7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Director Nancy Savoca tackles tough material in the battle of the sexes, late-teen division, and makes it bitterly moving. River Phoenix plays one of a group of youngish marines on the verge of shipping out to Southeast Asia in 1963 San Francisco. On their last night in port, they decide to hold a "dogfight": a contest to see who can get the ugliest girl to go out with him. Phoenix winds up with a pudgy waitress (Lili Taylor), who has dreams of being like her hero, Joan Baez. As he draws her out, he finds himself intrigued by the self-contained world she has created for herself and by the time he gets her to the dance he is regretting his decision--but is too macho to pull out.
Starring: River Phoenix, Lili Taylor, Richard Panebianco, Anthony Clark, Mitchell WhitfieldDrama | 100% |
Romance | 49% |
War | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Nancy Savoca's "Dogfight" arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include new program with Nancy Savoca, Lili Taylor, and director Mary Harron; new program with crew members; and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subttiles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Dogcatchers
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Dogfight arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the leaflet that is provided with this release:
"Supervised by director Nancy Savoca, the new digital master presented here was created from a 35mm interpositive, which was scanned in 2K resolution. The original 2.0 surround soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm magnetic tracks and was transferred and restored with additional editorial services by John Aspinall at Warner Bros. Please be sure to enable Dolby Pro Logic decoding on your receiver to properly play the Dolby 2.0 surround soundtrack.
Mastering supervisors: Anthony Bellotti, Kathlain Safarik/Warner Bros.
Colorist: Skipper Martin/Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging.
The 2K makeover looks wonderful. In some darker areas, select ranges of darker nuances can be a little more convincing, but this is a small limitation that is usually present whenever an interpositive is used to create a new master. The rest I like a lot. Clarity, sharpness, and depth range from very good to excellent. Color balance is convincing as well. Perhaps there are a few spots where blues and reds can be just a tad more prominent, but I feel that all primaries and supporting nuances are set very, very well. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. Image stability is excellent. The entire film looks exceptionally clean, too. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
Dogfight has a lovely soundtrack with various music hits that enhance its period atmosphere very well. However, the music does not create any big and memorable dynamic contrasts. The dialog is always very clear, clear, and easy to follow. There are no balance issues. I had the volume of my system turned up quite a bit and the upper register did not reveal any weaknesses of the kind that usually emerge on older films.
It is interesting that so many people seem convinced that Dogfight is a touching romantic film, at the center of which is an unusually cruel dating game. If you adjust your viewing angle a bit, you should realize that the dogcatchers are set up to participate in a date too, though in a distant land and with that ancient fella known as the Grim Reaper. One of them, who has figured it out, offers an excellent summation of their losing options in this incoming date and the time they are living in. I think that Dogfight is a wonderful, very sincere time capsule, and if you listen to Nancy Savoca's description of its conception, it becomes quite clear that it was always meant to be one. Criterion's upcoming Blu-ray release introduces a very good new 2K restoration of it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Special Edition
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