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WSR Detailed DVD Review
Santa Clause, The
Special Edition / Widescreen
Genre: Family

Reviewed In Issue 79 (Dec 2003) Of Widescreen Review®

Stars:
Tim Allen, Judge Reinhold, Wendy Crewson, Eric Lloyd, David Krumholtz & Peter Boyle

WSR Review Scores
WSR Picture Rating: 4
DD Sound Rating: 4
DTS Sound Rating: NA
Download WSR Review
Reference Systems
Critics' Composite Score: 4
Internet Links
http://www.video.com

Special Features
Once you get past the up-front ads, you can access bonus features through a lovely snowglobe menu. Very creatively, if you hit the snowflake button, the snowglobe is shaken and the snow will begin to fall again. Includes the seven-minute


 DVD General Information

(Studio/Distributor): Walt Disney Home Entertainment
(Catalog Number): 27574
(MPAA Rating): PG
(Rating Reason):

A few crude moments
(Retail Price): $29.99
(DVD Type): Single Side, Dual Layer (DVD9)
(Widescreen Edition): Yes
(Full Screen Edition): No
(Anamorphic Widescreen): Yes
(Running Time In Minutes): 97
(Color Type): Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access): Yes
(Closed Captioned): Yes
(Regional Coding): 1
(Theatrical Year): 1994
(Theatrical Release): Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release): No
(DVD Release Date): 10/29/02
(THX® Digitally Mastered): Yes

 Credits Information

(Director): John Pasquin
(Screenplay/Written By): Subscribe Now!
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(Supervising Sound Editors): Subscribe Now!
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  DVD Picture Information

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  DVD Sound Information

(DVD Soundtrack): Subscribe Now!
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  WSR Narrative Review
Special Notes:
Also available in a separate full screen edition.

Story Synopsis:
"The Santa Clause" tells the story of a divorced father (Allen) whose relationship with his son Charlie (Lloyd) begins to mend after a twist of fate transforms the man into Santa Claus himself. Charlie

DVD Picture:
Compared to the previously released, non-anamorphic DVD, this new anamorphically enhanced 1.85:1 DVD exhibits a picture with slightly better color saturation and a substantially smoother image. While the previous DVD appears to be riddled with compression noise, this new version looks quite clean. Images exhibit pleasing sharpness and detail, with improvements in both contrast and shadow delineation. There still is some minor pixelization and edge enhancement noticed. Overall, this is quite a satisfying visual experience. However, even though the picture looks far better than the non-anamorphic version (which was reviewed back when it was our policy to compare to previously released LaserDiscs and rate them accordingly, thus earning that DVD a 4.5 for picture quality), viewed alone, the picture does not match up to current reference quality DVD releases. (Suzanne Hodges)

Soundtrack:
The Dolby