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HTF REVIEW: Annapolis (1 Viewer)

DaViD Boulet

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ANNAPOLIS
Studio: TOUCHSTONE Year:2006 Rating:PG-13Aspect Ratio: 16x9 encoded 1.85:1 OAR (BEWARE, separate Pan & Scan version also available! Read the label!!!)Audio: 5.1 DD English SpecialFeatures: Feature Commentary, Deleted Scenes, Making-of doc, Look at Boxing sequences docReleaseDate: Available



Feature...


Annapolis surprised me by being a much more enjoyable film than I had anticipated. From the previews I expected the film to rely on its Naval-Academy and boxing subject matter to carry the viewer’s interest in spite of treacherous shortcomings. But despite an attempt to get some mileage out of these topics (or depending on them to generate someone’s interest in the film to begin with), the movie comes together entertainingly, and even with its shortcomings (predictability and formulaic expected romance being two of the most obvious) the film manages to hold interest and get a better share of emotional investment than I had anticipated.

Plot Summary (w/spoilers): The story centers around the character of Jake Huard… a welder/ship-builder with dreams of attending the Naval Academy. A twist of fate makes his unlikely aspirations materialize and he arrives in Annapolis only to find that his own personal demons (like problems with authority) prove to be as challenging as the rigor of daily life as an officer-to-be. Boxing becomes the theme that connects the development of his character throughout the film, and ultimately demonstrates his honor and gains him the respect of his commander.

Not a classic of cinema, but an enjoyable film.



Picture...


Disappointing.

The main problem: over-filtering and some edge-ringing.

There are many “flaws” in the image which are film-based and not to be confused with improper mastering. For instance, the black level at times seemed washed out, the whites seemed “pumped”, film grain was present quite often and the image looked somewhat flat.

These are artifacts from the choice of film stock and shooting-style and look that way because they are supposed to. However, I found the level of visible detail to be severely lacking in this transfer, which is not uncommon for many Buena-Vista live action DVDs. I had hoped that coming from “TOUCHSTONE” would have helped (as it often seems too) but alas, Annapolis has the classic over-filtered and ringing “Miramax look”. Look at the power lines and railings on the ship if you want a classic case of Edge Enhancement and how it can mar the “film like” presentation on a wide-angle/large-screen system.

Viewers from more than two screen widths (typical “TV” watching distance ratio) probably won’t have much to complain about as the image may sharpen-up from that narrower viewing angle. But if you have a wide-angle system (large screen TV watched from about 1.7 screen widths or a typical front projection set up) you’ll probably be bothered by the overly-soft image which leaves you straining to see facial detail in mid and far-ground content (close-ups always look detailed so don’t use them to judge the overall movie).

Not the worst DVD I’ve seen from Disney, and I give them points for not filtering out all the film grain with excessive DNR, but still, it’s frustrating that their policy of HF filtering with edge-emphasis seems to have found its way into the mastering of this disc.

WARNING: There is a separate 4x3 non-OAR version of this film also available on DVD. Read the packaging carefully!


Picture Quality: 3 / 5

:star: :star: :star:

Rating Rationale...


Rating Key:

SCORE Description 1-2 An absolute abomination. Hurts to watch even on a 32” 4x3 480I TV. Think Outland or Jean De Flourette (scan-line aliasing, chroma noise, dotcrawl, PAL-NTSC conversion artifacts etc.)-- truly horrid. 2-3 Has some serious problems, but one can at least watch it without getting a headache despite all the problems though you might try to talk your guests into picking a different movie to watch if you have a large projection screen. Think Kill Bill Vol 1. 3-4 Good or at least "acceptable" on a big-screen, but not winning any awards and definitely room for improvement if you view the image wide-angle (though smaller-screen viewers may be quite content). Think the first extended cut of Fellowship of the Ring...decent picture but still some HF filtering and some edge-halos. 4-5 A reference picture that really makes the most of the DVD medium and shows extraordinary transparency to the film-source elements limited only by DVD’s 720 x 480 resolution. Non-videophile observers can't help but remark "WOW" and ask you if they are watching HD. Think The Empire Strikes Back, the Fifth Element Superbit or the new Toy Story 10th Anniversary Edition.



Viewing Equipment:
Currently running DVDs on my OPPO DVD player (Faroudja deinterlacing) which scales to 720P, feeding my BenQ 8700+ PJ via DVI, projecting onto a 106” 16x9 Dalite HiPower screen, viewed from approximately 1.6 screen-widths distance. Well mastered DVDs produce a stunningly film-like image in this scenario, and lesser-mastered material quickly shows its flaws.






Sound...


The audio (English only, French and Spanish subtitles are provided) is very listenable but less aggressive a 5.1 mix than I would have expected. Surround sound is minimal and usually consists of ambience, though a few key scenes do make more apparent use. The mix tends towards front-heavy but is tonally balanced with intelligible dialogue and a nicely presented score.


Sound Quality: 4 / 5

:star: :star: :star: :star:



Listening Equipment:
B&K AVR 212 processor/receiver driving my Onix-Rocket Loudspeaker system.



Special Features...

There is a reasonable amount of bonus material included here for a single-disc presentation.



  • Feature Commentary: I sampled quite a bit of the feature commentary and it seems above the usual in terms of holding interest and covering a nice range of worthwhile material. Lots of behind-the-scenes info here about complications with the shoot, story, acting and crew/cast. If you enjoy the film and like commentary tracks on other discs do give this one a sampling.


    Deleted Scenes: Presented in 4x3 lbxed from video source the PQ is lacking but the inclusion here is welcome. Several scenes clearly were cut for reasons of flow, but a few would have been nice to have left in tact to give more clarity to a few developing plot lines. Commentary is optionally provided for each deleted scene as well.


    Making-Of Doc: This enjoyable feature (4x3) covers the usual behind-the-scenes trivia that fans of the film or actors will find worth exploring.

    The Brigades: This behind-the-scenes doc focuses on the boxing in the film and details the training of the actors and how hard the team worked to make the fighting look real. I’m not a boxing fan but I really enjoyed this feature, and I would imaging any true fan of the film or of boxing would enjoy it even more.





All Together...


Annapolis feels like a mix of Rocky, Top Gun, and maybe a little G.I. Jane worked in as well. The film isn’t perfect, but if you can forgive its faults (predictability being the easiest to point out) it can provide an enjoyable viewing. I found myself becoming more emotionally invested by the end of the film than I had expected, and despite often knowing “where it was going” I found myself still curious to see it play out on the screen. Sadly, the picture quality of this DVD is a bit lacking in detail/sharpness and has a bit of edge-ringing which could be a bother for wide-angle viewers. However, the audio presentation is fine and the special features are worth investigating by anyone who is a fan of the film or even just casually enjoys it as a first-time rental.
 

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