DVD Review HTF Review: Fargo - Special Edition (1 Viewer)

[Felix Martinez]

easily bests the video quality found on previous DVD releases of the film

I have the prior anamorphic MGM release. The only distraction I found with that version was a rather dirty title sequence - lots of black detritus on the white background. Was this cleaned up for the new release?

Interestingly, the original Polygram pressing had a cleaner title sequence. Go figure...

Cheers,

 

[Justin W]

How do you know the opening is a subtitle? It looked the same to me. Just curious.


The trivia track is great. You'll learn alot about fast food restaurants, how to handle kidnappers, and precautions to take before demanding ransom. One thing I really dug which no one mentioned was the book inside the DVD. All the pictures on it relate to the film. The smudged VINs, a 3 cent duck stamp, a welcome to brainerd flier... Not the deciding factor in making a purchase but cool none the less.

 

[Richard Kim]

How do you know the opening is a subtitle? It looked the same to me. Just curious.

I have seen the previous MGM DVD many times, so I immediately noticed the difference. Take a look at the Minnesota Nice documentary. They have the original opening captions, which look very different from the player generated ones in the SE. Finally checking my DVD player settings confirms a subtitle track is on (track 4, I believe).

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

It is very obviously a subtitle. As Richard mentioned, it is subtitle stream #4 as the disc is authored.

Regards,

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

To access the "hidden menus":

Go to the extras/special features menu. Left arrow over from one of the special features (any except the subtitle factoids one) and an item will be highlighted behind Bill Macy. Press enter, and an alternate set of snowglobe-themed menus will appear.

To switch back to the regular menus, go to the snowglobe scene selections menu. An icon in the lower right corner of the screen (above the "return to main menu" selection) can be selected to switch the menus back to the default.

Regards,

 

[Christ Reynolds]

How do you know the opening is a subtitle? It looked the same to me. Just curious.

well, i've seen the film roughly 100 times, and i noticed immediately. plus, the opening is HUGE on the screen, whereas the real version is smaller. a major goof, in my opinion.

CJ

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

I agree that it's a major goof. However, since I had not owned Fargo in its previous two DVD incarnations, I went ahead and bought it anyway. By the way, I hadn't seen the movie in several years. I had forgotten just how powerful it was. The performances are simply amazing.

 

[Brook K]

Watched it tonight and was pleased with the transfer, but I only had the orignal Polygram disc to compare it too. I didn't rebuy the 1st MGM disc.

For everyone who seems to want a Coen commentary track, have you heard The Man Who Wasn't There? It consists mostly of the Coen's and Billy Bob joking around and says very little about the film itself.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

For everyone who seems to want a Coen commentary track, have you heard The Man Who Wasn't There? It consists mostly of the Coen's and Billy Bob joking around and says very little about the film itself.

yeah i agree, another brilliant film, boring commentary. not everyone can be as fun as pt anderson on a commentary i guess. i'm glad we dont have a fight club or seven style special edition of fargo, imagine four commentaries as boring as this!

CJ

 

[Richard Kim]

For everyone who seems to want a Coen commentary track, have you heard The Man Who Wasn't There? It consists mostly of the Coen's and Billy Bob joking around and says very little about the film itself.

That's true. However, the fake commentary on Blood Simple is absolutely hilarious.

 

[Frank@N]

Thanks to whoever mentioned the secret map on the inside of the Fargo SE slipcover.

I picked up the SE and put it in a clear (Ice?) case left over from I, Robot.

I also kept the previous MGM insert which seems to have been heavily edited for the SE release.

Dumped off the old release, now I'm a little worried that the SE won't completely work in my player.