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| “Mister Roberts” |
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Genre:Fantasy Adventure
Reviewed In Issue 32 Of Widescreen Review®
Stars:
Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, Jack Lemmon |
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| Supplementals |
| Includes audio commentary by Supporting Actor Oscar®-winner Lemmon and excerpts from television programs and documentaries. |
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 DVD General Information |
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| (Studio/Distributor): |
Warner Home Video |
| (Catalog Number): |
16879 |
| (MPAA Rating): |
PG |
| (Retail Price): |
$39.98 |
| (Running Time In Minutes): |
121 |
| (Color Type): |
Color |
| (Chaptered/Scene Access): |
Yes |
| (Closed Captioned): |
Yes |
| (Theatrical Release): |
1955 |
| (LD Release Date): |
3/99 |
| (THX® Digitally Mastered): |
No |
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| Credits Information |
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| (Director): |
John Ford & Mervyn LeRoy |
| (Screenplay/Written By): |
Frank Nugent & Joshua Logan |
| (Story): |
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| (Music): |
Franz Waxman |
| (Director Of Photography): |
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| (Production Designer): |
Art Loel |
| (Visual Effects): |
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| (Costume Designer): |
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| (Editor): |
Jack Murray |
| (Supervising Sound Editors): |
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| (Re-Recording Mixers): |
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| (Executive Producers): |
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| (Co-Producers): |
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| (Producers): |
Leland Hayward |
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| DVD Picture Information |
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| (Principal Photography): |
CinemaScope |
| (Theatrical Aspect Ratio): |
2.55:1 |
| (Measured LaserDisc Aspect Ratio): |
2.50:1 |
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| DVD Sound Information |
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| (DVD Soundtrack): |
Dolby Digital Surround |
| (Theatrical Sound): |
Mag Stereo |
| (Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack): |
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| (Remastered Dolby Digital): |
Yes |
| (Remastered DTS Digital Surround): |
No |
| (Additional Languages): |
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| WSR Narrative Review |
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Story Synopsis:
Combining warm-hearted humor with the indignities of war is no easy task, but top-notch talent in the 1955 classic “Mister Roberts” pulls it off with style. Bobbing in Pacific waters, yet far removed from combat action, the cargo ship “Reluctant” is home to an endearing mix of stir crazy sea dogs each with their own entertaining set of quirks. Henry Fonda, James Cagney, Jack Lemmon, and William Powell (in his last performance), round out the colorful crew.
LaserDisc Picture:
The picture looks dated with rich, plugged-up colors and brownish-orange fleshtones that lack a natural appearance. Some image overenhancement is occasionally apparent and the overall picture lacks fine detail. Flickering brightness and hue changes distract during scene changes. The occasional dark scenes exhibit mediocre shadow delineation, with no background definition, though blacks are deep and solid. Noise and other video artifacts are apparent. The LaserDisc is framed at 2.50:1.
LaserDisc Soundtrack:
The original 1955 theatrical soundtrack has been remastered in 5.1 discrete Dolby® Digital, and sounds terrific. There are partial new effects and a newly recorded music score that sounds wonderful with superb and expansive soundstage imaging and deep bass. Dialogue is delivered with unnatural ambience against the background of a ship at sea. There is no spatial integration within the scenes. Bass has been enhanced on the discrete version with .1 LFE. Aggressive surround, while dated and limited, is provided by the music score and occasional effects.
| (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: |
No |
Collector Edition: |
Yes |
DVD To LaserDisc Comparison:
The picture looks dated with rich, plugged-up colors and brownish-orange fleshtones that lack a natural appearance. Some image overenhancement is occasionally apparent on both versions, and the anamorphically enhanced DVD picture, viewed in component video, is generally sharp but lacks fine detail. The DVD often has a digital appearance, especially noticeable on exteriors of the ship. Flickering brightness and hue changes distract during scene changes. The occasional dark scenes exhibit mediocre shadow delineation, with no background definition, though blacks are deep and solid. Noise and other video artifacts are apparent on the LaserDisc, while digital compression artifacts are noticeable on the DVD. While the LaserDisc is framed at 2.50:1, the DVD measures 2.40:1 anamorphic and letterbox. The original 1955 theatrical soundtrack has been remastered in 5.1 discrete Dolby® Digital, and sounds terrific. There are partial new effects and a newly recorded music score that sounds wonderful with superb and expansive soundstage imaging and deep bass. Dialogue is delivered with unnatural ambience against the background of a ship at sea. There is no spatial integration within the scenes. Bass has been enhanced on the discrete version with .1 LFE. Aggressive surround, while dated and limited, is provided by the music score and occasional effects.
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