DVD Reviews

For years now, Hollywood has loved making buddy movies.  Jack and Walter have made so many movies together the count is greater than the total number of Star Trek films, and Mel And Danny are into their fourth Lethal Weapon Flick. 
Back in '92, they did it again, with 2 more odd couples in the guise of Woody and Wesley in White Men Can't Jump.  Being such a huge success the two took another swing at it with Money Train.  Here they play brothers......that's Foster Brothers in case you were wondering......and they both happen to be transit cops working on the subways catch petty thieves and the like, for the subways need to be as criminal free as possible seeing as the money train frequently travels the subway during the nights. 
Along for the ride is Jennifer Lopez, as a recently reassigned transit cop, who becomes the love interests of both brothers (what is it with all these love triangle movies or late, or is it just me!!!).  And thrown in for good measure is Lost Highway's Robert Black as their sadistic and obsessed with the money train supervisor.
As the movie progresses we learn that Woody is something of a loser and lives in his brothers shadow, he also has a gambling problem and the thus concocts a plan to rob the money train, leading to a spectacular train crash that comes close to the one in Speed, but not quite.

So How Does This Transfer Hold Up??
If you want top quality and you want a Columbia DVD, then look no further.   Presented anamorphically with a ratio of 2.35:1, this DVD needs to be seen to be believed.  It has been some time since I last viewed this movie (on VHS no less) and I don't recall it being so dark.  I'd say that 95% of the movie takes place at night and even so, there is so much detail present that you can really see the difference in the level of blacks, and the best bit is that there is no evidence of artifacts sometimes associated with large area of shadows and no light....The image is razor sharp, and has beautifully saturated colours.  The scenes in the bar fair the best (the wood finish of the counter is just glorious, and brings out the colours as they should be seen).   overall this has demo written all over it.  it's transfers like this that make me love DVD.

The soundtrack is also very good but ultimately lacks the bottom end usually associated with these types of no-brainer action flicks.  This aside, its still a fun Dolby Digital 5.1 soundmix that is full of ambience and some aggressive surrounds and with dialogue that is always intelligible.

Your usual array of Columbia DVD features can be found on this disc.  From the menus you can select out of the 28 chapters, the 4 soundtracks with English or French in either DD5.1 or 2 channel Dolby Surround, or Subtitles in English, French or Dutch.

Priced at $34.95. this is one DVD where you'll love the picture and really like the sound, and probably only use it for demos..sorry,  but  for an action flick I thought it was pretty mediocre.

Review Equipment: TV: Mitsubishi DIVA 68cm TV 16:9 switchable(with a screw driver), DVD: Samsung DVD905, Receiver: Marantz SR870, Speakers: Front - B&W 602's, Rears - Jamo, Subby - M&K V125 (grumble- growl-BOOM). Cinema Chairs (Gilberton Recliners....okay so there not REALLY cinema chairs but they're very comfy..)

- Reveiwed 13th sept 1998