The Straight Story David Lynch

directed by David Lynch
U.S. 1999

"Alvin’s painful experiences have given him a great understanding of the true value of life which he gracefully mentors with sincerity and dignity to the individuals whose paths cross his own. Each scene in which he interacts with the gently portrayed rural townsfolk is poignant; the dialogue thoughtfully written and delivered with poetic subtlety. With a cinéma vérité feel, director David Lynch uses little to no extraneous camera effects and mostly slow dissolves for scene transfers. It is all quite masterful and such a pleasure to immerse yourself in. As in his "Blue Velvet" and "Twin Peaks", Lynch is able to grasp the feel of small-town, U.S.A. with relaxing calm, elegance and innocence.

There are no conflicts in the story. Alvin accepts the kindness of Midwest strangers and returns all he has to offer; sparingly dispensing his own brand of personal, frank wisdom. His reluctant nature imbues a warm humbleness that is evenly conveyed throughout the film. The soundtrack compliments each touching scene as a slow guitar riff is plucked with simplistic clarity. "

Excerpt from Gary Tooze's review HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: May 21st, 1999 - Cannes Film Festival, France

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DVD Comparison:

Cinema Club - Region 2- PAL vs. Alliance Atlantis - Region 1 - NTSC (WS version) vs. Disney - Region 1 - NTSC

Big thanks to Marc Colella for the Alliance and Disney Screen Captures and Pavel Borodin for the Cinema Club captures!!

(Cinema Club - Region 2- PAL -LEFT vs.Alliance Atlantis - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Disney - Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	FilmFour / Cinema Club, UK Region 2 PAL	Alliance Atlantis Region 1 - NTSC	Disney Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	1:46:56 (4% PAL speedup)	1:46:48 (4% PAL speedup... they used PAL source)	1:51:52
Video	2.25:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 8.10 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	2.25:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.37 mb/s NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s	2.25:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.72 NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Cinema Club
Bitrate: Alliance
Bitrate: Disney
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 5.1)	English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 2.0)	English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles	English (not mentioned on back cover)	English, French and none	English (yellow font with black outline) and none
Features	Release Information: Studio: FilmFour / Cinema Club, UK Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 2.35:1 Special Feature: Trailer DVD Release: August 12th, 2002 Keep Case Chapters - 17	Release Information: Studio: Alliance Atlantis Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 2.35:1 Edition Details: • None • Widescreen anamorphic format DVD Release Date: July 3rd, 2001 Keep Case Chapters - 24	Release Information: Studio: Disney Studios Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 2.35:1 Edition Details: • Film-themed menu screen • Non-anamorphic widescreen theatrical trailer - 2:10 • Widescreen anamorphic format DVD Release Date: January 14, 2001 Keep Case Chapters - 0

Comments:

The Alliance Atlantis and Cinema Club DVDs are not as sharp as the Disney DVD. All are anamorphic. The haziness of the r2 and Alliance is noticeable in every screen capture sample below compared to the Disney. The Alliance disc is also negligibly cropped. Director David Lynch wanted no chapter stops on this particular film on DVD and Disney adhered to his wishes. Alliance, on he other hand have divided the story into 24 chapters, Cinema Club - 17. Alliance transfer actually had a few black specks throughout the film... not a lot, and not too distracting - but they were there nonetheless, whereas the Disney transfer didn't have any. It was too hard to get a good screenshot that shows it, but in regular playback - you definitely notice it (both on the DVD-Rom player and on my DVD player hooked up to an HDTV). Alliance had an opportunity to recover from their initial release (a pan and scan atrocity) of this same film by improving on Disney's image quality and offering more than just a trailer as an Extra feature. They did neither. The image quality is inferior to Disney's and they offered nothing in the way of Extras. Alliance Atlantis have shown their true colors again with a lack of respect for the artistic nature of this film and the directors wishes and their own presentation that seems intent on making a fast buck rather than put some time, money and effort into their work. they used a telecine'd PAL source and it shows with the inherent problems that exist. I will continue to boycott their products until such time as they have proven they have improved. This is one of the best films of the 90's. Buy the Disney.

- Gary W. Tooze

NOTE: The Alliance release clocks in as 5 minutes shorter than the Disney. This would represent approximately 4% of the running time which adheres to normal PAL speedup. Looking at the bit-rate, I suspect that these DVD transfers were not taken from the same print. The Alliance credits Studio Canal on their DVD packaging. I suspect that they ported the PAL transfer and did not bother with adjusting the timing.

NOTE 2: The Cinema Club R2 DVD is quite red (see Sissy Spacek's face in the 2nd large capture), but otherwise just as hazy as the Alliance.

DVD Menus

(Cinema Club - Region 2- PAL -LEFT vs.Alliance Atlantis - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Disney - Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)

Screen Captures