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Film/Music Recommendations
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TPV Recommends the Top Transfers
Our Editor Picks the 20 Best Looking and Sounding DVDs of the Year
By Jonathan Valin
The titles listed below were chosen because they look and sound great?and
not because of inherently good or interesting content. (For the latter,
see our ?TPV Picks The Best DVDs of 2002? in Issue 46.) Though some of
these great transfers are also great films (those that are are marked
with an asterisk before the film title), some of them aren?t. Caveat
emptor.
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 SIGNS
(2002). M. Night Shyamalan, director. Widescreen anamorphic (1.85:1),
Color, Dolby Digital 5.1. Touchstone. A great transfer, visually and
aurally, of Shyamalan’s curiously portentous, mildly entertaining sci-fi
film. Just a little mosquito noise kept this from achieving DVD perfection.
|
Buy
DVD |
 PANIC
ROOM: SUPERBIT DELUXE COLLECTION (2002). David Fincher, director.
Widescreen anamorphic (2.40:1), Color, Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1. Columbia.
A real test of your set’s dynamic range and black-level retention,
this DVD of a most-difficult-to-transfer film is a triumph of Superbit mastering.
Terrific sound, too.
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Buy
DVD |
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 INSOMNIA
(2002). Christopher Nolan, director. Widescreen anamorphic (2.35:1),
Color, Dolby Digital 5.1. Warner. Superb sharpness and color timing
make this disc Warner’s best of the year.
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Buy
DVD
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 *THE
CIVIL WAR (1990). Ken Burns, director. Fullscreen (1.33:1), Color
and B&W, Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0. 5-disc. PBS Home Video. Sensationally
improved (sonically and visually) digital remastering of the original PBS
series. |
Buy
DVD |
 *MEMENTO:
LIMITED EDITION (2000). Christopher Nolan, director. Widescreen anamorphic
(2.35:1), Color, Dolby Digital 5.1. Commentary, extras, Columbia. So
vastly improved in color timing that it doesn’t even look like the
wan print shown in theaters (and on the original DVD release). Great film,
great transfer. |
Buy
DVD |
 THE
HOLLOW MAN: SUPERBIT DELUXE COLLECTION (2000). Widescreen anamorphic
(1.85:1), Color, Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1. Columbia. Another great
Superbit—state-of-the-art detail, color timing, sound. |
Buy
DVD |
 VERTICAL
LIMIT: SUPERBIT DELUXE COLLECTION (2000). Martin Campbell, director.
Widescreen anamorphic (1.85:1), Color, Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1. Columbia.
That this is a considerable improvement over the original DVD release, which
was on my Ten Best list last year, should tell you all you need to know.
Tremendous sound, to boot. |
Buy
DVD |
 THE
PATRIOT: SUPERBIT DELUXE COLLECTION (2000). Roland Emmerich, director.
Widescreen anamorphic, Color, Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1. Columbia. Superbit
encore. A little mosquito noise on fine detail. |
Buy
DVD |
 MONSTERS,
INC. (2001). Peter Docter, director. Widescreen anamorphic (1.85:1),
Color, Dolby Digital Surround EX. Disney. As usual, digital animation
fares extremely well on DVD. Not quite Shrek-quality, but close.
|
Buy
DVD |
 ROAD
TO PERDITION (2002). Sam Mendes, director. Widescreen anamorphic
(2.35:1), Color, Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1. Dreamworks. A phenomenally
beautiful-looking, phenomenally lifeless gangster movie, extraordinarily
well transferred by Dreamworks. A little excess edge enhancement and some
noticeable MPEG noise are its only flaws. |
Buy
DVD |
 SPIDER-MAN
(2002). Sam Raimi, director. Widescreen anamorphic (1.85:1), Color,
Dolby Digital 5.1. Many, many extras. 2-disc. Columbia. Another difficult-to-transfer
film very well mastered by Columbia (see the interview with John Dykstra
in this issue). Despite a bit too much edge enhancement, this is a superior
DVD. |
Buy
DVD |
 *BLACK
HAWK DOWN (2001). Ridley Scott, director. Widescreen anamorphic (2.35:1),
Color, Dolby Digital 5.1. Columbia/Tri-Star. Very contrasty (which is
how it looked in theaters). Along with Signs, perhaps the best-sounding
film on this list. (It won the Academy Award for Sound Design.) |
Buy
DVD |
 TRAINING
DAY (2001). Antoine Fuqua, director. Widescreen anamorphic (2.35:1),
Color, Dolby Digital 5.1. Commentary (Fuqua). Warner. Very sharp, great
color, a bit too much edge enhancement. |
Buy
DVD |
 *UNFAITHFUL
(2002). Adrian Lyne, director. Widescreen anamorphic (2.35:1), Color,
Dolby Digital 5.1. Fox. A little soft in places but unusually good color
saturation and a minim of artifacts. |
Buy
DVD |
 ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE: A.I. (2001). Steven Spielberg, director. Widescreen
anamorphic (1.85:1), Color, Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1. Documentary, storyboards,
extras. Dreamworks. Softish focus in spots with a lot of diffuse lighting
and moody filtration and some very digital-looking F/X, but that is how
it looked in the theater. |
Buy
DVD |
 *A
BEAUTIFUL MIND (2001). Ron Howard, director. Widescreen anamorphic
(1.85:1), Color, Dolby Digital 5.1. Director and screenwriter commentaries,
deleted scenes, featurettes. 2-disc. Universal. Perhaps the best depth
of focus of any film on this list—tack-sharp from fore-ground to back.
|
Buy
DVD |
 *UNFORGIVEN:
SPECIAL EDITION (1992). Clint Eastwood, director. Widescreen anamorphic
(2.35:1), Color, Dolby Digital 5.1. Commentary, extras. 2-disc. Warner.
A sensational remastering of a great film, just a little soft in long
shots. |
Buy
DVD |
 *MULHOLLAND
DRIVE (2001). David Lynch, writer and director. Widescreen anamorphic
(1.85:1), Color, DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1. Universal. The finest a
Lynch film has looked on DVD, though still not the last word in black level,
sharpness, and color timing. |
Buy
DVD |
 *RASHOMON
(1950). Akira Kurosawa, director. Fullscreen (1.33:1), B&W, Dolby
Digital 2.0 (mono, Japanese with English subtitles). Commentary, extras.
Criterion. Superb remastering of a superb Kurosowa film. Luminous black-and-white.
|
Buy
DVD |
 *GHOST
WORLD (2001). Terry Zwigoff, director. Widescreen anamorphic (1.85:1),
Color, Dolby Digital 5.1. MGM. Very good color timing and sharpness
for the most part, with just a handful of artifacts. Very entertaining soundtrack.
|
Buy
DVD |
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