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Today, DVD Verdict posted reviews of BATTLEGROUND, 8 1/2: CRITERION
COLLECTION, FIELD OF DREAMS: 15TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION, FLIRTING WITH
DISASTER, MAMMA ROMA: CRITERION COLLECTION, THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN
BRODIE, SALAAM BOMBAY DREAMS, SECRET WINDOW, WALT DISNEY TREASURES: DAVY
CROCKETT -- THE COMPLETE TELEVISED SERIES, and WALT DISNEY TREASURES:
DISNEYLAND USA:


BATTLEGROUND (reviewed by George Hatch, overall score 90/100):
"What sets Battleground apart and makes it so extraordinary are Robert
Pirosh's realistic screenplay -- focusing on the day-to-day hardships of
B Platoon's struggle to cope and stay alive in a hostile environment --
and Paul Vogel's sensational cinematography -- capturing in close-up the
essence of men in war."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/battleground.php

8 1/2: CRITERION COLLECTION (reviewed by Mike Pinsky, overall
score 100/100):
"Fellini seems to remain entirely Fellini, a genre unto himself, no
matter where in time or space his images take him. 8 1/2 becomes the
pinnacle of modernist film, of the subjective camera, as introspective
as Proust in its sensual embrace and as colorful explosive as Van Gogh's
swirling blurs of color."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/eightandahalf.php

FIELD OF DREAMS: 15TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION (reviewed by David Johnson,
overall score 90/100):
"Give it up for Field of Dreams. Maybe not the enduring national
treasure Universal would make it out to be, it is a nice, harmless, goose-
bumpy little flick, which gets a homerun DVD treatment."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/fieldofdreams15se.php

FLIRTING WITH DISASTER (reviewed by Patrick Bromley, overall
score 96/100):
"Flirting With Disaster is that rare find -- a comedy that builds
entirely out of character and dialogue, without falling back on the
inserted situational humor or laborious gags that plague ninety percent
of American comedies released in the last decade."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/fl...thdisaster.php

MAMMA ROMA: CRITERION COLLECTION (reviewed by Bill Gibron, overall
score 92/100):
"She is her country. She is her city. She is the spirit of salvation
mixed with the bitter taste of failure. She is maternity. She is
womanhood. She is Mamma Roma."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/mammaroma.php

THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE (reviewed by Brett Cullum, overall
score 90/100):
"I will probably get hate mail for saying this, but The Prime of Miss
Jean Brodie is what Dead Poets Society should have been -- fearless. No
sugar coating and no pandering whatsoever. Political correctness be
damned -- this movie is the real deal."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/missjeanbrodie.php

SALAAM BOMBAY DREAMS (reviewed by Bill Gibron, overall score 95/100):
"Salaam Bombay Dreams isn't just concerned about the creation of a new
West End entertainment. It's a meditation on the marvelous meeting of
the minds that can occur when West begrudgingly embraces East on its
own terms."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/sa...mbaydreams.php

SECRET WINDOW (reviewed by Dennis Prince, overall score 84/100):
"Critics will undoubtedly scoff at the story's innate hypocrisy: the
charge of plagiarism within the narrative seems absurd when you
consider so many of the elements were blatantly drawn from other
sources. Whether a sign that King has wearily lapped himself on the
creative arc or has cleverly (irreverently?) found plagiarizing himself
to be entertaining in its own right, you'll see plenty of content
that's straight out of the pages of The Shining, The Dark Half, The
Dead Zone, Misery, and others."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/secretwindow.php

WALT DISNEY TREASURES: DAVY CROCKETT -- THE COMPLETE TELEVISED SERIES
(reviewed by Mike Pinsky, overall score 89/100):
"Watching Davy look at his own image on the cover of a popular magazine,
we realize that we are watching a transformation: real history has fused
irrevocably with narrative. Now we can all identify with a more
simplified, more 'American' Davy Crockett, and through the purchase of a
coonskin cap, become America embodied."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/da...kettseries.php

WALT DISNEY TREASURES: DISNEYLAND USA (reviewed by Mike Pinsky, overall
score 90/100):
"When Walt Disney turned to television to sell his idea of a tidy theme
park carved out of an Anaheim orange grove, he tapped into America's own
frenzy in the 1950s to build a national mythology. This was our real
ideological contribution to the Cold War: the triumph of American
capitalism through popular culture -- colonialism through media
simulation."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/disneylandusa.php

Mike Jackson
Editor & Webmaster, DVD Verdict
www.dvdverdict.com

On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 09:07:38 -0000, DVD Verdict
<> wrote:

>Today, DVD Verdict posted reviews of BATTLEGROUND, 8 1/2: CRITERION
>COLLECTION, FIELD OF DREAMS: 15TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION, FLIRTING WITH
>DISASTER, MAMMA ROMA: CRITERION COLLECTION, THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN
>BRODIE, SALAAM BOMBAY DREAMS, SECRET WINDOW, WALT DISNEY TREASURES: DAVY
>CROCKETT -- THE COMPLETE TELEVISED SERIES, and WALT DISNEY TREASURES:
>DISNEYLAND USA:
>

>
>FLIRTING WITH DISASTER (reviewed by Patrick Bromley, overall
>score 96/100):
>"Flirting With Disaster is that rare find -- a comedy that builds
>entirely out of character and dialogue, without falling back on the
>inserted situational humor or laborious gags that plague ninety percent
>of American comedies released in the last decade."
>
>FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/fl...thdisaster.php


Quote ..

""By those standards, the "Collector's Series" release of Flirting
With Disaster is a big disappointment. The 1.85:1 video transfer is
acceptable, as is the 5.1 audio track—the dialogue that drives the
film is presented clearly and cleanly. The disappointment lies in the
almost pitiful handful of extras included: a few deleted scenes that
would have thrown off the film's delicate pacing, an original
promotional featurette (snore), and two gag reels (one for the
theatrical release, one for the deleted scenes) that are far less
funny than anything included in the film. Why no contemporary comments
from Stiller or the rest of the cast? And where is David O. Russell?
Save for a brief cameo in Spike Jonze's Adaptation, the guy's been
absent for nearly five years now. The inclusion of a director's
commentary track—even an interview—would have been a more-than-welcome
addition, and might have helped ease the double-dip blow.""

>

The review overlooks the fact that the epilogue, with a pregnant Tina,
has been restored. - Is the father Mel or the homosexual ATF agent?
This pivotal wrapup scene was on the laserdisc but missing from the
original DVD, much to Russell's disgust.. It was suggested at the
time of the first DVD release that this film was "too unimportant" to
ever see another DVD. That makes this a Collector's Edition in my
mind!

Note also that the film elements have been referred to elsewhere as
"Not very good," Based upon that little detail the new DVD looks
outstanding compared with previous transfers.

.. Steve ..

> The review overlooks the fact that the epilogue, with a pregnant Tina,
> has been restored. - Is the father Mel or the homosexual ATF agent?
> This pivotal wrapup scene was on the laserdisc but missing from the
> original DVD, much to Russell's disgust.. It was suggested at the
> time of the first DVD release that this film was "too unimportant" to
> ever see another DVD. That makes this a Collector's Edition in my
> mind!
>
> Note also that the film elements have been referred to elsewhere as
> "Not very good," Based upon that little detail the new DVD looks
> outstanding compared with previous transfers.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll bring this up to the reviewer, and likely put
an Editor's Note in the review with your comments.

Mike Jackson
Editor & Web Developer, DVD Verdict
www.dvdverdict.com