WSR Detailed LaserDisc Review

Beautician And The Beast, The
Genre:Comedy

Reviewed In Issue 27 Of Widescreen Review® Stars:
Fran Drescher, Timothy Dalton, Ian McNeice, Patrick Malahide, Lisa Jakub & Michael Lerner

WSR Review Scores
Picture Rating: 3
Sound Rating: 3.5
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Reference Systems
Critics' Composite Score:
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Supplementals

DVD General Information
(Studio/Distributor): Paramount Home Video
(Catalog Number): LV334003-WS
(MPAA Rating): PG
(Retail Price): $39.98
(Running Time In Minutes): 107
(Color Type): Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access): Yes
(Closed Captioned): Yes
(Theatrical Release): 1997
(LD Release Date):
(THX® Digitally Mastered):

Credits Information
(Director): Ken Kwapis
(Screenplay/Written By):
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(Music):
(Director Of Photography):
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DVD Picture Information
(Principal Photography): Academy Standard Flat
(Theatrical Aspect Ratio): 1.85:1
(Measured LaserDisc Aspect Ratio): 1.85:1

DVD Sound Information
(DVD Soundtrack): Dolby Surround
(Theatrical Sound): Dolby Stereo SR
(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
(Remastered Dolby Digital):
(Remastered DTS Digital Surround):
(Additional Languages):

WSR Narrative Review
Story Synopsis:
Fran Drescher stars in The Beautician And The Beast as a beauty school teacher who refuses to settle down teaching night school for the rest of her life. But Joy Miller gets her big break when she is flown to the once-upon-a-time country called Slovetzia to tutor the children of the austere, widowed dictator, Boris Pochenko (Timothy Dalton). There, her charisma blows the cobwebs off the tradition-bound country and unlocks the steel doors to Pochenko’s heart.

LaserDisc Picture:
The 1.85:1 picture exhibits good color fidelity with rich and warm colors, natural fleshtones and deep blacks. Images are sharp and detailed throughout most of the movie, but some scenes seem slightly out of focus. Shadow detail and contrast are excellent. Some of the more subdued scenes, exhibit slight noise, but artifacts are minimal.

LaserDisc Soundtrack:
The soundtrack features a nicely recorded music score with excellent soundstage width and depth. Dialogue sounds natural with generally good spatial integration, except for some scenes that are poorly ADR-produced. This is a generally pleasing soundtrack.
(Surround Bass Below 50Hz):
(Aggressive System Surround):
(Intense 25Hz Bass):
(Deep Bass Challenging):
(Aggressive 0.1 LFE):
(Holosonic Soundfield):
(Aggressive Split Surround):
(Center Back Surround Imaging):
(Directionalized Dialogue):
Superb Sound Effects Recording Quality:
Superb Music Score Recording Quality:
Superb Special Visual Effects Quality:
Superb Color Fidelity:
Superb Cinematography:
Reference LaserDisc:
Collector Edition: