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Knight's Tale (Superbit)
Columbia/Tri-Star // PG-13 // August 27, 2002
List Price: $27.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
I enjoy when I see a studio make a risky picture. "Knight's Tale" certainly was quite a risk, but was it a worthwhile one? The idea: that 22-year-old star Heath Ledger could carry and open a 50 million dollar Summer picture combined with the fact that the film is about jousting with a 70's/80's rock soundtrack. The result wasn't a major success at the box office, but the picture itself is a mildly entertaining piece that's unfortunately still rather noticably flawed at times.
The film stars the previously mentioned Ledger as William, the servant of a knight who has recently passed on. On a lark, he decides that he could take the place of the knight in the next tournament. Suprisingly, he actually wins the thing and decides, instead of just taking the money and exiting, to go on with the show. Aided by servants (Mark Addy and Alan Tudyk) and calling himself "Ulrich Von Lichtenstein", he rides across the country, soundly beating those who come up against him.
Of course, what kind of movie would it be if there's wasn't an enemy and a romantic interest that both compete for. The enemy would be Count Adhemar(Rufus Sewell, who hasn't really done anything great since "Dark City"). Both are in competition for the hand of Lady Jocelyn (Shannyn Sossamon). The film even has Geoffrey Chauncer(Paul Bettany), who becomes something of a promoter for young William.
In the positive corner for the film are several elements: it's often an energetic and charming piece and, although it does overstay its welcome, it does carry itself proudly for the majority. The film boasts remarkable sets, exceptional cinematography and great production design. The performances aren't bad and Ledger proves himself capable of a decent effort. The film even manages to make the act of jousting, which one would think would get boring after a while, not entirely repetitive or dull.
Leading off the negative side is the film's length. Director Brian Helgeland (responsible for the original, darker cut of "Payback" before star Mel Gibson fired him) stretches the story beyond necessity at 132 minutes. Taking a good 15 to 20 minutes out would have helped the pace of the picture. I don't think that the idea of adding the 70's/80's rock tunes were a simple tactic for capturing the youth market (they would have had the characters jousting to N'Sync and Britney Spears then, I'd think), but it doesn't entirely work, either. It seems sort of tacked on and while some tunes fit well, others really don't add anything. I've liked Helgeland as director (although I'm not sure what of "Payback" is actually his) and writer ("L.A. Confidential"), but the writing is not particularly solid here and he seems rather unsure of where to take the film next.
Overall, "Knight's Tale" is a bit of an overlong mess at times, but some of it at least works better than it probably should have. The energy and idea is there, but there's a bit too much that gets in the way of it working as well it could.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Knight's Tale" is presented again in this new edition in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. As with all of the other Superbit titles, all of the supplements and animated menus have been deleted, leaving more space for the audio/video, hopefully leading to improved image. While many of the studio's earlier titles ("Desperado", "Anaconda") have benefited from the Superbit treatment, there have been other, more recent efforts that look good enough that a re-release seems questionable.
I would think "Knight's Tale" would fall into that catagory. While not entirely without concern, the original presentation looked excellent. If anything, this new Superbit edition improved on the prior edition slightly - but not more than that. Sharpness and detail seemed to be the main aspects of this new presentation that looked better, as the Superbit image looked a bit more well-defined and appeared to have a little greater depth to the image.
The flaws from the original edition also returned again on this release, if not quite in the same amount. The print flaws - a handful of specks and a mark or two - that were on the original release were viewed once again here. While minor edge enhancement appeared on the prior edition, it seemed a bit slighter here. No pixelation or other faults were seen.
The film's color palette wasn't always vibrant, but colors still did look rich and bold throughout the movie, appearing well-saturated and never smeared. Black level was solid and flesh tones were accurate and natural, as well. This is a very nice effort from the studio. The Superbit edition provided a minimal improvement on an already very nice prior release.
SOUND: What I wrote about the prior DVD release: The film's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is quite an entertaining sound experience, using the surrounds quite well to put us in the middle of the Ledger character's many battles throughout the picture. Surrounds fire up with crowd noise and the sounds of the aftermath of the jousting, as well as the music. Although some of the scenes outside the stadium do calm down and fold up towards the front, there are some additional touches of ambient sound during these scenes that do keep the viewer engaged.
Audio quality was quite strong, as the score sounded particularly rich and powerful, while ambient sounds and various sound effects came through sounding realistic and convincing. Dialogue sounded clear and easily understood and the hits that the jousters took sounded loud and strong enough to occasionally make me wince. Although not a consistent assault, "Knight's Tale"'s sound presentation was quite entertaining and effective when called upon to go into action.
This Superbit edition of "Knight's Tale" offers both the Dolby Digital 5.1 release heard on the previous DVD and a DTS 5.1 presentation. Comparing both in several of the film's action sequences revealed a mild difference between the two, with the DTS soundtrack presenting the classic rock soundtrack with noticably more warm and the sound effects with more power. The DTS track also seemed to have somewhat greater depth and detail.
MENUS: Basic, non-animated main & sub-menus.
EXTRAS: Nothing. Given the fact this is a Superbit release, all supplements have been deleted to make room for the audio/video. It's a little odd though, given the fact that the prior release had a lot of featurettes and other video supplements, that this couldn't have been a Superbit Deluxe release with the extras on the second disc. Oh well.
Final Thoughts: A bit too long and unfocused for its own good, "Knight's Tale" still often works well enough that those who haven't seen it will likely be satisfied with a rental. Tristar's Superbit edition provides a light upgrade in terms of audio/video, but drops the supplements of the prior edition - which is still available and can be found for around $15. The Superbit edition, out 8/27, should be available for $20-22.
I enjoy when I see a studio make a risky picture. "Knight's Tale" certainly was quite a risk, but was it a worthwhile one? The idea: that 22-year-old star Heath Ledger could carry and open a 50 million dollar Summer picture combined with the fact that the film is about jousting with a 70's/80's rock soundtrack. The result wasn't a major success at the box office, but the picture itself is a mildly entertaining piece that's unfortunately still rather noticably flawed at times.
The film stars the previously mentioned Ledger as William, the servant of a knight who has recently passed on. On a lark, he decides that he could take the place of the knight in the next tournament. Suprisingly, he actually wins the thing and decides, instead of just taking the money and exiting, to go on with the show. Aided by servants (Mark Addy and Alan Tudyk) and calling himself "Ulrich Von Lichtenstein", he rides across the country, soundly beating those who come up against him.
Of course, what kind of movie would it be if there's wasn't an enemy and a romantic interest that both compete for. The enemy would be Count Adhemar(Rufus Sewell, who hasn't really done anything great since "Dark City"). Both are in competition for the hand of Lady Jocelyn (Shannyn Sossamon). The film even has Geoffrey Chauncer(Paul Bettany), who becomes something of a promoter for young William.
In the positive corner for the film are several elements: it's often an energetic and charming piece and, although it does overstay its welcome, it does carry itself proudly for the majority. The film boasts remarkable sets, exceptional cinematography and great production design. The performances aren't bad and Ledger proves himself capable of a decent effort. The film even manages to make the act of jousting, which one would think would get boring after a while, not entirely repetitive or dull.
Leading off the negative side is the film's length. Director Brian Helgeland (responsible for the original, darker cut of "Payback" before star Mel Gibson fired him) stretches the story beyond necessity at 132 minutes. Taking a good 15 to 20 minutes out would have helped the pace of the picture. I don't think that the idea of adding the 70's/80's rock tunes were a simple tactic for capturing the youth market (they would have had the characters jousting to N'Sync and Britney Spears then, I'd think), but it doesn't entirely work, either. It seems sort of tacked on and while some tunes fit well, others really don't add anything. I've liked Helgeland as director (although I'm not sure what of "Payback" is actually his) and writer ("L.A. Confidential"), but the writing is not particularly solid here and he seems rather unsure of where to take the film next.
Overall, "Knight's Tale" is a bit of an overlong mess at times, but some of it at least works better than it probably should have. The energy and idea is there, but there's a bit too much that gets in the way of it working as well it could.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Knight's Tale" is presented again in this new edition in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. As with all of the other Superbit titles, all of the supplements and animated menus have been deleted, leaving more space for the audio/video, hopefully leading to improved image. While many of the studio's earlier titles ("Desperado", "Anaconda") have benefited from the Superbit treatment, there have been other, more recent efforts that look good enough that a re-release seems questionable.
I would think "Knight's Tale" would fall into that catagory. While not entirely without concern, the original presentation looked excellent. If anything, this new Superbit edition improved on the prior edition slightly - but not more than that. Sharpness and detail seemed to be the main aspects of this new presentation that looked better, as the Superbit image looked a bit more well-defined and appeared to have a little greater depth to the image.
The flaws from the original edition also returned again on this release, if not quite in the same amount. The print flaws - a handful of specks and a mark or two - that were on the original release were viewed once again here. While minor edge enhancement appeared on the prior edition, it seemed a bit slighter here. No pixelation or other faults were seen.
The film's color palette wasn't always vibrant, but colors still did look rich and bold throughout the movie, appearing well-saturated and never smeared. Black level was solid and flesh tones were accurate and natural, as well. This is a very nice effort from the studio. The Superbit edition provided a minimal improvement on an already very nice prior release.
SOUND: What I wrote about the prior DVD release: The film's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is quite an entertaining sound experience, using the surrounds quite well to put us in the middle of the Ledger character's many battles throughout the picture. Surrounds fire up with crowd noise and the sounds of the aftermath of the jousting, as well as the music. Although some of the scenes outside the stadium do calm down and fold up towards the front, there are some additional touches of ambient sound during these scenes that do keep the viewer engaged.
Audio quality was quite strong, as the score sounded particularly rich and powerful, while ambient sounds and various sound effects came through sounding realistic and convincing. Dialogue sounded clear and easily understood and the hits that the jousters took sounded loud and strong enough to occasionally make me wince. Although not a consistent assault, "Knight's Tale"'s sound presentation was quite entertaining and effective when called upon to go into action.
This Superbit edition of "Knight's Tale" offers both the Dolby Digital 5.1 release heard on the previous DVD and a DTS 5.1 presentation. Comparing both in several of the film's action sequences revealed a mild difference between the two, with the DTS soundtrack presenting the classic rock soundtrack with noticably more warm and the sound effects with more power. The DTS track also seemed to have somewhat greater depth and detail.
MENUS: Basic, non-animated main & sub-menus.
EXTRAS: Nothing. Given the fact this is a Superbit release, all supplements have been deleted to make room for the audio/video. It's a little odd though, given the fact that the prior release had a lot of featurettes and other video supplements, that this couldn't have been a Superbit Deluxe release with the extras on the second disc. Oh well.
Final Thoughts: A bit too long and unfocused for its own good, "Knight's Tale" still often works well enough that those who haven't seen it will likely be satisfied with a rental. Tristar's Superbit edition provides a light upgrade in terms of audio/video, but drops the supplements of the prior edition - which is still available and can be found for around $15. The Superbit edition, out 8/27, should be available for $20-22.
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