H D - S E L E C T

A view on HD DVDs by Yunda Eddie Feng

 

Introduction: Hello, Beaver readers! I became a serious cineophile in 1994 when I saw Schindler's List on my birthday. I realized that movies weren't just for fun--they could be serious art, too (even mainstream popcorn flicks if they're made with skill). Although I have a BA in English, I went to grad school for an MA in Film Studies. There, I met my mentor Dr. Warren Buckland, who shares my interest in Steven Spielberg's artistry (Spielberg and art aren't mutually exclusive). I helped edit Dr. Buckland's book Directed by Steven Spielberg: Poetics of the Contemporary Hollywood Blockbuster. I also contributed a chapter to Dr. Buckland's forthcoming anthology of essays about "complex storytelling" movies--movies that avoid classical linear storylines in favor of temporal disruptions, unreliable narrators, metatheatrical/"self-aware" references, etc.

Eddie's Home Theatre:
Sharp 30-inch LCD TV (1280x768 resolution)
Toshiba HD-A2 HD-DVD player
Oppo OPDV971H SD-DVD player
Pioneer 7.1 DD/DTS receiver
Harmon Kardon speakers (5.1)

(I'm using the HD-A2's optical audio connection to obtain DTS 5.1 downmixes.)

Yunda Eddie Feng

 

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The Frighteners: Peter Jackson's Director's Cut
Universal (USA)
Review by Yunda Eddie Feng

Universal (USA)
2.35:1 1080p
123 minutes
Audio: DD Plus 5.1 English
Subtitles: Optional English SDH, French
Extras: introduction by Peter Jackson; audio commentary by Peter
Jackson; The Making of The Frighteners; trailer; My Scenes
Released: 29 May 2007
HD-DVD case
49 chapters

Peter Jackson’s early cult movies gained him a lot of fans, among them Robert Zemeckis. Zemeckis had directed a couple of hits for Universal, so he shepherded Jackson through the Kiwi’s first American studio film. Though the moviemakers and the studio wanted to release a PG-13 effects extravaganza, the MPAA gave The Frighteners an R rating. Some have blamed the R rating for limiting the movie’s audience, though that’s a flimsy argument considering that many R-rated flicks have grossed blockbuster money. At any rate, the movie’s tepid box-office performance branded Jackson box-office poison in Hollywood’s eyes, which explains why he couldn’t get financing for his The Lord of the Rings cycle for many, many years. (Ironically, Universal gave Jackson a blank check for a re-make of King Kong, and the studio was stuck with another under-performer from the New Zealander.)

Does The Frighteners deserve its lowly reputation? Probably not. It has an enjoyably wicked sense of humor and several witty visual gags. The visuals undoubtedly paved the way for today’s effects work. Michael J. Fox was the hero in Zemeckis’s Back to the Future Trilogy. Trini Alvarado plays Lucy Lynskey, and Lynskey is the last name of one of the leads in Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures. Melanie Lynskey has a cameo as a police officer, and Jackson himself appears as a street punk with numerous body piercings. Star Trek fans will get a kick out of seeing Jeffrey Combs, aka “Weyoun”, as a crazed FBI agent. Dee Wallace Stone played the mother in Steven Spielberg’s E.T., and she has a key role in this movie. Part of the fun of watching The Frighteners is seeing the connections with and references to other genre outings.

The overall execution needed finessing. For some reason, Jackson succumbed to the convention of pairing a male hero with a female love interest even though Lucy Lynskey’s husband dies early in the movie. A lot of characters appear and then disappear randomly, so it feels like Jackson loses track of his cast at times. The hero’s ghost friends save the day at the last second several times (Jackson has a weakness for deus ex machinas). The climax is tediously long, excessively loud, and numbingly repetitive. Somehow, I get the feeling that an extended version wasn’t needed in this case.

Video:
Universal released five HD-DVDs on 29 May 2007, and this is the best-looking of the bunch. Everything that isn’t a special effect looks exceptionally sharp. Some shots have sprinklings of fine grain in them, though this is probably attributable to the complicated techniques used to merge live-action photography with 1990s’ computer animation. Unfortunately, the source print that was used for the transfer has a few scratches and specks, so this is not a perfect transfer.

Audio:
The only audio track is a delightfully rowdy Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 English mix. The audio has very aggressive bass response, though everything is balanced in such a way that you can always hear the dialogue.

Optional English SDH and French subtitles support the audio.

Extras:
For previous home-video releases, Peter Jackson contributed an introduction to the movie and an audio commentary. These make repeat appearances on the HD-DVD.


Next, the disc includes the 3-hour-45-minute “The Making of The Frighteners” that was originally found in a deluxe LaserDisc release. This piece covers just about every aspect of the production, though when it comes to evaluating the movie itself, the movie only has clips of people talking about how much they like it.

This disc also includes a theatrical trailer.

Finally, the “My Scenes” feature allows you to bookmark your favorite scenes.

--Miscellaneous--
An insert advertises other Universal HD-DVDs.

 

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