6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 2.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 2.6 |
Stewart ''P.C.'' Simpson lives in a magnificent beachfront home with his wealthy father and indulges his passion or windsurfing on a daily basis. His father may fault him for not working at a regular job, but he can appreciate his son's remarkable abilities on the waves. When P.C. meets a beautiful rock singer, a love affair begins. As the romance blooms, sport, friends and an upcoming championship become secondary. When several setbacks occur on the road to the competition, will P.C. wipeout completely, or sail to victory?
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Tom Burlinson, Jill Perryman, Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, Simon ChilversDrama | Insignificant |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
BDInfo
None
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Though it’s been years and years (and years) since I’ve seen it, I seem to recall that Far and Away, Ron Howard’s 1992 kinda sorta epic which introduced us all to Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman as a couple, had a scene where Nicole’s character took a little peek under a blanket at Tom’s character, who was residing au naturel beneath the covers. Those of you who don’t want to go to even that much trouble to see at least one member of Hollywood’s erstwhile “it” couple in flagrante delicto, or at least nude, Windrider offers a few passing glances of the then quite young Kidman in her birthday suit. In a way, Windrider reminded me quite a bit of Drift, a 2013 Australian film about surfing whose review I subtitled as "Endless Summer - Aussie Style". In fact one of Drift's most captivating elements was a song called "Endless Summer" sung over the final credits by the Australian band The Jezabels (I highly recommend the tune, even if the "official" music video uploaded to YouTube is beyond bizarre.) Windrider could have arguably used a bit of the Jezabels' energy, both melodic and lyric, since it offers Kidman as a would be rock star named Jade. She's firmly in the 80s female pop rock tradition of someone like Pat Benatar, though the film only occasionally offers glimpses of Jade either at work in the recording studio or at local clubs.
Windrider is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Visual's MVD Rewind imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. MVD Rewind's documentation simply states that this is a "new HD digital transfer", and while there is a lot to like about the appearance of this presentation, there are also a few issues that may concern some ardent videophiles. On the plus side, the palette is really beautifully suffused almost all of the time, providing incredibly rich blues in the skies and seas on display, as well as at least relatively more subdued tones like Kidman's kind of auburn tresses. (Some of the interior footage, notably some of the office material, can look a bit faded and skewed toward brown occasionally.) Detail levels are generally very good to excellent as well, and there is no sign of any artificial filtering or sharpening. All of that said, the element used does show fairly recurrent damage, some of it quite small in terms of flecks or specks (look at the white speck on the clock radio in screenshot 12 for an example of the kind of minor thing that can be spotted with some regularity). However, starting at around 32:41 and continuing off and on for a few more seconds, there's some pretty significant damage along the left side of the image where it looks like the actual element was torn and there are sections of the frame on the left side that are actually missing, sometimes with a kind of "ragged edge" showing. There are also a couple of kind of odd density issues, including what almost look like vertical dark lines protruding from the top of a weather vane that is utilized in a couple of interstitial shots. Grain generally looks organic, but is frequently on the coarse side. For those who can tolerate and/or overlook some of these passing anomalies, Windrider should provide at least an acceptable viewing experience.
Windrider features an LPCM 2.0 mono track that quite capably supports both dialogue and the often tune filled score. There's actually a kind of raucous ambience to some of the source cues (including Jade's would be "hit") and the music sounds clear and bright, without any hints of distortion or clipping. Ambient environmental sounds are rendered with sufficient energy, especially in some of the POV shots out on the ocean, and dialogue is always presented cleanly and clearly, though I personally wouldn't have minded the amplitude of the entire track to have been boosted a bit.
Windrider is no forgotten or overlooked classic, but it's generally quite amiable and coasts along (no pun intended) courtesy of some really splendid location photography. MVD Rewind continues to release a rather interesting array of cult items, and those who like surfing (wind or otherwise) may find this an agreeable enough time killer. Video encounters some problems but audio is generally fine if a little anemic sounding at times, for those considering a purchase.
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Slipcover Edition Limited to 2,500 | SOLD OUT
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