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Arachnophobia [Blu-ray]
(Frank Marshall, 1990)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Amblin Entertainment Video: Walt Disney Video
Disc: Region: 'A' (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player) Runtime: 1:49:31.731 Disc Size: 31,368,462,226 bytes Feature Size: 29,130,713,088 bytes Video Bitrate: 38.58 Mbps Chapters: 8 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: September 25th, 2012
Video: Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio English 4238 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 4238 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Dolby Digital Audio French 320 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 320 kbps / Dolby Surround Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 320 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 320 kbps / Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English (SDH), French, Portuguese, Spanish, none
Extras: • Production Featurette (2:48) • Frank Marshall Featurette (3:10)• Venezuela Sequence (1:29) • Trailer (2:04) • Info
Bitrate:
Description: Everyone is afraid of something ... for Dr. Ross Jennings (Jeff Daniels), his phobia is downright embarrassing. But when he moves his family to a small town, the one thing that bugs him most is now harming the townspeople at an alarming rate. For this unlikely hero, overcoming a childhood fear of spiders might just save the community, but it may already be too late! Directed by Frank Marshall (Executive Producer, BACK TO THE FUTURE, Producer, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK) and also starring John Goodman, this critically acclaimed breathtaking hit entertains with its terrific mix of thrills, chills, and laughter!.
The Film: Referring to the fear of spiders, Arachnophobia features a particularly deadly species of spider that manages to make its way from the Venezuelan rain forest to a small California town, thanks to the many oversights of entomologist Julian Sands. Yuppie doctor Jeff Daniels, fed up with the dangers inherent in big-city living, has resettled in this town on the assumption that nothing untoward could ever happen here to himself and his family. Before long, however, Daniels is trying to make sense of a series of sudden deaths-and to figure out why each of the corpses has been drained of blood. The audience, of course, knows that the culprits are those pesky South American spiders, which grow larger with each kill. To make matters worse, Jeff Daniels suffers from a profound case of arachnophobia. John Goodman supports the cast as a slovenly exterminator, and Frank Marshall, longtime producer of Steven Spielberg's films, makes his directorial debut in Arachnophobia. Excerpt from MRQE located HERE
Cancel that camping trip, and fix those holes in the screens. Today
brings the advent of ''Arachnophobia,'' a gleeful horror film
about deadly, bad-tempered tropical spiders for whom the word
''itsy-bitsy'' is truly a black joke.
Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. Arachnophobia appears upgraded from the deplorable SD - now on Blu-ray from Disney. The film never looked particularly crisp and the contrast in 1080P remains dullish. It looks like that ineffectual stock we saw used with a lot of 80's films. I don't think it is the fault of the transfer which is dual-layered with a very high bitrate. There is very little depth. This Blu-ray probably faithfully represents the film but it is by no means a 'demo'. The outdoor, naturally lit, scenes are more impressive. There is sporadic noise and it looks almost bleached, although the Blu-ray probably looks like the film Arachnophobia and it advances beyond the last DVD editions - notably in detail.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :We get a very lively DTS-HD Master 5.1 track at a monstrous 4238 kbps. Punchy, surprise, effects are rife and have plenty of jump to the rear speakers. There is some solid depth. Original music is by Trevor Jones (Excalibur and Dark City). It sounds very adept and occasionally atmospheric via the lossless. There are optional foreign-language DUBs and subtitle options and m y Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.
Extras : All minor vintage stuff from the original DVD including a very short production featurette, a piece with director Frank Marshall, a segment on the 'Venezuela' sequence and a trailer.
BOTTOM LINE:
NOTE: Some have reported that the initial screener discs are flawed and have been 'recalled' - hence the pushed-back release date. I don't *think* mine was the case but we will report here once we know more. Gary Tooze September 6th, 2012
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About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500 DVDs and have reviewed over 5000 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.
Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who
focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I
find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction. 60-Inch Class (59.58” Diagonal) 1080p Pioneer KURO Plasma Flat Panel HDTV PDP6020-FD
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