The Crimson Rivers - any reviews??
10-16-01, 08:45 AM
#3
Vagabond contrary to the packaging the French track is indeed 5.1!
As a big Jean Reno fan, I was kinda shocked that I had never heard of this film before I saw someone post about it on the General forum. Needless to say I snapped it up sight unseen and I was glad I did! It's kind of a weird Seven-Flatliners-Vertical Limit (!) hybrid that is REALLY violent and grisly and has just a general creepy atmosphere throughout. Without going into too much detail on the story, two French cops (Reno, Vincent Cassell) are working on two different cases that eventually bring them together on a serial killer investigation at a remote mountain university, where they find that just getting a higher education is not the first priority there. The story (adapted from a book) is pretty tense and fairly quick paced, with a couple of great night-time chase scenes (the BMW/Hummer one is a doozy) and it's only at the resolution where the film falters a bit, but again the lead-up is well worth it. Performances are top notch (Reno never disappoints!). Ok, onto the disc. The film seemed to have some pretty good production quality to it and the mountain/glacier cinematography was just gorgeous and came through very well on the disc. The 2.35:1 picture was pretty sharp and clean and even the night scenes came through very well. Being a French film there is a dubbed English track (which I believe is Jean Reno dubbing himself in English which is a plus if you like dubbed tracks) in DD5.1 and Pro-Logic and as a nice surprise there is also the original French language track in 5.1. I say surprised because the disc packaging and web site info indicate that only the English dub was in 5.1. Thank god, since I hate dubs and this track is excellent, from the action scenes to the foreboding score to the quiet ambience of the glacier scenes you're always immersed in the moment. I haven't checked out the extras yet, but there is a commentary track with the cast and crew, isolated music score with commentary, deleted scenes, storyboards, featurettes trailers, etc, all of which add up to a nice special edition of a great little foreign film! Highly recommended! Thanks DVD Talk, for getting me to notice this movie!
As a big Jean Reno fan, I was kinda shocked that I had never heard of this film before I saw someone post about it on the General forum. Needless to say I snapped it up sight unseen and I was glad I did! It's kind of a weird Seven-Flatliners-Vertical Limit (!) hybrid that is REALLY violent and grisly and has just a general creepy atmosphere throughout. Without going into too much detail on the story, two French cops (Reno, Vincent Cassell) are working on two different cases that eventually bring them together on a serial killer investigation at a remote mountain university, where they find that just getting a higher education is not the first priority there. The story (adapted from a book) is pretty tense and fairly quick paced, with a couple of great night-time chase scenes (the BMW/Hummer one is a doozy) and it's only at the resolution where the film falters a bit, but again the lead-up is well worth it. Performances are top notch (Reno never disappoints!). Ok, onto the disc. The film seemed to have some pretty good production quality to it and the mountain/glacier cinematography was just gorgeous and came through very well on the disc. The 2.35:1 picture was pretty sharp and clean and even the night scenes came through very well. Being a French film there is a dubbed English track (which I believe is Jean Reno dubbing himself in English which is a plus if you like dubbed tracks) in DD5.1 and Pro-Logic and as a nice surprise there is also the original French language track in 5.1. I say surprised because the disc packaging and web site info indicate that only the English dub was in 5.1. Thank god, since I hate dubs and this track is excellent, from the action scenes to the foreboding score to the quiet ambience of the glacier scenes you're always immersed in the moment. I haven't checked out the extras yet, but there is a commentary track with the cast and crew, isolated music score with commentary, deleted scenes, storyboards, featurettes trailers, etc, all of which add up to a nice special edition of a great little foreign film! Highly recommended! Thanks DVD Talk, for getting me to notice this movie!
10-16-01, 12:27 PM
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The movie is rather mediocre. It sometimes succeeds in generation a creepy atmosphere, but usually this disspates when the director suddenly switches into kungfu in the veins of Tekken, with silly "You Win!" complementing the action. And the plot is really flimsy, culmiunating in a truly lackluster ending that is seemingly ripped from something like Cliffhanger/Vertical Limit. Is this really a suspense horror film, or is it some really bad action film? Obviously the director could not decide.
10-16-01, 03:32 PM
#6
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Despite the plot holes and lame ending I must say I still rather enjoyed it. Certainly not Kassovitz's best work (see "Hate"). I'm probably biased on this one because I like Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel. I'm glad it has a 5.1 french track though. I woudn't have bought it otherwise.
10-16-01, 03:38 PM
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DVD Times has a review at http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/index.cgi?...301&story=2238
Despite the ".co.uk", the review is of the R1 disc.
Despite the ".co.uk", the review is of the R1 disc.
10-16-01, 03:38 PM
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Just finished watchign it. Very good movie with only two minor faults.
First there is the silly Kung Fu fight with other people playing TEKKEN in the room at the same time so they end up having the TEKKEN announcer say stuff applicable to the real fight going on. It was extremely cheesy.
Second is the ending. I won't say it was lame, it was just highly predictable (I had it all figured out the minute the two officers are in the cafe deciding what to do next, one line there just completely gave away the ending)(on a side note the english language trailer also gave away the ending, which was a stupid move on Columbia's part, as the french trailer inlcuded on the DVD is just as exciting without giving away the ending).
Overall this was an excellent film. The performances are dead on, the plot is very well done, and it has some amazing scenes and scenery.
First there is the silly Kung Fu fight with other people playing TEKKEN in the room at the same time so they end up having the TEKKEN announcer say stuff applicable to the real fight going on. It was extremely cheesy.
Second is the ending. I won't say it was lame, it was just highly predictable (I had it all figured out the minute the two officers are in the cafe deciding what to do next, one line there just completely gave away the ending)(on a side note the english language trailer also gave away the ending, which was a stupid move on Columbia's part, as the french trailer inlcuded on the DVD is just as exciting without giving away the ending).
Overall this was an excellent film. The performances are dead on, the plot is very well done, and it has some amazing scenes and scenery.
10-16-01, 04:37 PM
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i am glad that they did release it with a 5.1 french track.. now i can buy it.. i wouldn't if it had been as announced with just a 2.0 for the original language track.
10-17-01, 06:52 PM
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10-19-01, 01:14 PM
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They included a French commentary track with no subtitles?!?! Bizarre. Is this an error on CTHV's part? I hope there's a recall. Especially since they subbed the Japanese commentary on Final Fantasy. Man, very disappointing. I was very much looking forward to hearing that track.
10-20-01, 02:31 PM
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Originally posted by ipkevin
They included a French commentary track with no subtitles?!?! Bizarre. Is this an error on CTHV's part? I hope there's a recall. Especially since they subbed the Japanese commentary on Final Fantasy. Man, very disappointing. I was very much looking forward to hearing that track.
They included a French commentary track with no subtitles?!?! Bizarre. Is this an error on CTHV's part? I hope there's a recall. Especially since they subbed the Japanese commentary on Final Fantasy. Man, very disappointing. I was very much looking forward to hearing that track.
And all they had to do was add a third subtitle section/option for the commentary track's dialogue, like they do when they have an english option and another option available for the hearing impaired english track.
Big, big disappointment.
cheers, Tony Block
10-21-01, 04:18 PM
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Originally posted by Grizzly
someone with connections should pop the question to CTHE... it seems rather pointless to include a commentary track in french and not include subtitles..
someone with connections should pop the question to CTHE... it seems rather pointless to include a commentary track in french and not include subtitles..
cheers and Thanks in advance, Tony Block
10-21-01, 05:01 PM
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Another review
Here's another review of Crimson Rivers here
Yeah, it is kind of tough to get the benefit of a French audio commentary with no subtitles.
Same deal on 400 Blows from Criterion. No subtitles there either.
Yeah, it is kind of tough to get the benefit of a French audio commentary with no subtitles.
Same deal on 400 Blows from Criterion. No subtitles there either.
10-21-01, 07:50 PM
#17
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Since I read constant bitching on french-canadian DVD forums about the lack of a french audio track on a lot of R1 releases, I find this rather ironic. 
Last edited by eXcentris; 10-21-01 at 07:52 PM.
10-23-01, 03:38 PM
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Just rented it - the extras are very good except for the french commentary - what were they thinking? The sound is fantastic in 5.l. As for the movie itself I found it very derivative of american horror/cop films. In one of the documentaries the director states that he had started a new genre (the french american thriller?). Let's see: (1)horrible murders with mutilations and closeups of the bodies (2)an older cop teamed against his will with a younger one (3)the villain holding a gun on one of the good guys and (4) scenes with lots of rain. Let's call it SEPT.
10-25-01, 01:26 PM
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Let's hope that CTHE will be offering some type of exchange when the subtitled commentary version becomes available...
Last edited by Pointyskull; 10-25-01 at 01:55 PM.
11-25-01, 04:26 PM
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Originally posted by 12thmonkey
Let's hope that CTHE will be offering some type of exchange when the subtitled commentary version becomes available...
Let's hope that CTHE will be offering some type of exchange when the subtitled commentary version becomes available...
