Eyes Wide Shut
Warner / 1999 / 153 Mins / Rated R18+


MOVIE
For Stanley Kubrick this movie was 2 years in the making. 2 days after he finished making it he died and here it is Eyes Wide Shut.

Starring husband and wife couple Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman this is not what you would class as mainstream, but more an art house flick.

Cruise plays Dr. William Hartford a man with a comfortable life and a beautiful wife. One night after attending a party with her they get on the wacky tobaccy and she reveals a secret about herself that make him totally jealous and sends him out on journey through all the sick and seedy places New York has to offer, Prostitutes, Orgy's and the like. 

After one incident a woman he knows ends up dead and now intense guilt enters his mind so he must find out what happened. Eyes Wide Shut is not Kubrick's best film but it is an eye opener in more ways than one with solid acting and directing.

While this is not everyone's cup of tea there are some people out there who will enjoy it.

VIDEO

There is nothing to really complain about with this movie. The transfer is sharp, colors are well rendered and shadow detail was also good. There was the occasional MPEG artifact but these were few and far between. 

Why does Kubrick have to throw the full frame version of his films onto us because of "artistic integrity"??? Granted the negative is in 1:37:1 but I would prefer the movie to be matted to 1:85:1 with 16:9 enhancement. This is why the score is down somewhat for the video.

Eyes Wide Shut is framed at 1:33:1 and is not 16:9 enhanced.

This is a single-sided, dual layer disc.

AUDIO

Eyes Wide Shut is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. There is some use of surrounds with ambient sounds and music but that's really the limit. This is a dialog movie and as such most of the soundstage is towards the front. Still passable though.

The dialog was clear throughout

EXTRAS
WOW look at this, there are actually extras on this Warner disc. It's not much mind you but it's there thank goodness.

2 TV Spots: Standard TV spots encoded in Dolby Digital 2.0 sound.

Interviews: This section includes interviews with Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. While these interviews are brief, they are quite good, you can see the respect these guys have for Kubrick.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Eyes Wide Shut is definitely not a movie for everyone. The disc is passable but not anything special. For Kubrick fans only.

16:9 ENHANCEMENT DISC RATING

VIDEO:
AUDIO:
EXTRAS:
PLOT:
OVERALL:

REVIEW EQUIPMENT

Display: 48" Sony RPTV.
DVD Player:
Panasonic A350 Player using S-Video Cables.
Receiver:
Pioneer VSX-D508 Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround.
Speakers:
Accusound speaker system.

Copyright © 2000 by [Roger Ward].
Revised: 31 May 2000 01:03:58 +1100 .

DVD INFORMATION
Region Coding: Region 4
No of Discs: 1
OLFC Rating R18+
Running Time: 153 minutes
Case Type: Clear Amaray
Release Date: 16/5/2000
Catalog Number: 17991
List Price: $34.95
Distributor: Warner Bros.
DISC SPECIFICATIONS
Disc Format: PAL
Disc Type: Picture Disc
Disc Format: SS-RSDL
Chapters: 38
Macrovision: Yes
Manufacturer: WAMO
VIDEO SPECIFICATIONS
Aspect Ratio: 1:33:1
Anamorphic: None
Film Format: 35mm
SOUND SPECIFICATIONS
Dolby Digital:

5.1 Surround

DTS: None
PCM Stereo: None
Other: None
Languages: English
SPECIAL FEATURES
Audio Commentary: None
Theatrical Trailer: None
Teaser Trailer: None
TV Spots: Yes
Dolby Trailer: None
Documentary: None
Cast & Crew Bios: None
Deleted Scenes None
Music Video: None
DVD ROM Content: None
Collectable Booklet: None
Scene Access: Yes
Animated Menus: Yes
Production Notes: None
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