W. Minge

Any word on the quality of this DVD release:
http://www.xploitedcinema.com/dvds/dvds.asp?title=7509

Is it cut at all? Are the English subtitles of a high grammatical standard? Does it have good picture and sound quality? Etc.

W. Minge

Giorgio

I ordered this from eThaiCD.com and received it within a week... Even though the English text on the backside is written rather bad (like some Hong Kong dvd's), the dvd itself is very good and especially for $10.50! As far I could see the subtitles were without mistakes, and picture/sound were great! The one violent scene in the movie is seen in its full glory. Sound is French or Thai 5.1, and the subs are in English or Thai. And it's anamorphic, of course.

George

flixtime

to DVDTalker W. Minge for bringing this to our attention!
to DVDTalker Giorgio for the review!

logboy

why not just buy it from ethaicd.com ? like giorgio says... cheap!

W. Minge

Thanks for the review, George.

Tell me, does the DVD come in a thin, flimsy box -- the last film that I ordered from Thailand, "Tropical Malady," came in one, and it doesn't hold the disc firmly -- or does it come in a standard box? (Not that it really matters, mind.)

Giorgio

Hi everybody... Happy that my information can help you guys!

The disc comes in an see-through amaray, not a black one. And the disc is all-region... I know that people will wait for the special editions that are coming in various countries, but like I said, for this price you can't go wrong if you just want the movie (and the trailer without subs!).

George

W. Minge

I received this yesterday and, as far as I can tell, this isn't a particularly good release at all: the video quality is quite poor -- this is particularly noticeable during darker scenes -- and the French 5.1 track is awfully tinny. I'm by no means an expert on the matter, but I'd personally recommend forgetting all about this effort from Mangpong, regardless of the low price, and instead hold out for the Artificial Eye release next month.

As for the film, it's really quite superb.

chaos2046

Does anyone know whether the Artificial Eye release would have all the extras on the French 2-disc version??

flixtime

Just finished watching my copy of the Thai disc. I'm no A/V-phile but I would agree with DVDTalker W. Minge's comment about the seemingly subpar audio. As for the film, ultimately it didn't really strike a chord with me ("yes", I know a lot of you really liked it). The first 10 minutes or so left me a bit fidgety but then ever so slowly I did find myself getting fairly involved in the goings on. The film did hook me that way but it was more on a level of curiousity as to what was going to be the final result as opposed to being more traditionally entertained. Actually for significant stretches it did work as a more traditional low-key suspenser but the conclusion certainly left me more "that's it!?!" than not. Reading up on all the various reviews didn't really bring to light anything I hadn't already noticed (except to show me that those elements were more to the heart and appreciation of the film than I was expecting).....and "yes" I did pick up on the elements of the closing scene that might easily be missed by some viewers. I'd commend the director on what he might have been attempting to say but I'm not sold that he was successful in doing so. All in all, having just finished it, for now I am decidedly neutral on the experience. My immediate reaction leans more towards dismissing it as "not my cup of tea" as opposed to wanting to expend significant time in analyzing/appreciating it. Just to add some context, this is my first exposure to Michael Haneke's work.

And just something that is becoming a bit of a pet peeve, something's got to be done about the font size being used for text (credits, etc.) on some films. While it might play well in theaters, some of the text is just too darned small to read when it comes to home viewing, including the opening credits for "Cache". To say that some of the credits on films I've watched recently are difficult to read would be an understatement....perhaps there should be some consideration to a re-formating of film credits when it is transferred to home video (or at least some sort of option where you can actually read them in a more viewer-friendly format).