Screen Format	16:9 Enhanced (2.35:1) P&S
	Audio Tracks	English MPEG5.1 (Default) English DD2.0 MPEG2.0 (P&S version only)
	Subtitles	None
	Region Code	4
	Chapters	19
	Running Time	137 minutes (PAL)
	Classification	PG

Quite often song lyrics are ripped off by another artist who turns it into something of a parody.  Weird Al is infamous for his endless turns at poking fun at songs by Wacko Jacko, but it was nearly 20 years ago that the Goodies took a stab at it and made fun of Tim Rice's "Don't Cry for me Argentina", turning it into a production with Tim Brooke Taylor singing " Don't Cry for Me Marge and Tina".  It's been a very long time since I saw that as a kid, and while I'm sure it'd seem pretty lame compared to some of the mockeries made of songs today, it still stands out in my mind, as I just loved the Goodies, hell who didn't...ummm....yeah......anyways.  

Touted as the Longest musical EVER made for the big screen, EVITA made quite a sensation around the world, receiving critical acclaim, even earning Madonna the Best Actress award at the Grammies.  After the proof of her non-existent acting talent with such films as Who's that Girl and Body of Evidence, finally a film was made in which all she had to do was sing.  Actresses ranging from Glenn Close to Meryl Streep were considered for the Role of Evita, but good 'ol sex-book girl simply suited the role of Evita, down to a Tee.

Evita the movie, was adapted from Evita, the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical and it took twenty years for it to make it to the big screen (as a musical) and it took the talent of Alan Parker (of the controversial Angle Heart) to pull it off. 

It seems rather odd that a musical could and would be made about a hugely popular political figure, but for the most part, it really works.  Cast as Eva's main man ,Juan Perón Vice President of Argentina, is Jonathon Pryce, and cast as Che, the singing narrator, is Antonio banderas who does a rather good job. 

So How Does This Transfer Hold Up??  

This was Roadshow's first attempt at a DVD and it's surprising to think that was almost 1 year ago that it came out.  Presented with both P&S and 16:9 enhanced (2.35:1)  versions, this transfer is a fraction better than it has been reputed to be, though nothing too eye popping..  Upon first watching this DVD (it was the first I ever saw, and came with my player), my impression was that it was pretty awful.   I found it really grainy,too bright, and generally of a poor quality....HOWEVER, when I got Video Essentials into my hot little hands and learnt how to setup my TVs setting correctly, the picture had a big improvement.  All I can say is, this is one movie that is hyper-sensitive to the level of sharpness on a TV. So TURN IT OFF...the sharpness, not the movie, unless of course you hate musicals....While this is not the best DVD I have seen, the colour saturation is pretty good, and I can't find too much to complain about there, but I can about the actual image sharpness....it is simply far too soft....(which is why you'd be tempted to up the sharpness level to compensate for this, but this only introduces lots of nasties that are forbidden in the world of DVD:-).   As with the other earlier Roadshow transfers, this one also suffers from the aliasing, or image shimmer as I like to call it.  Static shots don't seems to pose a threat to this, but when the camera make a big move (like a big crane shot down the street as in one shot), the background images go nuts.  This is something that looks even worse in 4:3 letterbox mode (as oppose to 16:9 mode), I guess it's from the line adjustment needed to letterbox a DVD).  I found a bit of inconsistency with regards to the picture quality throughout this movie, some scenes looked quite good, with a decent amount of detail and general clarity, and others looked rather MPEG-ish, but overall, it came through okay.....

In comparing the P&S version to the 16:9 version , I found that the P&S version's colour saturation appeared more intense and the overall sharpness better.  This may be due to the physical increase in size on my TV, but it definitely looked different.  Seeing as there is firstly a 16:9 version of the movie and that version is presented at the 2.35:1 ratio, I personally prefer this to the the P&S version as it looses far too much information for my liking.....but seeing as there are some people out there who would rather watch a P&S movie, it was good to see Roadshow bring a DVD out in dual formats....

Unlike some of the major release DVD and their kick arse soundtracks, Evita's is somewhat subdued in comparison.  As much as I love the inability to breath as a result of the highly intense sound waves produced by a subby, this mellow soundtrack is rather refreshing.  The 2 channel Dolby Digital track is essentially that.....Rear channel activity is kept to a minimum, but always active (if you get close enough),  and this is a real shame as there is Plenty of opportunity to utilise them, especially seeing as there is so much music played.   This aside what you can hear sounds very good with great clarity in the lyrics and music.  While I haven't had the opportunity to listen to the Full 5.1 track via MPEG2 audio (which is the case for 99.75% of the population :-) I did notice a distinct difference in the pitch of both tracks.  It would appear that for the DD2.0 track the pitch has been adjusted to compensate for the increase in speed needed for any PAL playback, (if the source has a lower frame rate).  You could really notice the difference here and is really is worth the effort, as the overall sound more closely resembles the original audio.

Features are kept to a minimum on this DVD, with an interactive menu to select the audio track , cast bios (that have a font that is far too small), and 19 chapters of the movie, that have been designed to start play at the beginning of a song (nice touch)

When initially released, this DVD carried a RRP of $49.95, but has since been lowered to the Roadshow standard of $34.95.  I was told the the reason for the original price was due to this DVD being released so close to it VHS rental debut.