|
Review added April 1, 2004.
Arachnophobia
:: DVD Review |
|
. . |
|
 |
|
|
Studio:
Touchstone |
 |
>> Review
Equipment |
|
Video:
1.78:1 (Enhanced for 16:9) |
 |
Length:
105 Minutes |
|
Audio:
Dolby Digital 4.1 (384kbps) En |
 |
Subtitles: En/Fr |
|
Audio:
Dolby Digital 4.0 (384kbps) It/Fr |
 |
Disc Format:
RSDL DVD-9 |
|
Video Format:
PAL |
 |
Disc Capacity Utilised:
6.38GB |
|
Layer Change:
56:09 |
 |
Region Coding:
4/2 |
|
Average Bit-Rate (A+V):
8.23Mbps |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
. . |
|
:: The Film
:: |
|
>> Skip to
Audio/Video Details
Arachnophobia is a rare beast indeed: a fun
comedy/horror that appeals equally to both adults and children alike. Like Tremors,
it's basically an updated 1950s B grade horror film, with a better story,
script, special effects and acting. Arachnophobia also has a sly sense of
humour that really goes a long way to making it the entertaining film it is.
Dr. Ross Jennings (played by Jeff Daniels) and his family have just moved to
the sleepy American town of Canaima in an attempt to escape the hectic pace of
big city life. Another new resident has also recently arrived in the town: an
extremely aggressive and deadly spider that hitched a ride in a coffin from
Venezuela.
As it turns out, one of Canaima's residents is (or rather, was) a
nature photographer who tagged along on an expedition intended to identify new
insect species in a remote Venezuelan rainforest. One of the new species the
expedition came across was a lethal species of spider, a species that the
photographer had an extremely closer encounter with: an encounter he didn't
survive. His coffin, however, turned out to be a very convenient means of
transport for the eight-legged globe-trotter.
|
 |
As the good doctor and his family settle into the small
town, so does the arachnid immigrant, and it isn't long
before the spider's flourishing family begins to reduce the
town's two-legged population. Several of the spiders'
victims also happen to be patients of Dr. Jennings, quickly
earning him the unfortunate nickname 'Dr. Death'.
Suspecting that the spate of mysterious deaths may be more than a
consequence of natural attrition, the doctor calls upon world-renowned araneologist
Dr. James Atherton (played by Julian Sands) who, as it
happens, has recently returned from an expedition to
Venezuela. Atherton quickly confirms that the town has a
serious bug problem. Atherton, Jennings and Delbert
McClintock, the town's local beer can-collecting
exterminator (memorably played by John Goodman), must
prevent the insects from spreading outside the town.
Great stuff. This is the sort of film that has
children squealing behind the sofa and less hardy adults
watching from behind white knuckles. Arachnophobia includes
enough jolts, thrills and spills to satisfy horror fans, but
nothing to really upset children. A good story, skilled
direction and enthusiastic acting make this a fine example of slick Hollywood popcorn entertainment. Recommended.
|
|
| ::
Video
:: |
. . |

|

This 1.78:1 anamorphically-enhanced transfer comes to us
from Hollywood Pictures, and it's really very good. The
film print used was generally very clean, with only a few
notable instances of hairs, flecks and blemishes.
The film's first few minutes contained
quite a few scratches and a few soft scenes, but overall
the transfer is clean, clear and sharp, with an impressive
amount of detail and no obvious grain. Colours are
excellent, looking very natural and nicely saturated,
especially during the first few jungle-bound scenes, while
skin tones are accurate and rock-solid throughout.
Blacks
are deep, with little noise and no artefacting, and shadow
detail is very good, with dark scenes in basements and
barns containing a considerable amount of visible
information. Edge enhancement is kept to a minimum, and
there are no visible compression artefacts, nor is there
any aliasing or shimmer. Overall a nice transfer.
|
 |
|
. . |
| :: Audio
:: |
. . |
|

|

Arachnophobia was released theatrically with a 'baby boom'
six-track 70mm Dolby Stereo magnetic soundtrack, and this
disc's Dolby Digital 4.1 soundtrack appears to be sourced from
the theatrical soundtrack's stems, hence the split-mono
surround channel.
The front soundstage is
impressively wide, containing numerous directional cues and
creating a nicely enveloping soundfield. Although the
soundtrack is slightly compressed, with some definite high
frequency roll-off, overall fidelity is impressively high. The
film's score is nicely recorded, spreading widely across the
front channels and is frequently supported by the surround
channel. The centre channel is well integrated, and dialogue
is always clear and easy to understand, while ADR inserts are
detectable but not distracting.
The soundtrack is very
front-hemisphere oriented, and the surround channel is often
subdued, containing few ambient cues. Being split-mono, there
are no discrete directional surround effects. The LFE channel
is used infrequently, but effectively, containing some nice
bass. Like that found in the front channels, LFE bass isn't
particularly deep, but gets the job done. This is a very
pleasant soundtrack, although its age is beginning to show.
|
 |
|
. . |
|
|