One of the earliest popular DVD releases, Luc Besson's fanciful, visually striking 1997 sci-fi epic The Fifth Element has a surprisingly spare presentation: it includes standard and widescreen aspect ratios, as well as Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo Audio in English and Spanish -- and that's it. While both the sound and audio preserve the film's intricate, and often witty, details, it's still a slightly disappointing package; filmographies, a making-of featurette, or even a trailer would make the disc more substantial. Though the film's fans would want it in any DVD version, The Fifth Element deserves a more thoughtful presentation than this, and Columbia TriStar obliged by releasing a deluxe edition in early 2005.
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A somewhat disappointing DVD release, MGM/UA's The Princess Bride provides nothing extra beyond a theatrical trailer -- no commentary, no featurettes, not even cast and crew biography pages. The film is presented in both widescreen (1.85:1 letterboxed, non-anamorphic) and full-frame formats. The image is nice and clear, with beautiful, vivid colors and no evidence of artifacts such as shimmering or edge enhancement. There is some slight indication of grain and a touch of softness from time to time, which may be more indicative of the age of the film than the quality of the transfer. The print used for the transfer also has some very infrequent speckles and marks, but overall the transfer is quite watchable. The English audio track is presented as Dolby 5.1, though this seems to be little more than a simple transfer of the original Dolby Surround mix, rather than a remix, and as such it is fairly ordinary. Surrounds are hardly called into play, and most of the directional work in the front is in Mark Knopfler's music. Dialogue ranges from clear to somewhat muddy, depending on scene and actor. There is also a Spanish audio track, in mono. This has a terribly compressed sound to it, with brittle-sounding dialogue recording, a variable voice cast, and highly inadequate matching. Subtitles are available in French and Spanish. The trailer is presented full-screen, and mastered from a very bad print. The main DVD menu is animated, with music. There are rumors of an improved edition of this disc, but for now this will have to do.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.