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Jackal (DTS), The
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
In my opinion, this remains to be one of the more dissapointing pictures released in the past few years. A seriously dull, grim film, this is an update of "The Day Of The Jackal". Starring Richard Gere and Bruce Willis, the film takes forever to get going - watching a blank screen would be more engaging than some of the film's sequences.
Willis plays the Jackal, an assassin who is a master of disguise, except that even when he changes his look, it still looks exactly like Bruce Willis. Hardly speaking or showing any emotion, it's an extremely dull character. Richard Gere doesn't fare much better as Declan MulQueen, a jailed criminal who is released to help keep the Jackal from reaching his next target.
The performances are almost completely subdued, and neither of the stars does too much to help the film along. Pacing is a pretty major problem - the movie feels as if it's going on forever. It does start to get more intense by the film's final sequence but that's way too little, way too late.
The DVD
VIDEO: Not Universal's best work, "The Jackal" still retains above average picture quality. Sharpness is varied - most sequences display images that are sharp and clear, but there are the occasional scenes where images seem slightly soft or murky. Detail is reasonably good, and clarity is fine as well, except for some minor sequences. "The Jackal" is pretty much a colorless picture; there are some colors, but the picture in general contains a pretty subdued color palette. Flesh tones are generally natural, and although much of the presentation looks fine, some scenes seem a tad dark looking.
There are some minor problems scattered throughout the transfer, including brief shimmering and some trace amounts of pixelation. Otherwise, this is a pretty solid looking transfer.
SOUND: I haven't taken a listen to the Dolby Digital version, so I can't compare the two, but the DTS version does what it can with the film's not terribly remarkable sound. The movie itself really doesn't start up until the last 30 minutes, and similarly, neither does the sound. Up until that point, the viewer is left with Carter Burwell's enjoyable score, which sounds very dynamic on this DTS edition. Surround use is more noticable and creative during the late action sequences, but before that, surround use is not terribly noticable or effective. Burwell's score remains the consistent positive element, and dialogue is clear and easily understood. Some effective moments, but all in all, this isn't a really agressive soundtrack.
MENUS:: As with most early DTS titles from Universal, menu options and graphics are very minimal, only offering a couple of images from the film as well as a couple of options.
EXTRAS:: As with most of the Universal DTS titles that were put out early, there are no extras offered here.
Final Thoughts: The "Collector's Edition" offers more extras including a commentary, but a bad film remains a bad film. The DTS audio provides a very strong presentation for the film's few intense sequences, but either way, I still don't care for the movie. Not recommended.
In my opinion, this remains to be one of the more dissapointing pictures released in the past few years. A seriously dull, grim film, this is an update of "The Day Of The Jackal". Starring Richard Gere and Bruce Willis, the film takes forever to get going - watching a blank screen would be more engaging than some of the film's sequences.
Willis plays the Jackal, an assassin who is a master of disguise, except that even when he changes his look, it still looks exactly like Bruce Willis. Hardly speaking or showing any emotion, it's an extremely dull character. Richard Gere doesn't fare much better as Declan MulQueen, a jailed criminal who is released to help keep the Jackal from reaching his next target.
The performances are almost completely subdued, and neither of the stars does too much to help the film along. Pacing is a pretty major problem - the movie feels as if it's going on forever. It does start to get more intense by the film's final sequence but that's way too little, way too late.
The DVD
VIDEO: Not Universal's best work, "The Jackal" still retains above average picture quality. Sharpness is varied - most sequences display images that are sharp and clear, but there are the occasional scenes where images seem slightly soft or murky. Detail is reasonably good, and clarity is fine as well, except for some minor sequences. "The Jackal" is pretty much a colorless picture; there are some colors, but the picture in general contains a pretty subdued color palette. Flesh tones are generally natural, and although much of the presentation looks fine, some scenes seem a tad dark looking.
There are some minor problems scattered throughout the transfer, including brief shimmering and some trace amounts of pixelation. Otherwise, this is a pretty solid looking transfer.
SOUND: I haven't taken a listen to the Dolby Digital version, so I can't compare the two, but the DTS version does what it can with the film's not terribly remarkable sound. The movie itself really doesn't start up until the last 30 minutes, and similarly, neither does the sound. Up until that point, the viewer is left with Carter Burwell's enjoyable score, which sounds very dynamic on this DTS edition. Surround use is more noticable and creative during the late action sequences, but before that, surround use is not terribly noticable or effective. Burwell's score remains the consistent positive element, and dialogue is clear and easily understood. Some effective moments, but all in all, this isn't a really agressive soundtrack.
MENUS:: As with most early DTS titles from Universal, menu options and graphics are very minimal, only offering a couple of images from the film as well as a couple of options.
EXTRAS:: As with most of the Universal DTS titles that were put out early, there are no extras offered here.
Final Thoughts: The "Collector's Edition" offers more extras including a commentary, but a bad film remains a bad film. The DTS audio provides a very strong presentation for the film's few intense sequences, but either way, I still don't care for the movie. Not recommended.
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