"Rushmore" Buena Vista Home Entertainment - Region 2/4 - PAL vs.Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Touchstone / Buena Vista - Region 1

directed by Wes Anderson
USA 1998

Wes Anderson’s dazzling sophomore effort is equal parts coming-of-age story, French New Wave homage, and screwball comedy. Tenth grader Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) is Rushmore Academy’s most extracurricular student—and its least scholarly. He faces expulsion, and enters into unlikely friendships with both a lovely first-grade teacher (Olivia Williams) and a melancholy self-made millionaire (Bill Murray, in an award-winning performance). Set to a soundtrack of classic British Invasion tunes, Rushmore defies categorization even as it captures the pain and exuberance of adolescence with wit, emotional depth, and cinematic panache.

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Theatrical Release: September 17th, 1998 - Toronto Film Festival

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DVD Comparison:

Buena Vista Home Entertainment - Region 2/4- PAL vs. Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Touchstone / Buena Vista - Region 1 - NTSC

Thanks to Mark Newland for the PAL screen captures!

(Buena Vista - Region 2/4 - PAL LEFT vs. Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Touchstone / Buena Vista - Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	Touchstone / Buena Vista Region 2/4 - PAL	Criterion Collection - Spine # 65 Region 1 - NTSC	Touchstone / Buena Vista Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	1:29:00 (4% PAL speedup)	1:32:42	1:32:42
Video	2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: ? mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.35 mb/s NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s	2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.37 mb/s NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Criterion
Bitrate: BunaVista
Audio	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) DUBS: Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s), French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)	English (Dolby Digital 5.1)	English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles	English, English for the Hearing Impaired, Danish, Italian, French, Dutch, Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish, French Titling, Italian Titling, none.	English, and none	English, and none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Buena Vista Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterbox - 2.35:1 Edition Details: • None DVD Release Date: Feb 3rd, 2004 Transparent Keep Case Chapters: 20	Release Information: Studio: Criterion / Home Vision Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 2.55:1 Edition Details: • Commentary by co-writer/director Wes Anderson, co-writer Owen Wilson and star Jason Schwartzman • Production notes • Theatrical trailer(s) • Wes Anderson's Hand-Drawn Storyboards, Plus a Film-To-Storyboard Comparison • Cast Audition Footage: Jason Schwartzman, Sara Tanaka, Stephen McCole, Ronnie & Keith McCawley and Mason Gamble • Featurettes: *The Making of Rushmore, an exclusive behind-the-scenes documentary by Eric Chase Anderson & The Charlie Rose Show, featuring Wes Anderson and Bill Murray • Max Fischer Players Present: Theatrical "adaptations" of Armageddon, The Truman Show* & *Out of Sight, staged especially for the 1999 MTV Movie Awards • Plus!: props, posters, photos & other graphic ephemera, Special Poster Insert (a map of Rushmore*'s key events) • Widescreen anamorphic format DVD Release Date: January 18, 2000 Keep Case Chapters 24	Release Information: Studio: Touchstone Video Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterbox - 2.35:1 Edition Details: • Theatrical trailer DVD Release Date: August 1999 Keep Case Chapters: 20

Comments:

ADDITION- Buena Vista - Region 2/4 - PAL - January -05 - The PAL edition does look crisp, but it is pretty even all round. The PAL edition seems to have the slightest degree of brightness boosting that has also changed the color balance to a very small degree. It is "remastered" and is very sharp, but has artifacts (see below). Aliasing is present but again to a very small degree. So I still vote the Criterion for image, but it is a very negligible differences. I'm guessing most viewers will not care or notice. The best feature of the PAL edition are the subtitles and DUB options, IF you require them. It has no extras. We suggest not scrimping on this fine cinematic offering and get the Criterion. It is a worthy enough to spend the extra $'s.

****

Okay, lets remember that the Criterion screen captures were resized altering the image quality just slightly enough to disguise that they are, in actuality, marginally sharper than the Buena Vistas'. Being anamorphic , this would especially be true if you were viewing on a widescreen television or front projection system. The Buena Vista DVD is slightly cropped on the top and left edge and shows even less cropping by the Criterion on the bottom and right edge - this is all quite negligible. Colors seem accurate with Criterion's red's showing a richer hue and their blues slightly muted next to the Buena Vista's. Extras, of course, go Criterions way as do the menus. Both offer a very full 5.1 audio track. I give our endorsement to the Criterion, but for a non-anamorphic DVD the Buena Vista looks very good - probably only worth upgrading if you have a supporting viewing system or are fans who want the bountiful Criterion extras. Great film and no large complaints of either disc. Nice to see.

- Gary W. Tooze

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(Buena Vista - Region 2/4 - PAL LEFT vs. Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Touchstone / Buena Vista - Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)