The Devil's Own Studio:
Columbia Tristar
Starring:
Harrison Ford
Brad Pitt
Director:
Alan J Pakula
Regional code:
2
Disc Format:
Single Sided, Single Layer
Screenplay:
David Arron Cohen & Vincent Patrick
Kevin Jarre
Aspect Ratio:
2.35:1
Anamorphic:
Yes
Year:
1997
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles:
English, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Icelandic, Hindi, Hebrew
Genre:
Action thriller
Extra disc featues:
Theatrical trailer
Length:
107mins
   

Review of the DVD - rating: * * 1/2

Review of the film - rating: * *

The picture quality is generally very good, with one specific exception - several shots starting at 40:18 have a most bizarre vertical wiggle. Each alternate frame moves sideways backwards and forwards on a shot of some priests in church, then again ten seconds later on a close up of a cleric and the congregation's reaction. Again at 40.55, a wide shot is similarly cursed. This is all really odd, since the in between shots are unaffected. At least it's less than 30 second's worth in total, and the rest is fine.

The sound is lacklustre though, with the surrounds and subwoofer barely used at all. One other anomaly - the disc actually contains a theatrical trailer not mentioned on the box, and the screen shot on the back mentions a DVD trailer, which is missing. Oh well, at least in the end it delivers slightly more than it promises.

Notoriously troubled production doesn't survive the ordeal. Pitt is an IRA terrorist who arrives in New York to stuff a big boat full of guns and then get back through customs - he stays with unknowing cop and family man Ford through a mutual friend. At once tediously predictable and ill-judged, Pitt's accent and performance is truly diabolical, while Ford never gets the chance to truly elevate the film as he so often does. This one would have been better left on the script editor's desk.