| Reviews & Columns |
|
Reviews DVD TV on DVD Blu-ray 4K UHD International DVDs In Theaters Reviews by Studio Video Games Features Collector Series DVDs Easter Egg Database Interviews DVD Talk Radio Feature Articles Columns Anime Talk DVD Savant Horror DVDs The M.O.D. Squad Art House HD Talk Silent DVD
|
 DVD Talk Forum |
|
|
| Resources |
|
DVD Price Search Customer Service #'s RCE Info Links |
|
Columns
  
 
|
|
|
Enigma
Columbia/Tri-Star // R // September 24, 2002
List Price: $24.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
(movie review written in March, 2002)
"Enigma" is the kind of movie that's rarely made anymore - an old-fashioned spy drama/thriller that manages to entertain without enormous action sequences and provide characters that have depth and intelligence. "Enigma" is directed by Michael Apted, an interesting filmmaker who has bounced between the highly acclaimed "7 Up" documentary series and enormous films like "The World Is Not Enough".
Enigma stars Dougray Scott as Tom Jericho, an ace British codebreaker who is returning to work after suffering from a breakdown due to a breakup with his love, Claire (Saffron Burrows). At the same time that Tom has returned, Claire has gone missing, leading Tom to ponder if he'd revealed more than he should've about his operations when the two were together.
Meanwhile, the Germans have switched encryption methods and it's up to Tom to break back into the German's upgraded technology before a wave of German U-boats can converge on an shipping convoy. It's up to Tom and co-worker Hester Wallace (a very attractive and energetic Kate Winslet) to follow the trail that Claire has left to see if she in fact has anything to do with the situation. Meanwhile, Secret Service agent Wigram (Northam, who shows that he should be considered for the James Bond role once Pierce Brosnan gives it up) is on the trailer of Hester and Tom.
Interestingly, "Engima" starts off a bit slowly; I found it a little difficult to get a read on the characters and tone of the movie. Once Winslet's character becomes involved though, the film starts pushing forward with more urgency and turns more involving. Director Michael Apted is even able to mine an impressive amount of suspense and tension from a fairly simple scene where Tom and Hester are trying to break the codes while their persuers are just down the road, having a difficult time trying to drive through the mud.
The performances are excellent; Scott is gruff and depressed, but with an undercurrent of intensity that keeps the character from being a gloomy bore; Winslet is sharply funny and sweet as Hester and Jeremy Northam seems to be auditioning as Pierce Brosnan's 007 replacement as the witty secret agent - but it works.
The film only has one considerable flaw, but it certainly doesn't suffer greatly from it. It's a bit difficult to believe that the Burrows character could have caused Tom to have a breakdown when she left him - there's really not enough to the flashbacks to provide that convincing a romance between the two. Other than that, I certainly didn't have any other major concerns about the picture. Tom Stoppard's screenplay is not afraid of keeping ahead of the audience; this is not a picture where characters stop and talk to one another for five minutes about what's happening in the plot when we already know. This is an intricate story that becomes increasingly twisty towards the end - along the way it rewards attention and patience.
I enjoy a well-crafted action picture as much as anyone else; even though it certainly didn't follow history, I very much enjoyed Jonathan Mostow's American counterpart to this film, "U-571". But, it's a rare treat when a film like "Enigma" comes along - a picture that gains suspense and tension from mainly dialogue-driven sequences that are given a terrific undercurrent of urgency and intensity by wonderful direction and great performances (although I doubt it'll happen since the film was hardly seen, I still think Scott, Winslet and Northam should get awards consideration for thie roles). My one real disapointment is that the film seems to be only getting a small-ish release when I believe that it has greater potential than that.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Enigma" is presented by Columbia/Tristar in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. After viewing the transfer, I'm still trying to figure out how this presentation turned out as disapointing as it did. When I first saw the film late last Winter at a press screening, the print I viewed appeared as if it had been through the festival circuit twice through. An additional viewing theatrically had the same results - a print that had a worn and generally lackluster appearance.
The film was not released by Columbia/Tristar theatrically - it was distributed by Manhattan Pictures International. Essentially, this was their "debut" release. Part of me wonders if the element that was delivered to Tristar for the home video release was not optimal. The DVD presentation, quite frankly, is one of the most mediocre offerings of a new release that I've seen in quite a while. While there are scenes scattered throughout this transfer that appear halfway decent, there are longer stretches where nearly every possible problem that can occur on a DVD presentation seems to.
Sharpness and detail vary rather oddly throughout this presentation: while some scenes appear crisp and well-defined, there are other scenes where detail appears almost remarkably off, with very little definition to hair or other background elements. The opening credits even suffer a bit, with a blurry appearance.
While it dismays me to have to do so about a film that I enjoyed so greatly, the laundry list of problems must be discussed: First off, the edge enhancement - while it's not consistently visible, mild amounts do appear on a fairly frequent basis and do irritate when apparent. Shimmering - occasionally in nasty amounts - appears on clothing in a handful of scenes. Grain, which was visible in light, almost unnoticable amounts when I saw the film theatrically, is heavier here, with scenes that seem to suffer from the presentation not handling it well, giving the picture a rather gritty and soft appearance.
While the print used for this presentation thankfully does not appear as noticably worn as the ones that I saw theatrically, I still saw more flaws than I expect to see from a relatively new release. Minor specks, marks and occasional hints of dirt were seen - I even spotted a large, dark line near the middle of the image that appeared for a frame at about 42:02. In addition, traces of pixelation and even some jagged looking edges are noticed.
The film's rather subdued color palette is generally well-rendered, with no smearing or other faults. It's one positive in the midst of a lot of negatives in regards to this transfer. Is it an entirely unwatchable effort? No. I found this film involving enough when I first viewed it theatrically to ignore a line running from top-to-bottom on one side of the picture for a good stretch of the film. Is it disapointing? Most definitely; whoever is to blame for this very unpleasant looking presentation has really done an injustice to this marvelous film.
SOUND: The film is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The sound quality thankfully does fare considerably better than the video quality. While a dialogue-driven effort for the most part, John Barry's outstanding orchestral score is one of my favorites of the year and does sound wonderful here. Surrounds actually do get a fair amount of involvement here, as they provide reinforcement for Barry's score and a nice helping of ambient sounds. Dialogue remained crisp and clear throughout, as did the score.
MENUS: Plain, non-animated menus that use film-themed images as backgrounds.
EXTRAS: Although announced early on as a Special Edition, those supplemental materials were cancelled and all that remains are trailers for "Enigma" (a trailer that actually has worse picture quality than the film itself), "Enough" and "XXX". Given the history behind the story, I would have appreciated some additional information - a commentary from director Apted, who has provided good commentaries in the past, would also have been appreciated.
Final Thoughts: "Enigma" still remains, in my opinion, one of the year's very best pictures - it's an intelligent, well-written and expertly acted drama. It's really too bad that the DVD presentation is such a disapointment, offering weak image quality and supplements, but good sound. While a solid presentation would have lead me to recommend this as a purchase for even those who haven't seen it, the picture quality leads me to drop my opinion on this DVD down to only a light rental recommendation.
(movie review written in March, 2002)
"Enigma" is the kind of movie that's rarely made anymore - an old-fashioned spy drama/thriller that manages to entertain without enormous action sequences and provide characters that have depth and intelligence. "Enigma" is directed by Michael Apted, an interesting filmmaker who has bounced between the highly acclaimed "7 Up" documentary series and enormous films like "The World Is Not Enough".
Enigma stars Dougray Scott as Tom Jericho, an ace British codebreaker who is returning to work after suffering from a breakdown due to a breakup with his love, Claire (Saffron Burrows). At the same time that Tom has returned, Claire has gone missing, leading Tom to ponder if he'd revealed more than he should've about his operations when the two were together.
Meanwhile, the Germans have switched encryption methods and it's up to Tom to break back into the German's upgraded technology before a wave of German U-boats can converge on an shipping convoy. It's up to Tom and co-worker Hester Wallace (a very attractive and energetic Kate Winslet) to follow the trail that Claire has left to see if she in fact has anything to do with the situation. Meanwhile, Secret Service agent Wigram (Northam, who shows that he should be considered for the James Bond role once Pierce Brosnan gives it up) is on the trailer of Hester and Tom.
Interestingly, "Engima" starts off a bit slowly; I found it a little difficult to get a read on the characters and tone of the movie. Once Winslet's character becomes involved though, the film starts pushing forward with more urgency and turns more involving. Director Michael Apted is even able to mine an impressive amount of suspense and tension from a fairly simple scene where Tom and Hester are trying to break the codes while their persuers are just down the road, having a difficult time trying to drive through the mud.
The performances are excellent; Scott is gruff and depressed, but with an undercurrent of intensity that keeps the character from being a gloomy bore; Winslet is sharply funny and sweet as Hester and Jeremy Northam seems to be auditioning as Pierce Brosnan's 007 replacement as the witty secret agent - but it works.
The film only has one considerable flaw, but it certainly doesn't suffer greatly from it. It's a bit difficult to believe that the Burrows character could have caused Tom to have a breakdown when she left him - there's really not enough to the flashbacks to provide that convincing a romance between the two. Other than that, I certainly didn't have any other major concerns about the picture. Tom Stoppard's screenplay is not afraid of keeping ahead of the audience; this is not a picture where characters stop and talk to one another for five minutes about what's happening in the plot when we already know. This is an intricate story that becomes increasingly twisty towards the end - along the way it rewards attention and patience.
I enjoy a well-crafted action picture as much as anyone else; even though it certainly didn't follow history, I very much enjoyed Jonathan Mostow's American counterpart to this film, "U-571". But, it's a rare treat when a film like "Enigma" comes along - a picture that gains suspense and tension from mainly dialogue-driven sequences that are given a terrific undercurrent of urgency and intensity by wonderful direction and great performances (although I doubt it'll happen since the film was hardly seen, I still think Scott, Winslet and Northam should get awards consideration for thie roles). My one real disapointment is that the film seems to be only getting a small-ish release when I believe that it has greater potential than that.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Enigma" is presented by Columbia/Tristar in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. After viewing the transfer, I'm still trying to figure out how this presentation turned out as disapointing as it did. When I first saw the film late last Winter at a press screening, the print I viewed appeared as if it had been through the festival circuit twice through. An additional viewing theatrically had the same results - a print that had a worn and generally lackluster appearance.
The film was not released by Columbia/Tristar theatrically - it was distributed by Manhattan Pictures International. Essentially, this was their "debut" release. Part of me wonders if the element that was delivered to Tristar for the home video release was not optimal. The DVD presentation, quite frankly, is one of the most mediocre offerings of a new release that I've seen in quite a while. While there are scenes scattered throughout this transfer that appear halfway decent, there are longer stretches where nearly every possible problem that can occur on a DVD presentation seems to.
Sharpness and detail vary rather oddly throughout this presentation: while some scenes appear crisp and well-defined, there are other scenes where detail appears almost remarkably off, with very little definition to hair or other background elements. The opening credits even suffer a bit, with a blurry appearance.
While it dismays me to have to do so about a film that I enjoyed so greatly, the laundry list of problems must be discussed: First off, the edge enhancement - while it's not consistently visible, mild amounts do appear on a fairly frequent basis and do irritate when apparent. Shimmering - occasionally in nasty amounts - appears on clothing in a handful of scenes. Grain, which was visible in light, almost unnoticable amounts when I saw the film theatrically, is heavier here, with scenes that seem to suffer from the presentation not handling it well, giving the picture a rather gritty and soft appearance.
While the print used for this presentation thankfully does not appear as noticably worn as the ones that I saw theatrically, I still saw more flaws than I expect to see from a relatively new release. Minor specks, marks and occasional hints of dirt were seen - I even spotted a large, dark line near the middle of the image that appeared for a frame at about 42:02. In addition, traces of pixelation and even some jagged looking edges are noticed.
The film's rather subdued color palette is generally well-rendered, with no smearing or other faults. It's one positive in the midst of a lot of negatives in regards to this transfer. Is it an entirely unwatchable effort? No. I found this film involving enough when I first viewed it theatrically to ignore a line running from top-to-bottom on one side of the picture for a good stretch of the film. Is it disapointing? Most definitely; whoever is to blame for this very unpleasant looking presentation has really done an injustice to this marvelous film.
SOUND: The film is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The sound quality thankfully does fare considerably better than the video quality. While a dialogue-driven effort for the most part, John Barry's outstanding orchestral score is one of my favorites of the year and does sound wonderful here. Surrounds actually do get a fair amount of involvement here, as they provide reinforcement for Barry's score and a nice helping of ambient sounds. Dialogue remained crisp and clear throughout, as did the score.
MENUS: Plain, non-animated menus that use film-themed images as backgrounds.
EXTRAS: Although announced early on as a Special Edition, those supplemental materials were cancelled and all that remains are trailers for "Enigma" (a trailer that actually has worse picture quality than the film itself), "Enough" and "XXX". Given the history behind the story, I would have appreciated some additional information - a commentary from director Apted, who has provided good commentaries in the past, would also have been appreciated.
Final Thoughts: "Enigma" still remains, in my opinion, one of the year's very best pictures - it's an intelligent, well-written and expertly acted drama. It's really too bad that the DVD presentation is such a disapointment, offering weak image quality and supplements, but good sound. While a solid presentation would have lead me to recommend this as a purchase for even those who haven't seen it, the picture quality leads me to drop my opinion on this DVD down to only a light rental recommendation.
|
| Popular Reviews |
| Sponsored Links |
|
|
| Sponsored Links |
|
|
| Release List | Reviews | Shop | Newsletter | Forum | DVD Giveaways | Blu-Ray | Advertise |
|
Copyright 2024 DVDTalk.com All Rights Reserved. Legal Info, Privacy Policy, Terms of Use,
Manage Preferences,
Your Privacy Choices 
| |||||||