Dead Man Walking DVD

• Cat.no: 047 804 2
• Cert: 15
• Running time: 117 minutes
• Year: 1995
• Pressing: 1998
• Region(s): 2 (UK PAL)
• Chapters: 17 plus extras
• Sound: Dolby Surround
• Languages: English, German
• Subtitles: English, German
• Widescreen: 16:9, Fullscreen: 4:3
• 16:9-enhanced: Yes
• Macrovision: Yes
• Price: £17.99
• Extras : Scene index, Theatrical trailer, Biographies, Filmographies.

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Director:

Tim Robbins

(Bob Roberts)

Producer:

Screenplay:

Tim Robbins (Based on the book “Dead Man Walking” by Sister Helen Prejean)

Music:

Cast:

Sister Helen Prejean: Susan Sarandon (Thelma And Louise, White Palace)
Matthew Poncelet: Sean Penn (Casualties Of War, U-Turn)
Hilton Barber: Robert Prosky (Last Action Hero, Miracle On 34th Street)
Earl Delacroix: Raymond J. Barry (Sudden Death)
Clyde Percy: R. Lee Ermey (Full Metal Jacket, The Frighteners)
Mary Beth Percy: Celia Weston
State Trooper: Clancy Brown (The Shawshank Redemption, Highlander, Blue Steel)

Dead man Walkingtells a chilling story, based on true events, whichdetails the intense relationship between Sister Helen Prejean and MatthewPoncelet who is sentenced to Death Row after the brutal murder of two younglovers in the forest.

Prejean becomes Poncelet’s spiritual advisor through his countdown to deathand could never have been more unprepared for the events that followed.

At times though, Poncelet claims he is innocent, even to the point where he’sprepared to take a lie-detector test. The question that lingers up until thelast minute is whether he is guilty or not and if he is, will Sister HelenPrejean be able to get through to him before the warden cries “dead manwalking”, the call for a man to be given his punishment by death.

One of the strong points of this film is in its cast. Susan Sarandon,wife of its director Tim Robbins, cuts an effective portrayal as the Nun tryinghard to offer compassion to the convict while trying to understand the manbehind the facade he sometimes puts up, as well as trying to offer condolenceto the victims’ families.

Sean Penn, once attributed to making dire movies with Madonna, made aname for himself in Casualties Of War when people discovered that hecould act. It wasn’t until 1993 when he proved his worth again with Carlito’sWay and then in 1995 with his portrayal of Matthew Poncelet here, a manwho doesn’t know what’s best for him, or whether it’s worth trying to decideanything if others have already decided his fate. More recently he has appearedin Oliver Stone’s U-Turn and opposite Michael Douglas in The Game.

The rest of the cast is fleshed out with Robert Prosky as Poncelet’slawyer, with Raymond J. Barry, R. Lee Ermey and Celia Weston asthe parents of the two murdered teenagers.

The picture quality is generally excellent, but some there are some artifactson greys or blacks occasionally in the in fullscreen version. Not a majorproblem, but noticeable if you’re looking for it or if you know where to findit. Also, the fullscreen version is pan-and-scan as opposed to open-matte soyou’ll lose approximately 28% of the original picture whereas the widescreenside, which is in a 16:9 ratio (1.78:1) will lose only a tiny sliver of pictureinformation from its original 1.85:1 ratio.

The sound included on the disc is only a Dolby Surround version. There isno Dolby Digital sound here, but the film was not recorded with one. Thesound is mainly used for music from the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, or ambience.

The disc contains English and German languages and subtitles.

Menu :

The interactive menu is disappointing. Sometimes you can click on what’s on thescreen, while at other times you need to use the onscreen remote control.Once you get used to this it’s not too bad, but is a pain to get to grips withsince while the fullscreen side highlights which option is currentlyselected on the main menu, the widescreen side doesn’t making it a guessinggame as to which option is selected!

On the widescreen side I found a bit of difficulty selecting English language,as when I clicked on it I got German text(!) I worked out though that if youclick *above* the word “English” then it works. Alternatively, if you don’tmake a selection and wait a couple of minutes, it will automatically selectEnglish and go to the main menu. Also, you can’t go to the next or previouschapters on the remote while film is playing, only ‘rewind’ or ‘fast-forward’the film.

Another thing to note is that on playing the disc you can’t skip past thePolygram logo and copyright info.

Overall, this is a well-made thought-provoking drama with powerful actingfrom all concerned and competent direction from Sarandon’s husband.

Given the amount of space on a DVD though, it would have been nice for thedisc to have included the director’s commentary track which exists on thecorresponding NTSC Laserdisc. However, fans of the film will be pleased withthe superb picture and sound quality that it offers.FILM : ****PICTURE QUALITY (16:9): ****½PICTURE QUALITY (4:3): ****½SOUND QUALITY: ****EXTRAS: **PACKAGE: ***

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1998.