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Madness Of King George
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Although one may question some of the more mainstream film choices he has made since (the terribly written "Center Stage"), director Nicholas Hytner's first film, the 1994 period piece "The Madness Of King George" remains no less fascinating and compelling seven years later. A superbly acted and smartly written feature, the movie soars thanks to a marvelous performance from Nigel Hawthorne.
The film opens in 1788, as King George has just lost the American colonies. Things are begining to go downhill for the ruler, who begins to show signs that things aren't quite right upstairs. Unstable, his son, The Prince Of Wales(Rupert Everett) is eager to see his father be declared mentally unfit so that he can take over the rule.
Based upon the stage play by Alan Bennett, stage and film director Hytner does an absolutely wonderful job, but things are really lead by Hawthorne. This is a stellar performance from the actor, easily one of his best efforts in recent years. Also providing excellent support is Helen Mirren as his wife, Rupert Graves and many others. The choice of music by George Fenton is terrific, as is the costume design by Sue Honeybourne and Mark Thompson.
The DVD
VIDEO: This is a fair enough presentation from MGM, although it doesn't always reflect a very good deal of effort on the studio's part. The 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer generally has a soft look to the image. Although it never reaches the point of looking hazy or completely undefined, the picture is lacking fine detail and depth to the image.
This is also not helped by the presence of some additional flaws. Print flaws do appear, including some noticable marks and speckles. Although not major wear, I was dissapointed to see this level of dirt and wear on a film that's only seven years old. Light grain and a couple of very minor traces of pixelation appear, as well.
Colors appeared strong and well-rendered. The deep colors of the costumes stood out nicely agains the rather plain colored, yet intricately detailed backgrounds of the various interior rooms. I thought this was a watchable, but rather mediocre presentation from the studio.
SOUND: The film is presented here with a basic Dolby 2.0 soundtrack. It does a fine job at capturing the two elements most important to the film; the wonderful classical score and the dialogue. Both come through clearly and the score has pleasant warmth and richness.
MENUS:: MGM provides the same basic menu design as most of their low-price titles, with film-themed images as backgrounds.
EXTRAS: Trailer.
Final Thoughts: Although "Madness Of King George" is a terrific, very entertaining film, MGM's DVD is a dissapointment, with only mediocre presentation quality and nothing much in the way of features. Still, for the low retail price, the film is still very worthy of a look with its superb performances. Recommended, although I probably would have said "highly recommended" with a more impressive effort for disc quality.
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