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Dom Robinson reviews
Columbia TriStar
- Cert:
- Cat.no: CDR 16907
- Running time: 118 minutes
- Year: 1993
- Pressing: 2000
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 20 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Stereo)
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: None
- Widescreen: 1.85:1 (cropped from 2.35:1)
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £19.99
- Extras : Scene index, Trailer, Filmographies/Biographies, EPK – Making of Featurette
Director:
- Dominic Sena
(Gone in 60 Seconds, Kalifornia)
Producers:
- Steve Golin, Aristides McGarry and Sigurjon Sighvatsson
Screenplay:
- Stephen Levy and Tim Metcalfe
Music:
- Carter Burwell
Cast:
- Early Grayce: Brad Pitt (Being John Malkovich, Cool World, The Devil’s Own, Fight Club, Happy Together, Interview with the Vampire, Johnny Suede, Kalifornia, Legends of the Fall, Less Than Zero, Meet Joe Black, No Man’s Land, A River Runs Through It, Seven, Seven Years In Tibet, Sleepers, Snatch, Thelma and Louise, True Romance, Twelve Monkeys, TV: Too Young To Die?)
Adele Corners: Juliette Lewis (Basketball Diaries, Cape Fear, Evening Star, From Dusk Till Dawn, Husbands and Wives, Kalifornia, Mixed Nuts, My Stepmother is an Alien, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Natural Born Killers, Romeo is Bleeding, Room to Rent, Strange Days, That Night, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, TV: Too Young To Die?, The Wonder Years)
Brian Kessler: David Duchovny (Bad Influence, Beethoven, Chaplin, Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, Julia Has Two Lovers, Kalifornia, Playing God, The Rapture, Return to Me, Ruby, Working Girl, The X-Files: Fight the Future, TV:The Red Shoe Diaries, Twin Peaks, The X-Files)
Carrie Laughlin: Michelle Forbes (Kalifornia, Swimming with Sharks)
Kalifornia is a film I enjoyed hugely upon its release in 1993. Brian Kessler (David Duchovny) and his curvy, photographer girlfriend Carrie Laughlin (Michelle Forbes) are researching a book about serial killers and in order to save money on their road trip, they pick up a couple of hitch-hikers in the unfortunate form of Early Grayce (an excellent, uncompromising performance Brad Pitt) and his girlfriend Adele Corners (Juliette Lewis – one time lover of Brad and co-star in the TV movie, Too Young To Die?).
The problem is that Early’s a serial killer himself – you can tell because of his long shoulder-length hair, scruffy goatee beard and drunken Southern brawl. I could go on at length about the road trip turning into hell as they travel through California and the killing spree that ensues, but this presentation here really doesn’t deserve it.
Dominic Sena‘s directorial debut featured some class 2.35:1 compositions with startling clarity. However, what we have here is something that’s not fit to lick Channel 5’s boots.
Although anamorphic, not only has this been cropped to a 16:9 ratio, but some attempt to preserve horizontal width has been made by squashing the picture up making everyone look way too thin. Coupled with a seemingly out-of-focus picture, such a great piece of entertainment is really done a bad turn here. One of the many scenes ruined comes 33 mins in as Pitt holds up some scissors to the camera on the left of the screen, whilst Juliette sits in the background on the right.
The stupid thing is that the film was shot with the Super-35 process which could produce a watchable 16:9 transfer and that could’ve been used instead, but hey, why not go the whole hog and actually use the PROPER 2.35:1 ratio?! Just a thought (!)
The sound is fine and in Dolby Digital Stereo, but has a surround element.
Extras :
Chapters : Just 20 chapters break up the 118-minute film. It could use a few more.
Languages/Subtitles : Dolby Digital 2.0 (Stereo) in English alone and, surprisingly, no subtitles.
And there’s more… : But not a great deal. The Filmogs/Biogs are for the director and the three main cast members, while the EPK – Making of Featurette is just a 5-minute piece of PR chit-chat from cast and crew members interspersed with clips from the film. The theatrical trailer rounds off the package.
Menu : Static and silent copy of the front cover with the usual options.
Overall, if you like this film, get the Region 1 DVD. It may not have an anamorphic picture, but at least it’s in the correct ratio and also features interviews with Pitt and the director. If only Columbia would recall this disc and restore the balance.
All we can really hope for though is that Sena’s 2000 summer blockbuster Gone in 60 Seconds starring Nic Cage and Angelina Jolie is treated with more respect.
Fear Never Travels Alone, but this DVD deserves to.
DVD Trivia: Why “K” for Kalifornia? No reason. Sena just wanted it that way.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL 
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.