Quick reviews: Far and Away; While You Were Sleeping
12-09-02, 02:31 PM
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Quick reviews: Far and Away; While You Were Sleeping
Over the weekend, I got to watch two dvds that I was worried about picking up do to picture / sound quality (not the quality of the movies - I like them both). I wasn't able to find enough information online to convince me decisively whether or not to get them. I hope this information helps someone else. 
Far and Away (Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, et al): I had been worried about reports that the audio and video were mismatched for the first half of the movie. If they are, neither I nor my friend who was watching the movie with me could see it - perhaps it's an issue specific to certain dvd players. The video quality is very nice (anamorphic widescreen), as is the audio (Dolby Digital 5.1 - the surrounds are mainly used for the excellent soundtrack as far as I can tell).
While You Were Sleeping (Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, et al): This dvd has not been that highly reviewed on the web, and that is correct - the picture is a bit soft and grainy at times, and the whole film seems slightly dark, although that may be as intended. Also, the film is widescreen but not anamorphic, and there is a bit of shimmer around straight lines (mainly in the background - noticeable but not distracting to me). I noticed about as much shimmer here as in the "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" dvd.
The reviews I read worried me enough that I considered just keeping my VHS tape of the movie until a better DVD was released. However, after comparison between the DVD and the VHS tape, even the somewhat subpar DVD is much better than the videotape (even besides the fact that the DVD is OAR and the tape is pan-and-scam).
If you like these movies but you were wavering over buying the DVDs because of other reviews, you'll probably be happy that you picked them up. With "Far and Away", you may want to rent the DVD just to check for the sync issue, unless you can buy it cheaply (I got it used for under $10, so it was worth the risk).
Testing equipment: Toshiba SD-1700 dvd player, Kenwood HTB-503 (I think) amplifier / speakers, Samsung 27" analog TV with anamorphic squeeze.
Far and Away (Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, et al): I had been worried about reports that the audio and video were mismatched for the first half of the movie. If they are, neither I nor my friend who was watching the movie with me could see it - perhaps it's an issue specific to certain dvd players. The video quality is very nice (anamorphic widescreen), as is the audio (Dolby Digital 5.1 - the surrounds are mainly used for the excellent soundtrack as far as I can tell).
While You Were Sleeping (Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, et al): This dvd has not been that highly reviewed on the web, and that is correct - the picture is a bit soft and grainy at times, and the whole film seems slightly dark, although that may be as intended. Also, the film is widescreen but not anamorphic, and there is a bit of shimmer around straight lines (mainly in the background - noticeable but not distracting to me). I noticed about as much shimmer here as in the "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" dvd.
The reviews I read worried me enough that I considered just keeping my VHS tape of the movie until a better DVD was released. However, after comparison between the DVD and the VHS tape, even the somewhat subpar DVD is much better than the videotape (even besides the fact that the DVD is OAR and the tape is pan-and-scam).
If you like these movies but you were wavering over buying the DVDs because of other reviews, you'll probably be happy that you picked them up. With "Far and Away", you may want to rent the DVD just to check for the sync issue, unless you can buy it cheaply (I got it used for under $10, so it was worth the risk).
Testing equipment: Toshiba SD-1700 dvd player, Kenwood HTB-503 (I think) amplifier / speakers, Samsung 27" analog TV with anamorphic squeeze.
