Contents
Reviews
How
Discs Are Rated
#
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
News
Archives
DVD
Guide
Contest
Video
Game Reviews
About
DVDlaunch
Meet
The Staff
Contact
|
Click above to purchase "Poltergeist" at
amazon.com
Poltergeist
review by Ren C.
Rated PG
Studio: MGM
Running Time: 114 minutes
Starring Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams
Written by Steven Spielberg, Michael Grais and Mark
Victor
Directed by Tobe Hooper
Retail Price: $19.98
Features: Theatrical Trailer
Specs: 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.33:1 Full
Screen, English Dolby Digital 5.1, French 2.0 Dolby
Surround, Spanish 2.0 Dolby Surround, English Subtitles,
French Subtitles, Spanish Subtitles, Chapter Search
Seemingly since the beginning of movies, one of the most
tried and true plots has been the ghost story.
"Poltergeist", at heart, is a ghost story. However, it is
what it does with the plot of the ghost story that makes it
so memorable, and what earned it a place on the recent AFI
100 Years, 100 Thrills list.
At the start of the movie, we are introduced to our
average everyday family, the Freelings, who live in a house
that is part of a real estate development. The Freelings
personify the "all-American family". At least, until
five-year-old Carol Anne looks at the television one night,
and announces with some certainty, "they're here."
From here, all hell literally begins to break loose, at
first starting with fairly innocent things such as chairs
moving across the kitchen floor by themselves. But, during a
thunderstorm one night, things take a very large turn for
the worse, with a tree seeming to attack the house by
itself, and Carol Anne being taken through a "vortex" in the
bedroom closet.
The Freelings are beside themselves, and hire a
parapsychologist to investigate. She informs them that the
house is inhabited. The question now is, what are these
beings, what do they want, and most importantly, can the
Freelings get their daughter back?
It is easy to see why this movie became one of the
hallmarks of the early 80's. First of all, Steven Spielberg,
while technically not directing, was very heavily involved
in this movie, making it a very interesting contrast to his
other major movie of this time period, "E.T." Also, for this
time period, the effects were state of the art, although to
be honest, they look more than a little dated today. This
is, of course, not a fault of the movie, as I am still
impressed that they managed to do what they did with the
technology of the time.
Technology aside, however, a movie at its basest elements
always comes down to the plot, and this is definitely an
involving one. The actors all do an excellent job with their
roles, and definitely pull the viewer into the supernatural
environment. Heather O'Rourke is especially good for such a
young actor in the role of Carol Anne Freeling. "They're
here" has become one of the most well known movie tag lines,
and with good reason. All of the actors play their parts
with conviction, which is vital to making a movie like this
seem realistic, as opposed to campy. This has become one of
the most well known movies of the 1980's, and with good
reason, as it takes the classic ghost story to a whole new
level.
I think this transfer was inhabited by poltergeists. This
was one of the early DVDs released, so it is understandable
that there would be some flaws, but it is apparent that no
work was done to the transfer before putting it on DVD.
Constant specks, flecks and flaws mar the print, and the
picture, in general, has a washed out look. The one
redeeming quality about this is that it is an anamorphic
transfer, but that barely makes up for the apparent age of
the print.
The audio mix is another reason that the video transfer
is so frustrating. In Dolby Digital 5.1, the audio sounds
fantastic. When Carol Anne is pulled out of the bedroom, it
is almost as if the viewer is in the room with her, as the
wind and effects come from all around. The effects take
center stage, but never at the expense of dialogue, and the
music is present without being overpowering. A very nice
mix, especially for a movie that is almost two decades old.
It continues to amaze me that movies considered modern
classics by some are virtually ignored by the studios in
terms of features. For a movie like "Poltergeist", I
expected a little more than a theatrical trailer that makes
the video transfer of the movie look stellar by comparison.
I'm sure that some point the disc will be revisited, but
that doesn't excuse the total lack of features on this disc.
While "Poltergeist" is definitely a memorable movie, and
one that broke new ground, it is given a generally shabby
treatment on this disc. The transfer is almost sad, and
unless you're a trailer completist, there are no features
here for you. The audio is the only above average part of
this disc, as is, of course, the movie itself. Not
recommended, unless you have to have "Poltergeist" in your
collection RIGHT NOW and can't wait for the inevitable
re-release.
 (3.5/5 - NOT included in
final score)
 (3/5)
 (4/5)
 (.5/5)
 (2.5/5, NOT an average)
|
