TeeSeeJay

I rented this DVD from netflix and watched it over the weekend. In case you don't know it, it a post-apocalyptic film with a very young Don Jonson and his telepathic dog. Oh, and the dog has female-finding capabilities.

Anyway, I watched this movie when I was a kid, and enjoyed it, and liked the idea of viewing it again.

The DVD is produced by some small-time operation. Menus are static, but easy to navigate. The disc is pretty bare, without extras or supplements, except for a commentary track I didn't listen to.

Video-wise, the transfer is OK, but the source print is badly scratched. Guess you should expect that from a small 25-year-old movie. This is likely the same VHS transfer. Presented in nonanamorphic widescreen.

The audio isn't so hot. Has a DD 2.0 track that seems really out of balance and murky. In a lot of instances, ambient noise drowns out what you are supposed to be listening to.

This disc is certainly not archival or collection-quality, but worth a rental if you're a fan of cult apocalypse films. The recently departed Jason Robards makes an appearance, as well.

Bottom Line: Good movie, good story, but presentation on DVD leaves a lot to be desired.

Matt Parks

one of the great B movies of recent years!

Surf Monkey

Hmmm...

Not exactly recent. It's twenty six years old. Still Don Johnson's high point as an actor though. Here's the DVD Talk review:

http://review.dvdtalk.com/reviews/Re...ew.asp?sku=168

Tony Block

quote:<HR>Originally posted by TeeSeeJay:
The disc is pretty bare, without extras or supplements, except for a commentary track I didn't listen to.<HR>

Sorry to quible, but I consider a commentary by a director to be the MOST Important supplement you can find on any DVD. IMHO, a bare bones DVD contains no extras, or at most perhaps a trailer and/or bios. That said, this is a great movie & it holds up really well on repeated viewings.



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IT'S ALL GOOD

Matt Parks

quote:<HR>Originally posted by Surf Monkey:
Hmmm...

Not exactly recent. It's twenty six years old. <HR>

Unless you're 19, 26 years is pretty recent.



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What you derive from a film depends very much on what you bring to it. It allows you to focus emotionally on things you already know. It brings things to a point.

--Andrew Sarris

Surf Monkey

Ha! I'm 36 and it still seems like a _long_ time since A Boy and His Dog was released =)

Matt Parks

quote:<HR>Originally posted by Surf Monkey:
Ha! I'm 36 and it still seems like a _long_ time since A Boy and His Dog was released =)<HR>

Well, think of it this way, the golden age of the B movie was the 50s and maybe the early 60s. In comparison it's recent.

bboisvert

quote:<HR>Originally posted by TeeSeeJay:
The disc is pretty bare, without extras or supplements, except for a commentary track I didn't listen to.<HR>

I have to agree with Tony Block on this one. A well-done commmentary is probably the best extra that studios can put on a DVD. When I saw this DVD, I was amazed that it had this supplement, rather than thinking it was "pretty bare". (And, as I recall, the commentary is really good.)

Anyway, the picture/sound quality is as you've described. Incidentally, it's a transfer that was created for laserdisc -- it may have shown up on VHS too at some point, but it was originally a LD transfer. The movie is in rough shape, but unless someone decides to do a complete restoration (unlikely) this is what we're stuck with...

garmonbozia

I thought I'd give this a bump since I have a question about the dvd......

Why are sellers on eBay saying this is OOP?
Did it go OOP for a while and then come back into print later?

Amazon lists two versions, but according to their descriptions they seem to be the same.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/se...672583-6690218