| I have to admit that many many years ago this
was one of my favourite films. I watch it now and wonder what my thought processes really
were back then. This is in all a good film but not really attention grabbing any more. Michelle Pfeiffer plays Angel De Marco, an unhappily married mob
wife. Her husband Frank De Marco (Alec Baldwin) is a well-known hitman in the family.
Unfortunately though his wife is a little tired of the dishonest life that she lives.
Tony Russo (Dean Stockwell) is the head of the family and
early on in the film has Frank killed. This gives Tony an opening to move in on Angela.
Angela is little than impressed with this and so is Tony’s very possessive wife
Connie (Mercedes Ruehl). All the family wives decide that it’s not a good look for
Tony to be having an affair with Angela and they all gang up on her to make their feelings
known.
Angela decides to pack up and leave town and gives away
everything she has obtained from the mob to good will. She leaves for New York to start a
new life but is unaware that the other wives have seen her leave and is now being
followed.
While all this is going on FBI special agent Mike Downy
(Mathew Modine) believes that Tony has murdered Frank with the help of Angela. Angela and
Mike naturally fall in Love and the plot progresses from here to a happy ending on all
accounts.
So How Does This Transfer Hold Up??
The transfer quality is little lagging but when taking into consideration the age of the
film it is certainly passable. Presented at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and 16:9 Enhanced.
Generally the transfer was relatively sharp but there were
times were the picture appeared grainy, or soft or even out of focus. These are not common
in the film but at times noticeable. The entire transfer also appears to be very dark and
subsequently there is little detail in shadows, but I believe that this is a
characteristic of the original film. I did find one obvious instance of ailiasing but it
was not a common occurrence. Overall the colour was nicely saturated and had a slight soft
glow to it but at times it did appear to be a little washed out. Skin tones were very
realistic.
Video Highlights
Ch 04 12:31 – Soft and a little washy.
Ch 28 90:07 – Nice colouring and good skin tones
Ch 20 65:16 – Ailiasing in the venetian blinds
The audio was very disappointing. As a Dolby 2.0 Track encoded for surround it was a
waste of time when the surrounds just aren’t used at all. I put the film on with
volume to the surrounds only and went about doing some other things and I never heard a
peep out of them. Fair enough this isn’t an exploding sound effects movie but the
occasional gunfight and passing trains etc does give some opportunities to beef up the
audio. Unfortunately though we hear nothing from the surrounds or the base channel. I did
find any sync problems. The front sound stage was not used to full effect either and the
audio often fells very flat. About the best aspect from the audio are some great 80’s
songs, which remind me of my influential years. J The
soundtrack, by David Byrne, in all was not exciting but some of the feature songs did have
me singing along.
Audio Highlights
Ch 16 52:10 – No use of surrounds for gunfight.
Ch 26 – Once again no use of surrounds, but plenty of opportunity.
Extras are practically nonexistent. Which is a shame since many of the recent Columbia
Releases were starting to improve in the extras department. The only extra is the Cast and
Crew Biographies.
The animated menu is quite good and the selection method is easy to distinguish. I was
also pleased to see some outtakes during the credits. While these were not really funny
they’re worth watching.
Overall this film aims to please but fails dismally. Definitely something to try before
you buy. If you’re a Michelle Pfeiffer fan don’t run out and buy it you may be
very disappointed.
| PICTURE QUALITY |
7/10 few age problems |
| SOUND QUALITY |
6/10 nothing exciting here |
| FEATURES |
1/10 sad, very asd |
| OVERALL |
6.5/10 didn't really impress me |
Review Equipment
TV: GE 68cm (16:9 selectable)
DVD: Samsung DVD907 (via S-Video)
Receiver/Proc: Sansui A505/Sony Amp & Yamaha DSP-E390
Speakers:-
Fronts: Wharfdale Diamond R6 (on a pair of custom made stands you'd KILL for)
Centre: Venturi
Rears: Sony bookshelf
- Reviewed 14th December 1999
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