The Osterman Weekend DVD comparison

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

directed by Sam Peckinpah
USA 1983

"We rely too much on sight, don't you think? Appearances being what they are."

NOTE: Blu-ray of The Osterman Weekend is reviewed HERE

And so encapsulates the genius and the madness of Sam Peckinpah's final film, the contentious, still-relevant The Osterman Weekend. Serving as a bridge of sorts between the psychosexual circus of Brian De Palma's Dressed to Kill (1980) and the technology/media fear of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) and David Cronenberg's Videodrome (1983), the film strikes a balance between the paranoia cinema of the 1970s and the technophilic sci-fi wonderland of the 1980s. It's brilliant--mark the ways that Peckinpah implies that every shot in the film is taken from a hidden camera for the pleasure of the audience. (A picture hasn't been this successful in indicting the criminal aspect of watching a movie since Hitchcock's heyday.) More than brilliant, like the best of Peckinpah's films, it gets under your skin with scalpel-grace. He made films of intimate violation--of rape, essentially; when you stare into the abyss of Peckinpah's pictures, Peckinpah stares into you.

Excerpt from Walter Chaw's review at FilmFreakCentral located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: October 14, 1983

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DVD Comparison:

Anchor Bay (US) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Anchor Bay (UK) - Region 2 - PAL

Big thanks to Gregory Meshman and Pavel Borodin for the Screen Caps!

(Anchor Bay (US) - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Anchor Bay (UK) - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	Anchor Bay (US) Region 1 - NTSC	Anchor Bay (UK) Region 2 - PAL
Runtime	1:42:24	1:38:15 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: ? mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 7.62 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Anchor Bay (US)
Bitrate: Anchor Bay (UK)
Audio	English: Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 6.1 ES, Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono	English: Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles	None (Closed Captioned)	English (HoH), none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Anchor Bay (US) Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Commemorative 2 Disc Edition • Commentary by Sam Peckinpah and historians Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons, David Weddle & Nick Redman • 'Alpha to Omega' - an all new 78 minute documentary • Sam's First Cut - never before seen version of film • Still gallery • Trailer • Biographies DVD Release Date: March 23, 2004 Keep case in sleeve Chapters 20	Release Information: Studio: Anchor Bay (UK) Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Commemorative 2 Disc Edition • Commentary by Sam Peckinpah and historians Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons, David Weddle & Nick Redman • 'Alpha to Omega' - an all new 78 minute documentary • Sam's First Cut - never before seen version of film • Still gallery • Trailer • Biographies DVD Release Date: March 29, 2004 Keep case Chapters 20

Comments

Blu-ray of The Osterman Weekend is reviewed HERE.

Both issues are called the "Commemorative Edition" and both are 2 discs. Extras appear to be exact. Image quality is almost exact, but if I was to choose - I would give a slight edge to the NTSC version as it appears to be minutely sharper. Colors are the same on both releases. Overall, I wouldn't say the picture quality is very good. The only real differences that I can see are in the audio, where the NTSC has a slight edge, and the subtitles that are offered for the PAL edition (hearing impaired), but not for the NTSC. So if you require the subtitles, get the PAL, other wise the NTSC is negligibly better in audio and image.

- Gary Tooze

DVD Menus

(Anchor Bay (US) - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Anchor Bay (UK) - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)