(aka 'The Darkness' or Los otros' or 'Les autres')

Directed by Alejandro Amenábar
USA | Spain | France | Italy 200
1

Description:
Screen sensation Nicole Kidman (MOULIN ROUGE, EYES WIDE SHUT) delivers an utterly unforgettable performance in this scary and stylish suspense thriller. While awaiting her husband's return from war, Grace (Kidman) and her two young children live an unusually isolated existence behind the locked doors and drawn curtains of a secluded island mansion. Then, after three mysterious servants arrive and it becomes chillingly clear that there is far more to his house than can be seen, Grace finds herself in a harrying fight to save her children and keep her sanity. Acclaimed by critics everywhere, the unpredictable twists and turns of this compelling hit will keep you guessing as it keeps you riveted to the edge of your seat!
 

****


Fans of slasher horror - complete with spiralling body count, disfigured, wisecracking killer and hellishly sharp instruments of death - will find such things lacking in The Others.

The film marks the English language debut of Spanish writer-director, Alejandro Amenabar, already a Hollywood darling thanks to his previous effort, Open Your Eyes - which has been remade as the forthcoming Cameron Crowe/Tom Cruise collaboration, Vanilla Sky.

What you will get with The Others, however, are some of the creepiest, most atmospheric chills to permeate a cinema screen for years - for by choosing the unseen over the blatant, swapping graphic violence and gruesome murder for self-closing doors and self-playing pianos, and spilling not a single drop of blood along the way, Amenabar has created a haunting, imaginative shocker which is likely to rattle around in your brain for days after.

Exceerpt from Caroline Westbrook's review at EmpireOnline located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: September 1st, 2001 - Venice Film Festival

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Comparison:

Dimension (2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Alliance (Universal) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Dimension (2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC LEFT vs. Alliance (Universal) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray RIGHT

DVD Box Cover

 

Distribution Dimension (2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC Alliance (Canada) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:44:04 1:44:14.047
Video 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 7.56 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s  

1080i Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 16,508,058,989

Feature: 16,439,998,464 bytes

Video Bitrate: 15.00 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

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

Bitrate:

DVD

Bitrate:

Blu-ray

Audio English (Dolby Digital 5.1), DUB: French (Dolby Digital 2.0)   DTS-HD Master Audio English 3906 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3906 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Dolby Digital Audio English 448 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio French 448 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps
Subtitles English, Spanish, None None
Features

Release Information:
Studio: Dimension (2-disc) Home Video

Aspect Ratio:
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1

Edition Details:

• A Look Inside "The Others" (21:53)
• A Look At The Disease (8:12)
A Look at the director (8:55)
• Visual Effects (4:29)
• Stills gallery
• Trailer

DVD Release Date:
May 14th, 2002
Double-thick Keep Case
Chapters: 19

Release Information:
Studio: Dimension (2-disc) Home Video

1080i Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 16,508,058,989

Feature: 16,439,998,464 bytes

Video Bitrate: 15.00 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• None

Blu-ray Release Date: July 7th, 2009

Standard
Blu-ray Case
Chapters: 16

 

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Alliance Blu-ray July 09': Great, chilling, film but Alliance are up to their old tricks with an interlaced bare-bones transfer. It doesn't even have menus or subtitle options. To be honest, I don't understand the reason behind releasing this in 1080i with no extras. It advances upon the DVD but falls far short of the heights the new format can climb. You can see the comparative improvement below. The disc is only single-layered at only 16Gig. I mean... why bother? I suspect they are hoping to fool purchasers... but not on our watch Alliance!

***


 

This DVD was very good - a 2-disc affair with a decent, if not stellar, image and some viable extras on a 2nd single-layered DVD.

For the Blu-ray we say pass. Let's hope it comes to out via a reputable production in hi-def company soon.

Gary W. Tooze

 


DVD Menus

 

Dimension (2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC


 


Subtitle Sample

 

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 Dimension (2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC TOP vs. Alliance (Universal) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

 


 

Screen Captures

 

 Dimension (2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC TOP vs. Alliance (Universal) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


 Dimension (2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC TOP vs. Alliance (Universal) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


 Dimension (2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC TOP vs. Alliance (Universal) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


 Dimension (2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC TOP vs. Alliance (Universal) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
 

 


 Dimension (2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC TOP vs. Alliance (Universal) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
 

 


 Dimension (2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC TOP vs. Alliance (Universal) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
 

 


 Dimension (2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC TOP vs. Alliance (Universal) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
 

 

 


 Dimension (2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC TOP vs. Alliance (Universal) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
 

 


 Dimension (2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC TOP vs. Alliance (Universal) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
 

 

 


 Dimension (2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC TOP vs. Alliance (Universal) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
 

DVD Box Cover

 

Distribution Dimension (2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC Alliance (Canada) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray




 

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