.37:1 aspect ratio, so there is no panning & scanning here. Some of the shots in Atomic Filmmakers are presented in a letterboxed 2.35:1 format.
There is a minor video glitch during the closing credits to Trinity and Beyond at 90:37, consisting of a brief horizontal green line across the image.
The transfer was variably sharp. Generally, the elements are well-preserved, though some archival black and white footage is quite deteriorated. Some scenes are very grainy, but this is the fault of the source material. Shadow detail was poor, but this is also the fault of the source material. There was some low level noise in some portions of the transfer. All-in-all, I can definitively say that the overall quality of the image is more than satisfactory given the type of source material available for this production.
The colours were variably rendered. Once again, the quality of the source material determined the quality of the colour.
MPEG artefacts were occasionally noticeable, but were never a significant intrusion into the image. These occurred mainly with film elements that were very grainy - some of the grain had quite a blocky nature about it. Film-to-video artefacts were not noticed. Film artefacts were variably frequent, once again dependent on the quality of the source material, but no elements were unacceptable in this regard.
Once again, I feel I should emphasize that the majority of this transfer is excellent given the quality of the source material - you may even recognize some early scenes from Godzilla!
The overall level of the soundtrack was quite high, and I turned the level down slightly to a more comfortable listening level.
Dialogue was generally easy to hear. The narration was clear and pleasant to listen to. Some of the very old archival elements were muffled sound-wise, but no sound elements were anywhere near unacceptable.
There were no audio sync problems with this disc.
The music was composed by William T. Stromberg and, in a very ironic twist, performed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. The music suited the on-screen images, and at times triumphant musical cues were juxtaposed with scenes of enormous devastation and destruction, emphasizing the awful power of atomic weaponry.
The surround channel was not used.
The .1 channel received a large amount of signal from the processor. This soundtrack will rattle your room, once again emphasizing the destructive power of atomic weaponry.
The video quality is of variable quality, but remains more than acceptable at all times.
The audio quality is good.
The extras present are very limited.
[Addendum 22nd January 2000. Peter Kuran, the director of Trinity and Beyond, has contacted me in regards to the video quality of the Region 4 version of this DVD. He has graciously consented for his comments to be committed to the public record for posterity. Here is what he had to say.
"Many thanks for the review of the Trinity and Beyond
DVD. However, the version you reviewed is really not the best quality.
The Magna Pacific version is from a PAL conversion Beta SP (which was originally
sent for the VHS version only) and I didn't know they were going to use
it for a DVD. The region 1 DVD which is NTSC and is available in the US
by Goldhil Home Media is a direct Digital conversion from the Digi Beta
Master and is better quality. Had I known that Magna Pacific was
going ahead with their DVD, I would have sent them a Digi Beta PAL to grab
from. Anyway, having never seen the Magna Pacific DVD, I can only take
your word for it.
Pete Kuran
Director, Trinity and Beyond"]
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
© Michael Demtschyna
20th July 1999
Amended 22nd January 2000
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DVD | Pioneer DV-505, using S-Video output |
Display | Loewe Art-95 95cm direct view CRT in 4:3 mode, via the S-Video input. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials. |
Audio Decoder | Denon AVD-2000 Dolby Digital AddOn Decoder, used as a standalone processor. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials. |
Amplification | 2 x EA Playmaster 100W per channel stereo amplifiers for Left, Right, Left Rear and Right Rear; Philips 360 50W per channel stereo amplifier for Centre and Subwoofer |
Speakers | Philips S2000 speakers for Left, Right; Polk Audio CS-100 Centre Speaker; Apex AS-123 speakers for Left Rear and Right Rear; Yamaha B100-115SE subwoofer |