6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.6 |
The "fatal attraction" story of a young girl and her escalating and dangerous infatuation with a handsome young journalist who rents her parents' guest house. Ultimately, the journalist finds himself in a desperate fight as the girl's fixation on him turns into a furious pursuit, and finally, a terrifying plan of revenge.
Starring: Cary Elwes, Alicia Silverstone, Jennifer Rubin, Kurtwood Smith, Amber BensonPsychological thriller | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Romance | Insignificant |
Mystery | 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 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Nick Eliot (Cary Elwes) is a bright 28-year-old investigative reporter getting his start at the chic magazine, Pique. Nick travels to an unnamed
town on the east coast of the US where he will stay at the guesthouse of the Forrester's, an affluent and well-known family. Along the way,
Nick nearly hits a female teen rollerblading from across the street. The girl turns out to be the daughter of the family whom Nick will be renting his
little house. Before almost driving into her, Nick notices the fearlessness in Adrian Forrester's (Alicia Silverstone) eyes. Adrian is an extremely
sophisticated and cunning girl on the verge of womanhood whose also saddled with a personal agenda. Although Nick is twice as old as Adrian, he has
difficulty averting the pernicious charm and pesky advances of this sassy girl. The film is presumably set during the summer and Adrian has little to
do but ride her horse around or use the swingset (she is also an accomplished pianist).
Nick realizes something may be wrong when he uncovers a draft of a story he typed is different (and better) than the version he wrote. Adrian
plays innocent around her doting and supportive parents, Cliff Forrester (Kurtwood Smith) and Liv Forrester (Gwynyth Walsh). Adrian's fellow
equestrian, Cheyenne (Amber Benson), has some strong suspicions about what her friend may do to Nick but is it safe to warn him when Adrian
always seems to be watching? Nick finds a friend and confidant in Amy Maddik (Jennifer Rubin), who he collaborates with on his investigative story.
When Nick is together with Amy, Adrian feels jealous that Amy will steal the man she most wants to conquer. The film has a continual mood of
unease because Adrian may spring a dastardly act on an intended or unsuspecting victim.
Adrian enjoys being looked at.
Shout! Factory presents The Crush in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this BD-50. The Warner Bros. DVD came out in 2000 and the picture on this disc reveals that Shout! undoubtedly made a new digital intermediate transfer. The image is very clean and looks smooth in-motion. Though slight DNR is evident, there is still a nice amount of grain present. Contrast for brightly lit scenes appears razor sharp and color delineation looks excellent. Grain is more prevalent in the interiors and outdoor scenes shot at dusk. Primary colors are the standout, especially in scenes featuring the Forrester household. The agua on the bikini of Silverstone's character has almost a resplendent shine. There are tiny flecks from time to time but Shout! has done a commendable job of cleaning up the image without too much post-processing in its restoration work.
Preceding the film's distributor and production company logos is a black screen with a prefatory note from Shout!: "The audio on THE CRUSH has a phasing issue. It can be heard on the previous DVD release as well. We searched for alternate audio but they all had the same issue." The label has included a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track. I primarily focused on the former for this review. The technicality Shout! cited can be heard during the main titles when Nick drives his car to the Forrester's and a pop song plays. Acoustically, the 5.1 recording comes across like "stadium sound" with pitch levels bouncing around the various speakers. Thankfully, dialog is audible and understandable through much of the film and can be plainly heard in the center channel. The audio limitations are apparent at different junctures on the disc and the sound reproduction is a bit inconsistent. Old hardware reviews have pointed to "ADR glitches" and these need greater unpacking. Silverstone's character was partially inspired by a girl who once had a crush on Alan Shapiro. When the girl's parents learned that Shapiro used their daughter's original name of "Darian," they threatened Morgan Creek Productions with a lawsuit. Warner Bros. eventually reached an agreement with the parents that the character's name be changed to "Adrian." So while various characters uttered "Darian" during principal photography, "Adrian" was later looped in by different actors. In television broadcasts of The Crush, "Adrian" is used instead of "Darian." This usage has been maintained on the Blu-ray. Mouth movements appear out of sync when actors mention the Silverstone character. Fortunately, this is not front-and-center distracting. On the plus side, Graeme Revell's synths and strings-based score accompanies the onscreen action quite well. Normally, I would give the audio a lower score but given that Shout! had to make due with preexisting anomalies, I've been more lenient.
The Crush is fun, entertaining, and sometimes suspenseful. Shout! has given the 1993 film a shimmering new transfer and added three new bonus materials. It would have been a treat to hear both Silverstone and Elwes reminisce about the film but apparently, they were not available for a retrospective interview. Hopefully, this Blu-ray will inspire a record label to give Graeme Revell's score an official release. RECOMMENDED to fans of the cast.
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