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Apollo 13 - (DTS)
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Although there are a few small things that I don't care for, "Apollo 13" remains a wonderfully acted, superbly tense picture that contains excellent performances. During the early portion of the film, there are moments that I felt are slightly slow. I do enjoy some of the scenes that have to do with NASA and having to do with the process of being about to go into space, but I suppose I was just wanting to go into space as soon as possible. Luckily, the ground characters (especially the outstanding Ed Harris) such as the NASA crew and Lovell's family(I went to high school with the actress who played the daughter) are all performed by an excellent crew of actors and actresses. Once the film finally moves into space though, director Ron Howard succeeds in every aspect, from storytelling to the attention to detail in the sets. The amount of tension is increased at every moment.
Everyone probably knows the story by now: 3 astronauts, Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert(Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon) have an oxygen tank explode in the middle of their mission to the moon ("Houston, we have a problem."). They face almost a constant string of obstacles, from freezing to death in space to their remaining oxygen levels running dangerously low. The dialogue between the characters as things begin failing feels as if it's been kept realistic, and that only adds to how engaging and riveting the scenes are once the movie has moved into space. Howard also talks about this in his commentary, where he talks about the fact that the audience may not know what the technical language means, but with the performance, we know that it's important and feel that each step is critical.
And of course, what Ron Howard movie would be complete without a performance from his brother Clint, who plays a NASA control room operator. Seriously though, Howard did an incredible job re-creating the events of "Apollo 13" and he had a crew of actors who provided performances that were nothing short of outstanding.
The DVD
VIDEOWhen I first started watching this disc, I thought "Wow. Really good transfer!" This really is outstanding work by Universal and even more impressive that it was one of their early "collector's edition" series. Images are razor sharp and revealing very fine detail, but not overly sharp at any time. Colors are absolutely perfect and accurate throughout, and the clarity is wonderful; even in the darkness of space, there is a remarkable amount of information apparent. Smoky or dim scenes remain just as clear. Black level is very good and flesh tones remain accurate throughout.
There are a few small instances of shimmering that I noticed, but this is a case of the positives far outweighing the negatives. The scenes in space are so wonderfully crisp that I was amazed. In terms of discs that came out early on, this is really one of the very best I've seen in terms of image quality. It's the same transfer as the Dolby Digital version, and it's outstanding again here.
SOUND: The launch sequence is, as always, a massively enjoyable sequence in terms of not only visuals, but audio - and it sounds remarkable on this DTS edition of the film. That's certainly not the only impressive portion offered up by the audio on this release. The score, by "Titanic" composer James Horner, sounds wonderfully dynamic and comes through with impressive clarity. The surrounds are used solidly and agressively when the film gets more intense, and when they do recieve work to do, their use is very effective. Details during the space scenes later in the film is also fantastic, and adds to the success the film has in building the environment in the space scenes. Dialogue comes through very clearly and is easily understood. This is a rich, detailed audio experience that envelops the viewer - very, very enjoyable.
MENUS:: A very basic main menu that simply offers a "chapter list" and play option. No animation, no audio.
EXTRAS: The Dolby Digital Collector's Edition has a great set of extra features, including 2 commentary tracks(Ron Howard/Jim&Marylin Lovell) as well as an in-depth 60 minute documentary. And the DTS version includes...well, it doesn't include anything additional.
Although there are a few small things that I don't care for, "Apollo 13" remains a wonderfully acted, superbly tense picture that contains excellent performances. During the early portion of the film, there are moments that I felt are slightly slow. I do enjoy some of the scenes that have to do with NASA and having to do with the process of being about to go into space, but I suppose I was just wanting to go into space as soon as possible. Luckily, the ground characters (especially the outstanding Ed Harris) such as the NASA crew and Lovell's family(I went to high school with the actress who played the daughter) are all performed by an excellent crew of actors and actresses. Once the film finally moves into space though, director Ron Howard succeeds in every aspect, from storytelling to the attention to detail in the sets. The amount of tension is increased at every moment.
Everyone probably knows the story by now: 3 astronauts, Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert(Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon) have an oxygen tank explode in the middle of their mission to the moon ("Houston, we have a problem."). They face almost a constant string of obstacles, from freezing to death in space to their remaining oxygen levels running dangerously low. The dialogue between the characters as things begin failing feels as if it's been kept realistic, and that only adds to how engaging and riveting the scenes are once the movie has moved into space. Howard also talks about this in his commentary, where he talks about the fact that the audience may not know what the technical language means, but with the performance, we know that it's important and feel that each step is critical.
And of course, what Ron Howard movie would be complete without a performance from his brother Clint, who plays a NASA control room operator. Seriously though, Howard did an incredible job re-creating the events of "Apollo 13" and he had a crew of actors who provided performances that were nothing short of outstanding.
The DVD
VIDEOWhen I first started watching this disc, I thought "Wow. Really good transfer!" This really is outstanding work by Universal and even more impressive that it was one of their early "collector's edition" series. Images are razor sharp and revealing very fine detail, but not overly sharp at any time. Colors are absolutely perfect and accurate throughout, and the clarity is wonderful; even in the darkness of space, there is a remarkable amount of information apparent. Smoky or dim scenes remain just as clear. Black level is very good and flesh tones remain accurate throughout.
There are a few small instances of shimmering that I noticed, but this is a case of the positives far outweighing the negatives. The scenes in space are so wonderfully crisp that I was amazed. In terms of discs that came out early on, this is really one of the very best I've seen in terms of image quality. It's the same transfer as the Dolby Digital version, and it's outstanding again here.
SOUND: The launch sequence is, as always, a massively enjoyable sequence in terms of not only visuals, but audio - and it sounds remarkable on this DTS edition of the film. That's certainly not the only impressive portion offered up by the audio on this release. The score, by "Titanic" composer James Horner, sounds wonderfully dynamic and comes through with impressive clarity. The surrounds are used solidly and agressively when the film gets more intense, and when they do recieve work to do, their use is very effective. Details during the space scenes later in the film is also fantastic, and adds to the success the film has in building the environment in the space scenes. Dialogue comes through very clearly and is easily understood. This is a rich, detailed audio experience that envelops the viewer - very, very enjoyable.
MENUS:: A very basic main menu that simply offers a "chapter list" and play option. No animation, no audio.
EXTRAS: The Dolby Digital Collector's Edition has a great set of extra features, including 2 commentary tracks(Ron Howard/Jim&Marylin Lovell) as well as an in-depth 60 minute documentary. And the DTS version includes...well, it doesn't include anything additional.
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