Page Not Found - DVDfever.co.uk

DVDfever.co.uk

Follow

Follow DVDfever.co.uk

WP Twitter Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com

Dom Robinson reviews

The Perfect Storm

Distributed by

Warner Bros.

Cert:
Cat.no: D 018584
Running time: 125 minutes
Year: 2000
Pressing: 2000
Region(s): 2, PAL
Chapters: 39
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Languages: English, German
Subtitles: 7 languages available
Widescreen: 2.35:1
16:9-Enhanced: Yes
Macrovision: Yes
Disc Format: DVD 9
Price: £19.99
Extras: Trailer, 3 Behind the Scenes documentaries, 2 Audio Commentaries, Photo Montage, Conceptual Art Gallery, Storyboard Gallery, Soundtrack Promo, DVD ROM content

Director:

Wolfgang Petersen

Air Force One, Das Boot, Enemy Mine, In The Life Of Fire, Outbreak, The Perfect Storm, Shattered

Producers:

Paula Weinstein, Wolfgang Petersen and Gail Katz

Screenplay:

Bill Wittliff

Music :

James Horner

Cast:

Captain Billy Tyne: George Clooney
Bobby Shatford: Mark Wahlberg
Christina "Chris" Cotter: Diane Lane
Melissa Brown: Karen Allen
David "Sully" Sullivan: William Fichtner
Alexander McAnally III, Owner of Sailboat Melissa: Bob Gunton
Linda Greenlaw: Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Dale "Murph" Murphy: John C. Reilly
Alfred Pierre: Allen Payne
Mike "Bugsy" Moran: John Hawkes
Todd Gross, Channel 9 TV Meteorologist: Christopher McDonald
Sergeant Jeremy Mitchell: Dash Mihok
Bob Brown: Michael Ironside

The Perfect Storm is the name given by Todd Gross, Channel 9 TV Meteorologist (Christopher McDonald) to the weather outside that no-one had ever seen before October 1991 and it's one that's due to prove fatal to the six-strong fishermen crew of the Andrea Gail. No, I'm not spoiling the film by stating that they die - it's based on a true story, so I knew they would all end up brown bread before I pressed 'play'.

Captain Billy Tyne (George Clooney) just isn't pulling in the numbers these days, with his latest catch being the smallest number of fish hauled in one go. Failing to accept he's on the scrapheap, he wants to prove himself to the boat's owner - Bob Brown (Michael Ironside) - and sets out again for another crack at the waves two days later with rookie Bobby Shatford (Mark Wahlberg), Alfred Pierre (Allen Payne), Mike "Bugsy" Moran (John Hawkes) and warring colleagues David "Sully" Sullivan (William Fichtner) and Dale "Murph" Murphy (John C. Reilly).

Diane Lane plays Bobby's other half, Christina "Chris" Cotter, but is given cliched lines like, "I've got a bad feeling about this", while movie stalwarts Karen Allen and Bob Gunton only get to flail about on the Melissa and get rescued, eventually, so it hardly stretches them.

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio has an equally vacant role as another boat owner who only seems to chat to Billy via CB radio, but they're made out to be the couple that would get together were Billy not to end up sleeping with the fishes.

In fact, there's too many cast members around so hardly anyone gets to do anything memorable. All the people at home do it sit and mope about, while the characters aren't fleshed out enough to make us want to care about their fate. Add to this the fact that, as no-one made it off the Andrea Gail alive, everything that happens on the boat is pure conjecture. Was Bobby the last one alive? Did Captain Billy elect to go down with the ship? Who knows? More importantly, you just don't feel bothered when it happens.

The sea and the storm are the best thing onscreen and undoubtedly these special effects are excellent, but there's only so long you can watch boats being tossed about in the waves before it becomes boring. One of the best such moments, though, comes about when the rescue chopper is helping out the occupants of the aforementioned Melissa, as the chopper just clips the sea surface.

The DVD is presented in its original 2.35:1 widescreen ratio and is anamorphic. It looks fantastic and perfectly replicates the special effects blasting out at you. The average bitrate is 6.38Mb/s, often peaking over 8Mb/s.

At the cinema, the film was presented in Dolby Digital 6.1 EX, but while this DVD contains a 5.1 EX soundmix (in English and German), how many people actually have the centre-rear matrixed speaker? Either way, the room is filled with the sound of the terror of the waves and it rarely lets up in the final hour.

Extras :

Excellent sound and picture are topped off with a superb array of extras.

A list of the Cast and Crew just saves a trip to the end credits of the film, while the three featurettes, HBO First Look Special: Creating the Perfect Storm, Witnesses to the Storm and Creating an Emotion total 29 minutes of footage that takes in cast and crew interviews, plus chat from real Gloucester swordfishermen and those that saw the storm and composer James Horner's thoughts on the film.

There's an 80-second Theatrical Trailer, in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen, a four-minute "Yours Forever" Photo Montage that combines the closing theme tune with stills from the film and soundbites from the film, a Storyboard Gallery with 239 stills, a Conceptual Art Gallery with director's commentary over the top and a Soundtrack Promo which is just a trailer for the soundtrack album.

More information comes courtesy of the 2 feature-length Audio Commentaries, one from director Wolfgang Petersen and one from the author of the book from which the screenplay was derived, Sebastian Junger. The DVD ROM content provides a link to the film's website at Perfect Storm.net and contains Previsualising the Storm, a gallery of craft mini-documentaries and Virtual Theatre, synchronous online screenings and other web events to be announced.

Warner have provided a treat in terms of chapters with a massive 39 spread across the film and subtitles are available in English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish and Icelandic, with the first two also having a hard-of-hearing option.

The main menu has some sound and subtle animation of looking out through a window, while the rest are silent and static.

Overall, if you enjoyed the film then this DVD is a must-buy. The picture and sound are unsurpassable and there's stacks of extras.

Personally though, before I watched this I couldn't see what there was to write about that was factually correct AND entertaining about six men who go out on a boat to catch fish and don't come back - and I was proved right.

FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS
OVERALL

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2000.
Visit the offical website at : Perfect Storm.net

[Up to the top of this page]

Page Not Found - DVDfever.co.uk

DVDfever.co.uk

Follow

Follow DVDfever.co.uk

WP Twitter Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com