- Today’s big news is the surprise of an early review for the “A Better Place” DVD over at The Digital Bits. Many are confused about this in relation to the recent delay, so here’s an explanation. The faulty check discs, which only contain the beeping noise during some non-film parts of the program, were mailed out to a few folks. The Bits got one, and yes, we’ve got one here as well. Little did we know that the Bits would do a review of the disc before the final release! At any rate, we’ll be spinning the disc up for a full review this weekend, but on a preliminary note, let me tell ya – This review does NOT lie…The disc and the movie are amazing. TOTALLY worth the wait.
Tood Doogan’s review at the the Bits is excellent, and really should be printed in full here, however, since we’ll be running one ourselves next week, here’s a snippet for now, but you definitely wanna read the full review HERE:
Pereira is a really talented filmmaker, and this is a heck of an introduction to what he has to say cinematically. His touch is light but sure. The acting is pretty good for a bunch of friends and unpaid casting call finds. The writing is incredibly natural and the dialogue sounds like what kids have to say when pent up feelings and abstract philosophizing get out of hand. Filmatically, it has a nice documentary edge to it that adds a spooky flavor to the mix. It’s hard to peg the feel, because it’s not a horror film in any way shape or form, but it’s really easy to see why some horror fans have taken to it. Overall, I was very impressed with the film when I saw it about two years ago, and I’m even more so now, because it really isn’t the same film anyone has seen before. Pereira took the time it’s taken to get the film on DVD to tweak it to hell and back. New sound, better opening and closing credits, and almost subliminal edits make the film flow so much nicer than before. If you saw A Better Place at Vulgarthon or at Fantasia, expect a newer and better film on DVD.
So that brings us to the DVD. Is it worth the wait? Yep. Synapse has always been a good company for going out of their way to bring little seen films to DVD. I think I should go out of my way here to say that I’ve been very proud of Don May, Jr. for sticking to his guns and his pocketbook to support films like this. It’s not a cheap endeavor, and with the post-production tweaks put into this film by Don and Vincent, this is more a labor of love than a cash cow for anyone involved. Give him a big hug when you see him at the next film or horror convention he shows up at.
The video quality is incredible when you consider a few factors. One, the film was shot 16mm. This flick sure doesn’t look like it was shot 16mm anymore. It still has low-budgetitious with bumpy camera shots, out of focus scenes and one jarring shot that went bad in camera but was too important to loose. You’ll also see a couple of new shots in the film, added for the DVD director’s cut, that were pulled from a work print. But unless you’re intimately knowledgeable about the film, I doubt you’ll even notice them – they’re cleaned up nicely. The video itself is nicely clean. Colors are well rendered and the blacks are pretty solid. Any grain you see (and it’s surprisingly not much) is there because this is a 16mm. But the good thing is the transfer was taken from the original film element – not some 35mm blow-up.
Cleaned up even better is the sound. We get a very playful and expansive Dolby Digital 5.1 track, which was pulled together at Skywalker Ranch. You can listen to the film either blown out in 5.1, or with a suped-up Dolby Digital 2.0. Even cooler is an extra feature that allows you to compare the Dolby Digital 5.1 with the original, icky mono track for three scenes. It’ll show every wannabe filmmaker out there the power of professional sound, I tell ya.
The review gives the film and disc A’s across the board, quite an achievement, but a much deserved one, as the disc and film truly are outstanding. Check back next week for our HUGE wrapup of the disc, and get ready for your copy to arrive later this month…If you didn’t order, do it now! This one’s a keeper.
