Ladyhawke Released By:
Warner Home VideoFeatures:
1985; 121 Min; Rated PG-13; Dolby Digital 5.1 English; Dolby Surround French, Mono Spanish; Anamporphic Widescreen (2.35) and Pan/Scan.Extras:
Theatrical Trailer; Production Notes, Cast and Crew Listings.Review:
Ladyhawke is one of the mid 80's films that didn't perform tremendously well at the box office, but has developed a strong cult following over the years. It's actually one of my favorite films directed by Richard Donner, which due to sheer flakiness, has sat on my DVD shelf until recently. Then again, since I own over 700 movies/TV episodes on LD and DVD, you don't feel rushed to watch every disc. Oh here's a note. Do not go back an calculate what you have spent over the years, it can be utterly terrifying. :-)Ladyhawke is adventure set somewhere in ancient times, a favorite of many fantasy authors. Mathew Broderick plays a pick pocket nicknamed Mouse who has escaped prison, and is befriended by a knight named Navarre (Rutger Hauer). Navarre is convinced that Mouse is the key exacting revenge on the evil Bishop of Aquila, play convincingly by John Wood. Navarre wants to destroy the Bishop for cursing he and his lover, played by Michelle Pfeiffer.
The Bishop was deeply in love with Navarre's lover. In a jealous rage he had a priest, curse Navarre, so that he would become a wolf during the night, while his lover would be a hawk during the day. The only way this curse can be broken is if Navarre and his lady were to confront the Bishop of Aquila together, thus the need to wait for "A night without a day. A day without a night." I believe most of you know the rest of the story, so on with the technical review.
The picture of Ladyhawke has always been very dark and grainy, the transfer of this title must have been a challenge. This was also on of the first fifty DVD's issued by Warner Brother, thus this could explain some of the very minor digital artifacting I noticed. Being a LD owner, it's still taking some getting used to some of the minor differences between the picture quality of the formats, especially the earlier, and somewhat inferior, DVD transfers. The picture was a little cleaner than my previous widescreen LD, at least from what I can remember.
Where this title jump out is in the audio department. The new Dolby Digital 5.1 mix stunned me. I always approach the 5.1 re-mixes with low expectations. The new audio mixes for the pre-digital films are hit and miss, but this one hits. Alan Parson's score is aggressively mixed throughout all five channels, with very little distortion. The actual foley work of the film has its moments where it's very subtle, such as wind whistling and leaves rustling, but when Ladyhawke needs to heighten the experience, such as in chapter 3 (Countryside Search), it takes it up a notch. The split surround effects of the the horses running off screen are very well done, and the LFE channel produces well enough to give each hoof beat some punch.
The extras of the disc don't really stand out, but at least some effort was put into the disc, unlike the current bargain titles such as On Deadly Ground and Out For Justice. I always appreciate it when the trailers are put onto the disc. If no other reason, to compare how the trailer sold the movie.
Where does this movie rank on a scale of 1 to 10? It's an 8 easily.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I give the presentation a 6.5, with no bonus biscuits.
Dan Linzmeier, FIT Productions
Fitprod@aol.com
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