• 07-04-2005, 01:01 AM
    Lexmark3200
    A DVD REVIEW: THE PATRIOT - SPECIAL EDITION (Columbia/TriStar)
    In the tradition of this Fourth of July weekend holiday, I decided to take this Roland Emmerich take on the Revolutionary War off the shelf tonight and crank it through the system; this is a great film, suprisingly coming from the guy responsible for Godzilla, Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow.....although in many, many places very historically inaccurate.

    I liked the film from the minute I left the theater seeing it that summer it debuted; and it was a very strange time for Emmerich to release a historic drama like this when he was in competition with summer "popcorn" blockbusters that were potentially damaging to ticket sales for his film. But aside from being a bit too long in length to sit through (you really have to be comfortable to sit through this entire film as it speeds up and slows down so many times), this is a cleverly crafted "Braveheart" or "Gladiator" type of "revenge" tale woven between the facts surrounding the Revolutionary War. Mel Gibson portrays Bejamin Martin, an ex soldier of the French and Indian War who refuses to fight again against the British when they march into the United States and try to take over the Carolinas, where Gibson and his family live. His wife is dead, and his sons are all he has; his life is thrown into turmoil once again when his oldest son (Heath Ledger) takes up arms and joins the Continental Army to fight the British against Gibson's wishes. When an evil, sadistic leader of an elite group of British soldiers (played by a creepy Jason Isaacs) shoots one of Gibson's younger sons during a standoff at his house, the rage Gibson has been trying to supress against fighting these British demons is let loose once again, and he goes after each and every one of them responsible for the murder, as well as attempts a rescue after Ledger has been kidnapped by the British to be hung as a spy.

    As the film unravels, we witness an obvious showdown between Isaacs and Gibson coming toward the end, as Gibson is absolutely desperate for revenge over the death of his now two sons, after Isaacs kills Ledger in a hand-to-hand gun battle (we think Ledger has killed Isaacs by shooting him, but as he approaches Isaacs' body, Isaacs turns over and stabs and kills Ledger). This battle that Ledger went ahead and declared on Isaacs and his evil men resulted from the British soldiers trapping the townspeople, including his girlfriend, in a church and then burning it down, killing all inside. But Gibson and his militia he has formed to fight Lord Cornwallis (an actual figure from history) arrive too late after the fight between Isaacs and Ledger, and another one of his sons is dead......much like Russell Crowe's character in Gladiator, where his pent up rage against the man responsible for killing his son and wife builds and builds and builds in the character, the same thing happens with Mel Gibson's Benjamin Martin character, as in the final "Battle of Cowpens" scene, we see Isaacs and Gibson going at it with knives, guns, machetes and anything they can get their hands on to kill each other. Like I said, while historically inaccurate in many places, Roland Emmerich's The Patriot is really one of these well-crafted ultimate male revenge fantasies for righting something that was done wrong to someone and his family. Of course, Gibson kills Isaacs in the end, as he swore to do to him in an earlier scene when Isaacs asks him if his "stupid little boy" died after he shot him; the scene in which Gibson kills Isaacs is crafted perfectly, as Gibson is down on his knees, watching the rebels battle the British through his injured eyes, with Isaacs behind him with a sword hissing "Kill me before the war is over, will you? It seems you are not the better man......" and as he swings the sword to cut off Gibson's head, Gibson ducks and sticks a knife right into Isaacs, gets back onto his feet and says to him "You're right......my sons were better men..." as he sticks a short metal weapon into his neck. This smaked of the end of Gladiator, but hey, you gotta love it.......

    The battle sequences are pretty accurate, though, with the British marching through the rolling hillsides of the Carolinas, firing their cannons against the American militia and rebel armies --- and we get to see a lot of this through Emmerich's eyes. One can only imagine living in those times --- looking out your front window to see rows of soldiers shooting muskets at each other and cannons blowing people's heads off; which brings me to another aspect of The Patriot --- there is quite a bit of gore in this film, which is documented in a special effects featurette on the disc.....we see a guy's head come completely off from a cannon, we see a guy's complete leg come off from a cannon, we see soldiers being cared for by the inept medical technology back then --- that is, taking knives to cut off dangling body parts. Its pretty greusome, and Emmerich captures this well.

    This was a departure for the man who usually does summer popcorn "leave your brain at the door" material like Independence Day and the awful Godzilla; but to me, it is one of Emmerich's best works to date, and is always a favorite to pull off my shelf from my collection. Sometimes the pacing of the film can slow to a crawl when there are no battle scenes going on; there are a couple of sub plots regarding Gibson falling in love with his wife's sister, his son Ledger getting married before he is killed, Gibson's youngest daughter not wanting to talk to him for some reason, a ridiculous background support about a French military man (the bad guy from the first Bad Boys film) helping Gibson's militia, and more which really slows this film down and could have easily been edited out to cut down on the picture's lengthy run time, because with all its praise, it DOES get a bit hard to sit through after awhile. Columbia/TriStar did a good job with this Special Edition DVD, given the fact that there is a SUPERBIT version available of this film with a supposedly better video transfer and a reportedly awesome DTS mix. Lets take a look at what we get on THIS disc:

    VIDEO SPECIFICATIONS:
    DIGITALLY MASTERED DUAL LAYER ANAMORPHIC 2:35:1 WIDESCREEN TRANSFER

    There are moments on this DVD when the lush, brilliant greens of the Carolina hillsides are jumping off the screen and looking beautiful and clean, and then there are times on this print where you can see some problems --- some pixelation and video noise find their way into darker scenes, but then quickly dissapear --- on the whole, a very nice looking transfer from Columbia. I never saw the SUPERBIT version, so I cannot comment on how much better, if at all, the video was improved from this Special Edition version. But what we have here is not bad to look at at all.

    AUDIO SPECIFICATIONS:
    DIGITALLY MASTERED ENGLISH DOLBY DIGITAL 5.1, FRENCH DOLBY SURROUND, SUBTITLES IN ENGLISH AND FRENCH

    This is one of the best examples of what Dolby Digital can do through a surround system ---- and not in the ferrocious way that titles like Bad Boys II rip through a system, but in creating atmosphere, this Dolby 5.1 track is downright awesome. EVERY bullet, cannon blast, scream from a soldier is perfectly rendered in the appopriate channel on this mix; listen carefully during the scene where Gibson and his younger sons are hiding in the forrest after his older son, Ledger, is kidnapped by the British, and they are attempting to free him --- once they begin shooting at the British soldiers and the soldiers shoot back --- look out and take cover because you are going to feel as if you are RIGHT THERE in that scene. Bullets RIP through the surrounds, soldiers yell and scream from the surrounds, too, making you feel as if they are right behind you --- great audio work here. There is also tons of LFE on this track, whenever a cannon is fired, it will rock your walls ---- perhaps not with the might of the Jurassic Park DTS bass track, but there is a definite "heft" to this mix, and bass is always present. The battle sequences, of course, sound best, but there is just so much going on in this mix, it seems like every scene has some kind of surround usage --- we hear birds chirping, horses stampeeding, and voices yelling and talking through the surround channels almost CONSTANTLY on this Dolby mix. VERY nice job by Columbia; if there were any complaints at all from me, it would be that the overall volume power of the track is a tad bit lower than I would have liked, requiring a bit more amplifier power to get going, and also the fact that some VERY VERY mild hints of distortion came through during certain dialogue scenes when the character playing Lord Cornwallis was speaking. But that was it.

    Like I said about the video transfer, I dont know if the DTS track on the SUPERBIT version of The Patriot improves this Dolby Digital mix, but it sure would be hard to. From what I have read, video and audio are improved on the SUPERBIT version, but to what extent, I dont know. One day perhaps I will get around to buying the SUPERBIT and selling this version.

    This Special Edition (unlike the stripped-down SUPERBIT edition) came packed with:

    -Director Roland Emmerich & Producer Dean Devlin Commentary
    -Visual Effects Interactive Featurette
    -Battlefield Featurette: "The Art of War"
    -The True Patriots Featurette
    -Conceptual Art to Film Comparisons
    -Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Filmmakers
    -Photo Galleries
    -DVD ROM Weblink
    -Theatrical Trailers
    -Talent Files
    -Interactive Menus with Animation
    -Production Notes
    -Scene Selections with Motion Images

    HAPPY 4th EVERYONE!!
  • 07-04-2005, 03:16 PM
    RGA
    Can I sit here?
    it's a free country...or it soon will be."

    Well The Patriot had the misfortune to be the very worst film of the year for me. A complete and total disaster hiisotrically unless your a revisionist American selling propaganda and the totally inanane dialog and use of children to up the suspense anty was all too much to take. Good effects and sound.

    * / *****
  • 07-04-2005, 03:32 PM
    Lexmark3200
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by RGA
    Can I sit here?
    it's a free country...or it soon will be."

    Well The Patriot had the misfortune to be the very worst film of the year for me. A complete and total disaster hiisotrically unless your a revisionist American selling propaganda and the totally inanane dialog and use of children to up the suspense anty was all too much to take. Good effects and sound.

    * / *****

    As I stated, horribly inaccurate in many, many was was this film......historically, aside from the Cornwallis character, Emmerich didnt get much right here ---- but I liked the whole father-takes-revenge backdrop amongst the time period we were dealing with here. I just enjoyed the film as a whole, and it gave an idea of what it must have SOMEHOW been like to be living in those times.

    The sound on the DVD has been chronicled professionally be me in the review. It was a stellar Dolby Digital mix, running slightly under full bitrate.
  • 07-05-2005, 06:37 AM
    Worf101
    Great review per usual but...
    Man, I'd preferr to see your review prowess turned on new films in the theatre, we could all use more of dat. But I ain't complaining, I just want more of the "good stuff" . Now as to "The Patriot", it was so anti British that when combined with "Braveheart " we were almost at war with England AGAIN. Whew, without a doubt ole Mel has a hard-on for our English cousins that I don't really understand. Just like I didn't understand the whole "Passion of Christ" thang with him either. Oh how I long for the days of "The Road Warrior".

    Nice soundtrack though... really gives the ole system a workout during the battles which is all a guy can ask for... form a movie bereft of historical accuracy... sorry guys I'm a military historian and this movie was ghastly.

    Da Worfster :cool:
  • 07-05-2005, 09:33 AM
    Lexmark3200
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Worf101
    Man, I'd preferr to see your review prowess turned on new films in the theatre, we could all use more of dat. But I ain't complaining, I just want more of the "good stuff" . Now as to "The Patriot", it was so anti British that when combined with "Braveheart " we were almost at war with England AGAIN. Whew, without a doubt ole Mel has a hard-on for our English cousins that I don't really understand. Just like I didn't understand the whole "Passion of Christ" thang with him either. Oh how I long for the days of "The Road Warrior".

    Nice soundtrack though... really gives the ole system a workout during the battles which is all a guy can ask for... form a movie bereft of historical accuracy... sorry guys I'm a military historian and this movie was ghastly.

    Da Worfster :cool:


    Worf,

    Thank ye for the kind words; my experise and personal obsessive hobby seems to lie in DVD reviewing, and so thats what I give to you guys --- I havent been to the actual theater since the awful AMITYVILLE HORROR remake; I just dont get out to the cinema all that much anymore----oh wait----I lied-----I DID see EPISODE III; but I am trying to get administration for the site to set up a special section for my DVD reviews so we can separate FILM from DVD reviewing.....

    As for the older films being reviewed, what I have been doing is reviewing titles as I take them off my shelf and watch them and directly report to you guys; in the case of THE PATRIOT, I watched this because it was 4th of July. I hope you enjoyed the way I detailed the audio experience on the disc, which you seem to agree with. And there is no doubt that this film is historically inaccurate.
  • 07-05-2005, 09:48 AM
    Lexmark3200
    "Now as to "The Patriot", it was so anti British that when combined with "Braveheart " we were almost at war with England AGAIN. Whew, without a doubt ole Mel has a hard-on for our English cousins that I don't really understand. Just like I didn't understand the whole "Passion of Christ" thang with him either. Oh how I long for the days of "The Road Warrior".

    Yeah, from what I understand and what I have been saying, is that THIS is what made this film so inaccurate according to history experts --- I dont believe, and correct me if I am wrong, the British were THAT brutal while they were fighting with our ancestors; Gibson's character was simply hell-bent on revenge, much like Crowe's character in GLADIATOR (as I indicated in my review these are male fanatasy revenge films), once his sons are killed, and that was simply a backdrop story SET IN THE PERIOD of the Battle of Cowpens and such.

    "Nice soundtrack though... really gives the ole system a workout during the battles which is all a guy can ask for"

    As I said, one of the best Dolby Digital-encoded (non-DTS that is) soundtracks I have ever heard in terms of creating ATMOSPHERE; you can hear battle noises all over the soundstage during this mix.....soldiers screaming, bullets flying, cannons blasting----its all here. I would LOVE to know if the SUPERBIT version with the DTS track makes this film sound even BETTER.
  • 07-05-2005, 11:12 AM
    bjornb17
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by RGA
    Can I sit here?
    it's a free country...or it soon will be."

    Well The Patriot had the misfortune to be the very worst film of the year for me. A complete and total disaster hiisotrically unless your a revisionist American selling propaganda and the totally inanane dialog and use of children to up the suspense anty was all too much to take. Good effects and sound.

    * / *****

    keep in mind that this was a movie for entertainment. it never was advertised as some sort of history lesson. This is just like when people criticize "Gladiator" or "Titanic" for not being incredibly accurate, but then again that's not the point of these movies. They are good stories that are created in someone's mind that are fun to watch.

    I also have this DVD, and it's one of the favorites in my collection. I really like the movie, and the quality of the DVD is great. Definately one of th best sounding in my collection.
  • 07-05-2005, 12:33 PM
    Kam
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bjornb17
    keep in mind that this was a movie for entertainment. it never was advertised as some sort of history lesson. This is just like when people criticize "Gladiator" or "Titanic" for not being incredibly accurate, but then again that's not the point of these movies. They are good stories that are created in someone's mind that are fun to watch.

    I also have this DVD, and it's one of the favorites in my collection. I really like the movie, and the quality of the DVD is great. Definately one of th best sounding in my collection.

    So..... then if, in "Titanic" the Titanic didn't sink... that'd be an ok ending by you? If a movie titled "Abraham Lincoln" and set in the civil war did not have him assassinated... that'd be cool? If Kingdom of Heaven had the Christians win that crusade, 'just because its a movie' so doesnt have to be 'historically' accurate, is that ok?

    if a movie containing actual real life people's names as "characters" refuses to follow the path that actual person took... well to me, that's not acceptable. now of course how MUCH a movie deviates from history and how much of that is acceptable is going to be pretty subjective. maybe someone is fine with the titanic sailing off into the sunset and that's an acceptable level of deviation from reality, but if you're going to make a movie with real life people, then personally, i think you have a responsibility to stay as true as possible tothat reality. if you don't want to... easy enough, DON'T use their names. DON'T base it on their lives. That's a horrible disrespect, IMO, to the dead and the legacy that they try to leave behind.

    sorry is just a pet peeve of mine, didnt mean to rant. :)

    peace
    k2
  • 07-05-2005, 12:39 PM
    Lexmark3200
    "I also have this DVD, and it's one of the favorites in my collection. I really like the movie, and the quality of the DVD is great. Definately one of th best sounding in my collection."

    Agreed, and thank you for your input on the DVD ITSELF....do you have the DTS SUPERBIT edition or this standard Special Edition I reviewed? What did you think of the audio analysis in my review of the disc --- did you agree with just about everything?
  • 07-05-2005, 12:57 PM
    RGA
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bjornb17
    keep in mind that this was a movie for entertainment. it never was advertised as some sort of history lesson. This is just like when people criticize "Gladiator" or "Titanic" for not being incredibly accurate, but then again that's not the point of these movies. They are good stories that are created in someone's mind that are fun to watch.

    I also have this DVD, and it's one of the favorites in my collection. I really like the movie, and the quality of the DVD is great. Definately one of th best sounding in my collection.

    Well Galdiator I didn't like -- there were two movies in the 1990's that won best picture that I gave a negative review to and this was one of them.

    I have no problem with the history of Titanic because it is simply taking a "possible" day in the life of some travellers who could have been on the boat. That is very different than using actual names and places of events and demonuizing the British and making the hero a loveable soul who has blacks working for him who want to blah blah blah.

    I'm sure Americans love the film because Americans can do no wrong -- when it comes to executions well the Frenchman does that, and all the atrocities well the British do that. The Americans are glorious saviors. Turning a real life sleaze ball into a hero is something I can't stomach very well. Fictitious lovers on the Titanic is quite different...and even Braveheart didn't paint ALL the villains with one broad evil stroke. Come to think of it The Patriot is kinda useless -- just see Braveheart -- it was better than either Gladiator or The Patriot in every possible way. I can forgive a lot of historical mistakes or bending the trees for the forrest -- for instance blending severa people into one character as is the claim for this film but it still smacks of a fake one sidedness.

    "Benjamin is meant to be an ordinary white Southerner. But we're told, without further explanation, that the black people who work his fields and care for his children aren't slaves. Francis Marion, one of the real-life revolutionaries the filmmakers based Benjamin upon, reportedly killed Indians for fun and raped his slaves. Now that was an ordinary white plantation owner of his times. Benjamin admits to similar doings as anomalous, vengeful acts of the French and Indian war, but he's a reformed man. Why is it that American movies cannot grapple with the fact that average Americans have been day-to-day racists, rapists, and worse? Why must the complicated past be prettied up so viewers--some viewers--can cheer without guilt? The Patriot finally makes it look like the only racists of colonial America were hillbillies, a portrait that so disguises the hierarchies of money and power maintaining slavery that it's not just bad history but a willful falsification.

    And even despite the history for morons on display -- the dialog is stupid and the story bloated. It's downright boring moviegoing with dissinterested perforrmances some terrific sound effects.
  • 07-05-2005, 01:08 PM
    Lexmark3200
    "Well Galdiator I didn't like -- there were two movies in the 1990's that won best picture that I gave a negative review to and this was one of them."

    Wow; you have some wildly differences of opinion in cinema when it comes to most of the modern world; Gladiator was a fantastic epic. Period.


    "And even despite the history for morons on display -- the dialog is stupid and the story bloated. It's downright boring moviegoing with dissinterested perforrmances some terrific sound effects."

    I think this is going overboard here ---- SOME of the dialogue may have been boring, especially when Gibson is talking to Ledger and slows this film WAY down, but it has been stated time and time again that this motion picture was historically inaccurate from the top down; I am usually all for calling the general public morons when it comes to understanding REAL historic events and why we need sappy, useless just downright stupid love stories mixed into history-based films like Pearl Harbor or Titanic, but in this case, I MUST disagree that this was boring movigoing ---- it sure excited me and lead me to buy the Special Edition DVD and probably upgrade to the SUPERBIT edition soon. I didnt think Jason Isaacs displayed a "diddinterested performance" whatever that means.
  • 07-05-2005, 01:49 PM
    RGA
    Well I gave Gladiator **1/2 / ***** so it was marginal. Epic? well it was long. Yet another revenge tale from hollywood. Much easier than writing something substantial. You want a film on Rome then see the miniseries I, Claudius. It may be the single greatest achievement on the Roman empire put to film (well TV) and Derek Jacobi is in this one too.

    Gladiator is pure Hollywood cheese. Crowe managed to be in the other thumbs down best picture winner for me as well.
  • 07-05-2005, 01:55 PM
    Lexmark3200
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by RGA
    Well I gave Gladiator **1/2 / ***** so it was marginal. Epic? well it was long. Yet another revenge tale from hollywood. Much easier than writing something substantial. You want a film on Rome then see the miniseries I, Claudius. It may be the single greatest achievement on the Roman empire put to film (well TV) and Derek Jacobi is in this one too.

    Gladiator is pure Hollywood cheese. Crowe managed to be in the other thumbs down best picture winner for me as well.

    Again, Gladiator was not historically accurate and I will agree with you that the miniseries I Claudius is probably much more authentic, but the film itself was brilliant moviemaking magic by Ridley Scott; I dont even think his Black Hawk Down came close. It was a revenge tale, but these are so addicting; what annoyed me the most about historical-based events were TWO films in particular: TITANIC and PEARL HARBOR, BOTH of which had ridiculous, stupid, idiotic, and TOTALLY UNNECESSARY love stories attached to them.

    You say Gladiator is pure Hollywood cheese. I say its one of the best films I have ever seen and one of my favorite DVDs in my massive library.
  • 07-05-2005, 03:58 PM
    RGA
    Gladiator is an action picture and that's about it for me. Visually it is not very good with poor battle sequences. Pheonix was good, Crowe should never have been nominated for this film --- what a travesty to the acting world - which once again shows how truly useless the Academy.

    Oh well won't agree on every movie.
  • 07-05-2005, 04:03 PM
    Lexmark3200
    "Gladiator is an action picture and that's about it for me. Visually it is not very good with poor battle sequences."

    Oh, I gotta disagree. Big time.

    "Pheonix was good, Crowe should never have been nominated for this film --- what a travesty to the acting world - which once again shows how truly useless the Academy."

    And you see, I thought Phoenix was worthless in his role and Crowe brilliant as Maximus; I even named my Black Lab after him....I think Crowe as a HUMAN BEING is a travesty to the world.....did you hear that **** about him throwing a phone at someone?

    "Oh well won't agree on every movie."

    This is becoming painfully obvious :(
  • 07-05-2005, 04:09 PM
    Lexmark3200
    "keep in mind that this was a movie for entertainment. it never was advertised as some sort of history lesson. This is just like when people criticize "Gladiator" or "Titanic" for not being incredibly accurate, but then again that's not the point of these movies. They are good stories that are created in someone's mind that are fun to watch."

    I DO keep this in mind when watching such films but what you fail to realize is that the REASON these directors are dropping these sappy, senseless love stories inbetween the backdrop of these historically-based films is because the average idiotic public of today simply wont sit through something while they pile popcorn into their fat mouths thats based SOLELY on history unless there is some other crap attached to it ---- TRY and show the MUCH more historically accurate TORA! TORA! TORA! instead of PEARL HARBOR in theaters today and see what happens ---- people will start throwing their cell phones at the screen. They just dont get it. Now, I LOVED The Patriot, Gladiator, any of these revenge stories --- Pearl Harbor was usless for the first 90 minutes up until the attack sequence and so was Titanic ---- dont get me wrong; sheer entertainment is what made them awesome. You're missing the point that its NOT that its NOT the point of these movies to NOT teach a history lesson ---- its that directors, producers and studio marketers KNOW these moviegoing people of today wont go see ANYTHING if it requires using their brains and sitting through a historical documentation with no CGI added to it, God Forbid......
  • 07-05-2005, 09:28 PM
    bjornb17
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Lexmark3200
    "keep in mind that this was a movie for entertainment. it never was advertised as some sort of history lesson. This is just like when people criticize "Gladiator" or "Titanic" for not being incredibly accurate, but then again that's not the point of these movies. They are good stories that are created in someone's mind that are fun to watch."

    I DO keep this in mind when watching such films but what you fail to realize is that the REASON these directors are dropping these sappy, senseless love stories inbetween the backdrop of these historically-based films is because the average idiotic public of today simply wont sit through something while they pile popcorn into their fat mouths thats based SOLELY on history unless there is some other crap attached to it ---- TRY and show the MUCH more historically accurate TORA! TORA! TORA! instead of PEARL HARBOR in theaters today and see what happens ---- people will start throwing their cell phones at the screen. They just dont get it. Now, I LOVED The Patriot, Gladiator, any of these revenge stories --- Pearl Harbor was usless for the first 90 minutes up until the attack sequence and so was Titanic ---- dont get me wrong; sheer entertainment is what made them awesome. You're missing the point that its NOT that its NOT the point of these movies to NOT teach a history lesson ---- its that directors, producers and studio marketers KNOW these moviegoing people of today wont go see ANYTHING if it requires using their brains and sitting through a historical documentation with no CGI added to it, God Forbid......

    Maybe i didn't come across clearly in the post you're referring too, but I actaully agree with you 100% on this. I just thought I'd point that out
    :)

    Come to think of it, I've agreed with 99% of what you've said in this thread. the only 1% discrepency is that i liked Titanic :D

    Adding to that, I'll also point out that Gladiator is the single greatest movie i've ever seen, in my opinion. I used to think very highly of Crowe as an actor, but after watching Master and Commander (which is a terrible movie in my opinion), and then after the phone incident, I lost most of the rest of my respect for him.

    BTW, Lexmark, i have the special edition, not the superbit, and I agree with everything in your review. Fantastic anaylsis of the DVD!
  • 07-05-2005, 10:39 PM
    Lexmark3200
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bjornb17
    Maybe i didn't come across clearly in the post you're referring too, but I actaully agree with you 100% on this. I just thought I'd point that out
    :)

    Come to think of it, I've agreed with 99% of what you've said in this thread. the only 1% discrepency is that i liked Titanic :D

    Adding to that, I'll also point out that Gladiator is the single greatest movie i've ever seen, in my opinion. I used to think very highly of Crowe as an actor, but after watching Master and Commander (which is a terrible movie in my opinion), and then after the phone incident, I lost most of the rest of my respect for him.

    BTW, Lexmark, i have the special edition, not the superbit, and I agree with everything in your review. Fantastic anaylsis of the DVD!


    Thanks so much for your kind words about the review! And I agree 100 PERCENT about GLADIATOR.....its almost the best film Ive ever seen. It was that good. And Master and Commander WAS a terrible film in my opinion as well (I fell asleep multiple times on it) but it does have a big fan following in here, so be careful *wink wink*.

    Yeah, what is up with Crowe and his violent real way tempers? What is up with this guy? He doesnt come across thay way in his motion pictures, does he........
  • 07-06-2005, 06:25 AM
    bjornb17
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Lexmark3200
    Thanks so much for your kind words about the review! And I agree 100 PERCENT about GLADIATOR.....its almost the best film Ive ever seen. It was that good. And Master and Commander WAS a terrible film in my opinion as well (I fell asleep multiple times on it) but it does have a big fan following in here, so be careful *wink wink*.

    Yeah, what is up with Crowe and his violent real way tempers? What is up with this guy? He doesnt come across thay way in his motion pictures, does he........

    I remember after seeing gladiator the first time, and then watching Jay Leno the next day where Russel Crowe was on. He seemed pretty rude, but then again i figured it was just one of those days. Maybe that's just how he is.
  • 07-06-2005, 06:57 AM
    Sir Terrence the Terrible
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Lexmark3200
    ; but I am trying to get administration for the site to set up a special section for my DVD reviews so we can separate FILM from DVD reviewing.....

    I would like to see that, but I would hope that it wouldn't be exclusive to just your reviews, but to all who wouldn't mind doing reviews.

    You do pretty good DVD reviews, however I think they are incomplete. What would be VERY helpful(and I think I mentioned this to you on Hometheater Discussion) is to do a review of both Dts AND DD soundtracks as opposed to just one if both are present. That comparison would put the finishing touch on all your reviews. I feel that just reviewing the Dts soundtrack(when there is a DD soundtrack) makes your reviews seem unfinished. Keep up the good work Lex
  • 07-06-2005, 08:04 AM
    Lexmark3200
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Sir Terrence the Terrible
    I would like to see that, but I would hope that it wouldn't be exclusive to just your reviews, but to all who wouldn't mind doing reviews.

    You do pretty good DVD reviews, however I think they are incomplete. What would be VERY helpful(and I think I mentioned this to you on Hometheater Discussion) is to do a review of both Dts AND DD soundtracks as opposed to just one if both are present. That comparison would put the finishing touch on all your reviews. I feel that just reviewing the Dts soundtrack(when there is a DD soundtrack) makes your reviews seem unfinished. Keep up the good work Lex


    Thank you, Terrence; and from what I understand and remember, you have much more technical prowess on providing the raw specs on this media, such as bitrate numbers and such; I provide the reviews from a surface "editorial" standpoint and from a diehard hobbyist of home theater; however, you are right --- in the future I will try and listen to both tracks when they are present to compare them (DD and DTS) and of course, the reviews section could be open to anyone who wanted to do simply DVD reviews.....I was just basing it on the fact that I did in fact get my OWN section devoted to MY reviews on Home Theater Discussion. But anyone's take on a DVD would be welcome!

    Thanks again for the kind words. If there are any technical specifications about these discs that you feel you can add to, like I said, with regard to bitrate numbers or why they sound so "low" sometimes, as you confirmed for me with EXECUTIVE DECISION on the other site, please let it rip!

    Thanks again; hopefully, we CAN get a DVD Review section set up for everyone so we can separate FILM from DVD.