|
"The everyday consumer's guide to DVD & home theater" |
|
||||
|
Stay current with DVD movie releases, sign up for our free e-Newsletter |
|||||
|
Specifications: - Region 1 - Run time: approx. 2 hr, 2 min. - Subtitle: English - Scene selection: Full motion video - Package: Keep case
Video Features:
Audio Features: - English: DTS - English: Dolby Digital 5.1 - English: Dolby Surround
Bonus Materials: -
"American Beauty: Look Closer" -
Audio commentary with director -
Storyboard presentation with - Theatrical trailers (2) - Production notes - Cast & crew biographies -
Access to on-line web events** Theatrical Release: 1999 DVD Release: 10/24/00 Review Date: 09/25/00
List price: $ 26.99 On-line price: $ 15.99 Pre-order price was: $ 15.99
*DVD-ROM features require DVD-ROM drive on your PC with certain minimum system requirements
**web links require internet access
|
|||||
| American
Beauty The Awards Edition - Dolby Digital 5.1 & DTS 5.1 Academy Award® Winners for 1999 Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, and Best Cinematography |
|||||
 |
Starring:
Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch,
MPAA Rating: R Studio: DreamWorks
Pictures |
||||
|
Movie: A Video: A Audio: A+ Extras: A
Summary:
"American
Beauty" is the winner of five 1999 Academy Awards®,
|
|||||
|
The Story
"American Beauty" is a smart, emotionally engaging, dark comedy that takes a bold look at life in suburban America. It follows Lester's (Kevin Spacey) insignificant "little life" as his personal and professional lives deteriorate right before his eyes. His wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) hates him, his daughter Jane (Thora Birch) resents him, and his company tries to fire him. Not knowing what he can do to change matters, he feels imprisoned.
One evening, after much coaxing from his wife, Lester agrees to attend his daughter's cheerleading dance number in an effort to show interest and re-connect with his daughter. However, during the performance, his daughter's best friend, Angela (Mena Suvari), catches Lester's eye and he begins to daydream about her. The infatuation awakens Lester from his mundane life, and he begins to affect changes in his life.
One scene which exemplifies Lester's newfound freedom and sense of control is when his wife comes home and asks, "Ah, whose car is that out front?". Lester smiles and replies, "Mine. 1970 Pontiac Firebird. The car I always wanted and now I have it." He then raises his right hand in victory and emphatically says, "I rule!" It is through these drastic changes that Lester feels liberated and consequently feels happy. He now feels in control and is free from the confines of his previous dreary life. Though the lives of his wife and daughter continue to detach from his, Lester's transformation continues until he discovers the "true beauty" in his life.
Kevin
Spacey's performance is simply awesome. The Academy Award®
for Best Actor he received for his
leading role as Lester says it all. As a drama, "American
Beauty" offers detailed character studies of its principal
characters. There are moments of self-reflection by each
character. Fans of rich drama with well-developed characters
are sure to enjoy this highly acclaimed, original, thought provocative movie.
If fact, the movie's tag line is "look closer", as
"nothing
is as it first appears to be". This
movie and its special "Awards Edition" DVD should not be
missed and definitely deserves a "look closer". Who
knows, it could be the wake up call you're waiting for.
The 21-minute behind-the-scenes featurette, "American Beauty: Look Closer", explains how the screenplay came about, the search for the right studio, finding the right director, casting the principal characters, and details regarding the intricate storyline, character development, cinematography, and musical score. It is an entertaining featurette that seamlessly weave in cast and crew interviews, including an interview with Steven Spielberg.
Sam Mendes, with occasional help from scriptwriter Alan Ball, does a terrific job on the audio commentary. (He actually learned from listening to other DVD's director audio commentaries.) He talks about a number of topics relating to the production of the film, all of which I found quite interesting. For example, Sam Mendes discusses the editing process and why certain scenes were chosen for the final cut. And oh yes, Sam Mendes confirms that Paula Abdul choreographed the cheerleader dance sequence (Chapter 4). We thought those dance moves look kind of familiar.
There is an hour long storyboard presentation with audio commentary from Sam Mendes and Conrad Hall, director of photography. This presentation offers a very detailed study of the storyboarding process and shows how storyboards were used to shoot the film, as well as discussion of what was shot when the shooting deviated from the storyboard. They also discuss lighting, panning, framing, camera angles, and other cinematography related topics.
The DVD-ROM screenplay access with corresponding film footage and storyboards is really cool. On the left side of the PCFriendly™ window is a small frame with full motion video of the film. Just underneath that frame is a series of storyboards, which you can scroll horizontally to view all storyboards for each chapter. Clicking on a storyboard will bring up a new window for an enlarged view. On the right half of the screen is text of the screenplay. Though the screenplay is automatically keyed to the chapter that you're viewing, you can turn pages independently of the movie playback. The DVD-ROM also provides web access to the movie site with on-line web events (details to be announced by DreamWorks). All in all, there is enough extra material to make any die-hard fan of "American Beauty" happy.
Video & Audio
The image quality of this anamorphic widescreen DVD is first rate. The colors are accurate and vibrant, while shadow details are excellent. The detailed picture, its stunning quality, and its ability to capture the stark contrast in lighting (used to shoot a number of scenes) all does justice to Conrad Hall's Academy Award-winning cinematography.
This
is one of very few DVD titles with both Dolby Digital 5.1 and
DTS 5.1
surround sound. (What a treat! Great job DreamWorks!
The higher data rate DTS 5.1 audio track is equally effective, if not slightly more detailed than its Dolby Digital counterpart. (We usually prefer DTS 5.1 over Dolby Digital 5.1. With some DVD titles, you have to choose between disc versions, since one may have Dolby Digital and another DTS.) With this DVD, you get both, allowing you to compare the audio performance of Dolby Digital vs. DTS yourself. With the right equipment and some careful listening, we think that you'll agree that DTS has a slight advantage.
Recommendation
This
winner of five Academy Awards and countless international critical
acclaims definitely deserves a "look closer". Though I
don't agree with Angela's attitude that "there's nothing worse than being ordinary",
rest assured that this movie and its special "Awards Edition"
DVD is anything but ordinary. I think the "American Beauty"
DVD is simply...
Buy
the "American Beauty" DVD at: |
|||||
|
|
|
||||
|
Rent it at NetFlix.com
(Sign up for
NetFlix.com "Unlimited" DVD Rental Service Visit the "American Beauty" movie web site and the DreamWorks web site.
Did you find this DVD movie review helpful? Let us know your thoughts, send an e-mail to us at Feedback@TimeForDVD.com.
Support this site: when you buy on-line, please start at this site and click through the links above or through these links: (DVD) Express.com, Amazon.com, BigStar.com, 800.com, Buy.com, Barnes&Nobles.com, and hifi.com. Click here to see a complete list of affiliated on-line merchants. Thanks, we sincerely appreciate your support. |
|||||
|
E-mail: Editor@TimeForDVD.com Copyright © 2000 TimeForDVD.com Web site created by: lama Internet Solutions |
Read our Terms of Use and Disclaimer and Privacy Policy Site optimized for 800x600 screen resolution Print at 85% scale factor |
||||
) The Dolby Digital 5.1-channel
surround sound is well-balanced and very effective. The dialogue
is clear and never drowned out by the soundtrack. Composed by Tom
Newman, the hauntingly beautiful musical score emotionally engages the
audience. 
