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Travis Willock reviews
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
- Cert: R
- Cat.no: 2008048
- Running time: 81 minutes
- Year: 2002
- Pressing: 2003
- Region(s): 1, NTSC
- Chapters: 28
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 (not Spanish)
- Languages: English, French, Spanish
- Subtitles: English, Spanish
- Widescreen: 2.40:1; Fullscreen: 4:3
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 10
- Price: $27.98
- Extras:Audio Commentary, Trailers
Director:
- Joel Schumacher
Screenplay:
- Larry Cohen
Cast:
- Stu Shepard: Colin Farrell
Pam: Katie Holmes
Kelly: Radha Mitchell
Captain Ramey: Forest Whitaker
The Caller: Kiefer Sutherland
Phone Booth has had a chequered past.As filming wrapped up theoriginal voice of the sniper was replaced with Kiefer Sutherland. Thenreal life sniper attacks occurred in Washington D.C. before the film’srelease in November 2002 prompting Fox to hold back.
Then the film was released on April 4, 2003 and went to the top of thebox office. And now it hits DVD on July 8, 2003. Guess Fox dialed1-800-GetCashQuick.
Our film begins with seedy publicist, Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell)working his magic. He promises things he won’t deliver and even scalpsBrittney Spears tickets. He makes a trip to a phone booth (oddly thelast remaining in New York City as we’re told earlier) to secretly calla possible mistress (Katie Holmes). But someone calls him as he isleaving. It’s a man claiming to have a sniper rifle aimed at ouranti-hero’s head!
The sniper further complicates the situation by gunning down a pimp inthe street to show Stu he’s not joking. The denizens passing by (not tomention the really pissed off hookers) call the police claiming Stu shothim. Now Stu must deal with a hostile police shodown and a meniacalmadman who’s wreaking havoc on his life.
What follows is a tense and tight thriller that’s very entertaining towatch unfold. Colin Farrell delivers quite possibly the best role in hiscareer (so far) as a man fighting against impossible odds. Katie Holmes,Forest Whitaker, and especially Kiefer Sutherland as the sniper (don’tcry spoiler just yet – how could you not recognize his voice?) eachdeliver great performances.
Director Joel Shumacher redeems himself after the last ‘Batman’ debacleswith a relentlessly paced and interesting thriller worth watching forthe performances alone. The only complaint I have is with the lacklusterending but this doesn’t detract from the overall effect of the film. Seeit. Now.
Stu plays it cool
when the pressure’s on.
Phone Booth is offered in anamorphic 2.40:1 widescreen and a horribly,horribly (horribly) butchered pan & scan version on this double-sided DVD.Obviously I watched the widescreen version. There really isn’t muchnegativity in this transfer. Schumacher uses subdued blues and grittycolors to a great effect and the transfer shows no defects. Overall agreat transfer.
On a side note. Fox has placed the pan & scan transfer on side one witha label that reads FULLSCREEN VERSION… WIDESCREEN VERSION ONFLIP-SIDE. The widescreen version gets no label of it’s own so when youopen the case it’s going to look as if you’ve got a blank CD in there.Talk about cheap.
The audio offers nothing to complain about as well. The track ispresented in Dolby Digital 5.1. This is a dialogue centered film but thesurround channels are used from time to time. Everything is clearlyaudible throughout.
Now here’s where the disc falls flat on it’s face. The film was shot for$15 million so maybe little supplemental material was filmed. But youmean to tell me that this film is 81 minutes long and there wasn’t onedeleted scene? Here’s all we get:
- Audio Commentary: Director Joel Schumacher provides a slightlyinteresting commentary. I tend to prefer tracks with at least two peopleso you get a broader scope of a film.
- Theatrical Trailers: The trailer for ‘Phone Booth’ is presented innon-anamorphic widescreen. Another trailer for “Garage Days” is alsothere in non-anamorphic. That films looks like… well garbage I guess.
That’s it. No deleted scenes, no making of-featurette, and no alternateaudio track with the original sniper. So many missed opportunities.
Katie Holmes – yum!
Packaging is amaray with a slightly modified version of the film’stheatrical poster as the cover. There are 28 chapter stops and the menusfeature music from the film.
Overall I can still recommend ‘Phone Booth’ as a must see. It’s a greatfilm and it stands up to repeat viewings if only to see the greatperformances. The video and audio is great but the bonus featuresdepartment leaves much to be desired. Recommended.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL
EmailTravis Willock
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.