What Lies Beneath (rental DVD)

• Cert:
• Cat.no: 20021 RDVD
• Running time: 125 minutes
• Year: 2000
• Pressing: 2001
• Region(s): 2, PAL
• Chapters: 24 plus extras
• Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Languages: English
• Subtitles: English
• Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Panavision)
• 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
• Macrovision: Yes
• Disc Format: DVD 9
• Price: £N/A
• Extras: None
  

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  Director:

  Robert Zemeckis

  (Back to the Future 1-3, Cast Away, Contact, Death Becomes Her, Forest Gump, Macabre, Romancing the Stone, Used Cars, What Lies Beneath, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?)

Producers:

Screenplay:

Clark Gregg

Music :

Cast :

Dr. Norman Spencer: Harrison Ford
Claire Spencer: Michelle Pfeiffer
Jody: Diana Scarwid
Dr. Drayton: Joe Morton
Warren Feur: James Remar
Mary Feur: Miranda Otto
Madison Frank: Amber Valletta
Caitlin Spencer: Katharine Towne

What Lies Beneathis a return to the way thrillers used to be made with subtle use of tensionand clever sound effects taking the place of cheesy cameos and pop-rocksoundtracks that proliferate the genre in most Hollywood output these days.

It’s very difficult to discuss the content of the film here without givinganything away, but it’s safe to say that a face from the past is about tohaunt the lives of scientist Dr. Norman Spencer (Harrison Ford) andhis cellist wife Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer). It’s really Pfeiffer’smovie though as she first begins to suspect the male half of her new neighbours,Warren Feur (James Remar) doing away with his wife Mary (MirandaOtto), but what comes about goes far deeper than that and proves that itis still possible to make a thriller that makes you jump even when you thinkyou’ve seen it all before.

The two hours you’ll spend watching this film are well spent and the film onlyloses points for not having the most original idea ever written about andbeing a bit on the ridiculous side on occasion. It seems likean age since Michelle Pfeiffer last made a decent film, stalling along withdull romantic parts in Up Close & Personal and One FineDay, none of which served to be as convincing as her time in bothFrankie & Johnny and The Fabulous Baker Boys.

The other major star of the show is the camera work. Director RobertZemeckis employs the full width of the 2.35:1 widescreen frame at all times.Shot in Panavision, I dread to think of anyone attempting to watch this inanything less than the original width, so I’m glad Fox didn’t do a LakePlacid and put out a rental DVD in 4:3 pan-and-scan. To give away thereasons for why Zemeckis and crew have done so well in this field would spoilaspect of the plot, so all I can tell you is that when it appears that what’sgoing on is only taking up one half of the screen, keep one eye on the otherside…

For a rental DVD, Fox have sourced an excellent anamorphic widescreentransfer. I’ve already highlighted the need for the 2.35:1 ratio and I’mpleased to report there are no artifacts or defects, bar a couple of printflecks I saw at one point that came and went just as quickly, so nothing tocomplain about.The average bitrate is 6.18Mb/s, occasionally peaking close to 8Mb/s.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack complements the onscreen activity perfectly.There are portions of it which are almost silent, save for atmospheric effectsand if you have understanding neighbours then keep the volume slightly higherthan normal so you can enjoy the melee when it kicks in.