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| Chinatown |
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Genre:Drama
Reviewed In Issue 31 Of Widescreen Review®
Stars:
Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston |
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 DVD General Information |
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| (Studio/Distributor): |
Paramount Home Video |
| (Catalog Number): |
LV8674WS |
| (MPAA Rating): |
R |
| (Retail Price): |
$39.98 |
| (Running Time In Minutes): |
131 |
| (Color Type): |
Color |
| (Chaptered/Scene Access): |
Yes |
| (Closed Captioned): |
Yes |
| (Theatrical Release): |
1974 |
| (LD Release Date): |
6/98 |
| (THX® Digitally Mastered): |
No |
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| Credits Information |
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| (Director): |
Roman Polanski |
| (Screenplay/Written By): |
Robert Towne |
| (Story): |
NA |
| (Music): |
Jerry Goldsmith |
| (Director Of Photography): |
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| (Production Designer): |
Richard Sylbert |
| (Visual Effects): |
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| (Costume Designer): |
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| (Editor): |
Sam O’Steen |
| (Supervising Sound Editors): |
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| (Re-Recording Mixers): |
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| (Executive Producers): |
NA |
| (Co-Producers): |
NA |
| (Producers): |
Robert Evans |
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| DVD Picture Information |
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| (Principal Photography): |
Panavision |
| (Theatrical Aspect Ratio): |
2.40:1 |
| (Measured LaserDisc Aspect Ratio): |
2.32:1 |
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| DVD Sound Information |
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| (DVD Soundtrack): |
Mono Sound |
| (Theatrical Sound): |
Optical Mono |
| (Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack): |
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| (Remastered Dolby Digital): |
No |
| (Remastered DTS Digital Surround): |
No |
| (Additional Languages): |
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| WSR Narrative Review |
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Story Synopsis:
Private-eye J. J. Gittes (Jack Nicholson) thinks he’s been hired by a prominent Los Angeles woman to uncover her husband’s affair, but he soon finds himself in the middle of a battle over water rights. But it’s more than just thirst that keeps Roman Polanski’s Chinatown afloat. Deception, lust, power, greed and an ugly family secret all create a plot as twisted as the Los Angeles river.
LaserDisc Picture:
The LaserDisc, framed at 2.32:1, while still slightly dark throughout and lacking fine detail, exhibits a more refined color balance, lacking the horribly distracting orange appearance of the old LaserDisc (not reviewed, LV8674-2WS). The picture is undefined with no shadow delineation and poor contrast. Images are wanting in sharpness and detail, lacking fine background detail and clarity. Noise is apparent throughout, but artifacts are not distracting.
LaserDisc Soundtrack:
While the theatrical and previous LaserDisc soundtracks were monaural, the producers have attempted to create a stereo surround version that completely fails. First, there are serious problems with matrixing during the first few chapters. Thereafter, distortion is prevalent, and the dialogue sounds completely dubbed without any spatial connection to the scenes. Later, the entire soundtrack reverts to mono with hum throughout.
| (Surround Bass Below 50Hz): |
No |
| (Aggressive System Surround): |
No |
| (Intense 25Hz Bass): |
No |
| (Deep Bass Challenging): |
No |
| (Aggressive 0.1 LFE): |
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| (Holosonic Soundfield): |
No |
| (Aggressive Split Surround): |
No |
| (Center Back Surround Imaging): |
No |
| (Directionalized Dialogue): |
No |
Superb Sound Effects Recording Quality: |
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Superb Music Score Recording Quality: |
No |
Superb Special Visual Effects Quality: |
No |
Superb Color Fidelity: |
No |
Superb Cinematography: |
- |
Reference LaserDisc: |
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Collector Edition: |
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DVD To LaserDisc Comparison:
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