Artisan

Region 1 - NTSC

1.78:1 Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 4.91 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

1.78:1 Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 6.87 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

1.78:1 Aspect Ratio

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Artisan

Artisan (Special Edition)

Lions Gate (Blu-ray)

NO BITRATE GRAPH FOR BLU-RAY YET!

English Dolby Digital 5.1- 448 Kbps

English Stereo Dolby Digital 2.0 - 192Kbps

English DTS-HD 6.1 - 2835Kbps

English Dolby Digital 5.1 EX - 640Kbps

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen letterboxed - 1.78:1

Edition Details:
• Theatrical Trailer (1:47)
• Scooly D Music Video (3:20)
• 2 TV Spots (1:06)

DVD Release Date: August 14, 2001
Keep Case

Chapters 27
 

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1

Edition Details:
• Commentary with Abel Ferrara
• Commentary with Producer M. Kane, Editor A. Redman, Composer J. Delia and Associate Producer R. Sabu
• A Short Film About the Long Career of Abel Ferrara - Documentarty (47:02)
• The Adventures of Schoolly D: Snowboarder - Featurette (42:09)
• Theatrical Trailer (1:47)
• Scooly D Music Video (3:20)
• 2 TV Spots (1:04)
 

Chapters 24

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 1.78:1

VC-1 encode - single-layered (25 Gig)

Edition Details:
• Commentary with Abel Ferrara
• Commentary with Producer M. Kane, Editor A. Redman, Composer J. Delia and Associate Producer R. Sabusawa
• A Short Film About the Long Career of Abel Ferrara - Documentary (47_04)
• The Adventures of Schoolly D: Snowboarder - Featurette (42:11)
• Theatrical Trailer (1:47)
• Scooly D Music Video (3:20)
• 2 TV Spots (1:06)
 

Chapters 17

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were ripped directly from the Blu-ray disc.

We can easily dismiss the Old non-anamorphic SD DVD release from 2001 but it does go to show the extreme variation that can happen in color with such a limited transfer.

The Special Edition SD and Blu-ray seems to be from the same source, but with Blu-ray we get a higher resolution. So everything looks 'better' - more detail, truer colors etc., although it becomes even more evident when enlarged on your home theater screen - you can plainly see the hazier image in the resized captures below. The LG Blu-ray is much improved over the SE-SD and it is the best way to watch this Abel Ferrara film.... but this is far from the brilliance that can Blu-ray scale. It may have more do to with how this particular film was shot than the transfer - just don't expect modern film purity and depth of image - it's really not that style of film anyway.  

We haven't compared but you'd easily think the Blu-ray's DTS-HD 6.1 would be a vast improvement over the older SDs. the film has some bodacious action sequences that benefit from the more boisterous separations.

The Special Edition and Blu-ray has the same extras including the "Famous" + "The Only Reason I'm Here Is I'm Getting $5.000 Cash" Abel Ferrara commentary. All Blu-ray extras are in SD - The documentary and featurette are anamorphic on the Special Edition.

Ferrara is a real enigma and I encourage individuals to read Jonathan Rosenbaum's comments on him HERE. This is definitely a film I will be revisiting from time to time - when I am prepared to stomach the intensity. With comments like this "I have to confess I’m a slow learner when it comes to Abel Ferrara–even though his talent is hard to shrug off, and the degree to which some of my smarter colleagues swear by him has made him impossible to ignore. For many of them, one sometimes feels Ferrara isn’t so much a major filmmaker as the major filmmaker. " it's hard not to look more deeply into his body of work.... and I will. This Blu-ray isn't perfect but it is, by far, the best way to see this film in your home theater.

 - Gary Tooze & Ole Kofoed