Anamorphic "Lagaan": Review with Screen Captures... (1 Viewer)

[Gary Tooze]

Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at this years Oscars, Columbia Tri-Star have come out with a beautiful anamorphic DVD of "LAGAAN: ONCE UPON A TIME IN INDIA"
The DVD contains an awesome Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 transfer and deleted scenes, as well as subtitles available in the following languages:
English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Thai
This is a 4 hour film... how do they fit it all on one disc ??
Anyway, my website review with screen captures:
CLICK HERE FOR ACCESS

 

[SteveK]

Gary- Thanks for the review and the stunning screen captures. I definitely have this on my "must watch" list, and your review (and screen shots) only serve to move it up to a higher place on the list. I enjoy reading your reviews, as you seem to concentrate on foreign films, reviews of which aren't widely available elsewhere.

Keep up the good work!

Steve K.

 

[Brajesh Upadhyay]

This is a 4 hour film... how do they fit it all on one disc ??

Not without some compromise to video quality -- the transfer is pretty good, but a few compression artifacts are evident & the source material has nicks/scratches on it. That said, this is still the best overall DVD presentation of a Bollywood film I've yet seen. I just wish Columbia had split the movie at the intermission mark & put the two parts on a DVD-18 or two DVD-9's.

The movie itself is quite good. This, along with "Monsoon Wedding" (playing in theatres), showcase the best of Bollywood/Indian cinema. For a quick review of both movies, click my signature below.

 

[Ken Stuart]

Quote:

Actually, I would not consider "Monsoon Wedding" to be "Bollywood/Indian cinema" - any more than Jennifer Lopez's standard Jackson-style urban music is "Latin".
Mira Nair is an excellent filmmaker in the standard "indie" genre, who uses themes and settings from her ethnic group, which happens to be from India (Punjabi, to be precise).
( An easy way to tell that it is not a Bollywood movie is to note that the running time is under 2 hours.... I've never heard of a Bollywood movie under 2 1/2 hours. )

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

An easy way to tell that it is not a Bollywood movie is to note that the running time is under 2 hours.... I've never heard of a Bollywood movie under 2 1/2 hours.

Although you won't find many Bollywood films under 2 hrs, there are quite a few that are under 2 1/2 hrs but even they have become quite rare the last few years.
I agree with you that Mira Nair films are not typical of Bollywood films, but Monsoon Wedding of all her films is the closest to being a Bollywood film. Anyhow nevertheless it is a wonderful film and most definately her best work to date.
For discussion on Monsoon Wedding, click here --> Monsoon Wedding - A must see for fans of good cinema!
Sanjay
Member since 1997

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

Gary,
Great review but I hate to point out but there are a few errors on your site regarding the DVD specifications.
1) You have stated regarding Aspect ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1, which is incorrect.
It is actually Widescreen Enhanced for 16x9 - 2.35:1 OAR
2)You have stated regarding sound formats:
Available Audio Tracks: English and Hindi (Dolby Digital 2.0) which is only partially correct.
Actually there are two Available Audio Tracks: Hindi/English DD 5.1 & Hindi/English DD 2.0
Sanjay
Member since 1997

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

For further discussion/info on Lagaan and other Indian DVDs follow this thread:
Click here --> Any India "Bollywood" DVD's like Moulin Rouge to recommend?
Sanjay
Member since 1997