| Judge Dredd is yet another comic book Hero to
make it to the big screen, this time around actioneer Sylvester Stallone takes on the
title role of the incorruptible Future cop Judge Dredd. Accused of a murder he didn’t commit, Dredd is sentenced to life
imprisonment. As luck would have it en-route to the facility, the plane is shot down by
bandits, and thus Dredd escapes, along with a new sidekick Fergie (Rob Schneider), who he
judged prior to his own arrest!!
Dredd sets out to find the person who set him up, in order
to clear his name, with the help of fellow Judge Hershey (Dianne Lane).
At the helm of this strictly comic book venture, is I
Still Know’s Danny Cannon. While Cannon’s style is very well suited to this
type of film, the absurd script pretty much sinks this film…but what does one expect
with the likes of Michael (Lost in Space, Freddy’s Dead) De Luca attached to it!
Anyhoo, being very much a leave your brain at the door
please kinda movie, there is some entertainment value within.. just not much :)
So How Does This Transfer Hold Up?
VIDEO
Okay, one the plus side Roadshow have delivered an 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
transfer that is essentially free of artifacts, is very clean, rich & accurate in
Colour and very very sharp, offering a tremendous amount of detail. But as a result of
this level of sharpness, it has created a fair amount of light alaising and over edge
enhancement throughout. If you’ve seen Universal’s The
Mummy and can deal with that, then this DVD won’t pose you a problem as
it’s certainly no worse, and the Mummy does also look pretty damn fine…as does
this DVD!
AUDIO
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mix certainly kicks some arse!! This is a really fun
multichannel mix, and rightly so being a sci-fi action flick! I won’t accept anything
less. The Front soundstage is wide and manages good localisation, surround usage is pretty
prominent throughout and the bass attack always let itself be known. With only a minor
amount of ADR slipping shown up by the Pioneer 717, this is overall a very good quality
soundtrack. There is also a Dolby 2.0 mix on this DVD and I found it needed a good 8dB
increase to come close to overall sound level of the 5.1 track. At this higher level it
sounds pretty good, though is far more centre channel focused than the 5.1 mix.
EXTRAS
Sadly not too many extras are to be found on this DVD…then again, it’s not a DVD
on everybody's wish-list and you won’t find many extras, or as many elsewhere as are
present on this Roadshow DVD.
You’ll find a 5 minute Featurette, a Theatrical
trailer (in 2.35:1) along with "recommended" trailers for MK2:Annihilation, and
Spawn, Cast Bios, and the Dolby Digital Canyon trailer. All extra features on this
DVD are Anamorphic Widescreen.
(NOTE the Extras soundtrack is the same on tracks 1 and 2,
even though 1) says it’s DD5.1 and 2) says DD2.0, ….just a slight boo-boo, they
are both 2.0 encoded, but very mono sounding)
If you can get past the fact this movie is pretty lame (but
does have it’s moments) it’s yet again another nicely presented DVD from the
Roadshow Clan…..This one is strictly for the Sly fans!!! (are there still any? )
| PICTURE QUALITY |
8.5/10 slight aliasing is the only
letdown here |
SOUND
- Quality
- 5.1 WOW factor |
9/10 good clean and clear
8/10 ooh yeah! |
| OVERALL |
3/10 rather ho-hum |
Review Equipment
TV: Pioneer SD-T50W1 (16:9 RPTV)
DVD: Pioneer DV717 (using RGB outputs)
Receiver/Decoder: Marantz SR870 & Sony SDP-EP9ES
Speakers:-
Fronts: Quadral Phonolgue Gold Amun
Centre: B&W CDMC-SE
Rears: B&W 602
Subby: M&K V125
- Reviewed 26th May 2000 |
