|
 Movie A |
Video A+ | Audio A+
| Extras N/A | Recommended!
Brad Pitt, David Thewlis, B.D. Wong, Mako, Jamyang
Jamtsho Wangchuk, Lhakpa Tsamchoe, Jetsun Pema
director Jean-Jacques Annaud
Mandalay Entertainment (Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment)
1997 | Epic - Adventure | PG-13 | 134 minutes
Region 1 | DVD-9
anamorphic
widescreen 2.35:1 aspect ratio
DTS 5.1 |
Dolby Digital 5.1
Summary: Brad Pitt is Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian and a world-class mountain
climber who is self-centered, over-confident, and terribly ambitious.
Did I miss anything? After reaching international acclaim for his rock climbing talents, he wants to
climb the Himalayas. Nothing was going to stop him. Not World War II.
Not the Germans. And certainly not his pregnant wife who was due in a couple of months with their firstborn.
He packs his bags and leaves for India for his next mountain climbing
expedition, deserting a wife who is begging him to stay home to see her through childbirth.
On the way up the mountain, he
suffers an injury that threatens his ability to reach the summit. But that wasn’t going to stop him.
Finally, the weather turns foul and the threat of avalanches forces his team back to base camp.
There, they realize that the British entered World War II, as the Germany-Austrian team members
get arrested as POWs since they are considered the enemy on the British-owned India territory.
In the POW prison, Heinrich has time to reflect on life’s priorities and finally
realizes what he has done to his marriage. He writes to his wife begging for forgiveness, but she
responds with divorce papers. For years, Heinrich tries to escape
and go back to Germany. It wasn’t until his team members planned an escape did it finally work.
Heinrich and the team lead, Peter Aufschnaiter, wondered around the desolate landscape for days.
Finally, they headed off to Tibet to lay low until the war ends.
It is in the Forbidden
City of Tibet that Heinrich and Peter finds refuge. The young Dalai Lama, chief spiritual leader of the Tibetian monks,
takes a keen interest in Heinrich. Over time, Heinrich serves as the home theater architect, tutor, and close personal friend to the Dalai Lama.
Over time, Heinrich learns spiritual richness from the Dalai Lama. He becomes a better man from this experience.
Seven Years in Tibet is an epic film, rich with Far East wonders, wisdom, and tradition.
It is figuratively and literally an eye opener. Figuratively for its insights into the values and ways of the Tibetian people, their religion, and the Dalai Lama.
And literally, as the cinematography is rich and dazzling with magnificent views of the splendor of Tibet.
The video quality of this Superbit
is stunning, with incredible detail and color fidelity. The picture
is almost liquid as it is so smooth. I was astounded. The
DTS 5.1 soundtrack wonderfully captured the ambiance of the screaming winds near the high mountain peaks and all of the immediacy of the traditional Tibetian instruments.
This is one of the finest movies to be released in the Superbit format.
(Thank you Sony Pictures Entertainment.) I highly recommend it.
Special Features: none (consistent with the Superbit
series)
DVD released on 3/4/2003 | Reviewed 5/12/2003
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Additional Notes: Unless we specify otherwise, the
video and audio quality are very good when their grades are "A-"
or better. Only the highest number of channels of surround sound
format is listed (e.g., Dolby Digital 5.1). If there are both Dolby
Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 soundtracks, then both are listed. All
DVD-Video discs are backwards compatible with stereo-only playback
systems.
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Editor@TimeForDVD.com.
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Associated equipment used in evaluation: Sony
DVP-S7700 reference DVD player, Sony
KP-61V45 61" rear projection TV (4:3 screen aspect ratio), Sony ES STR-V444ES A/V receiver, four
B&W CDM 9NTs as left/right main speakers
and left/right surrounds, B&W CDM CNT center channel speaker, Monster Cable M-series S-Video cable MSV-500, Monster
Cable Interlink LightSpeed 100 (Toslink) optical cable, Monster Cable
Interlink 400 MKII interconnects, Monster Cable
Original speaker cables in bi-wire configuration with Monster Cable twist-on gold-plated banana plug
connectors, Lovan Sovereign T HiFi audio
rack, and Sony MDR-V600 studio monitor headphones. Our home theater equipment was calibrated
with the Video
Essentials DVD.
Be sure to check out our Top 10 DVDs of the year
2001 and our list of this year's Oscar winners on DVD.
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United We Stand
