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    • WSR Detailed LaserDisc Review

    Avengers, The
    Genre:Comedy

    Reviewed In Issue 31 Of Widescreen Review® Stars:
    Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman, Sean Connery

    WSR Review Scores
    Picture Rating: 4.5
    Sound Rating: 5
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    Reference Systems
    Critics' Composite Score:
    Internet Links

    Supplementals

    DVD General Information
    (Studio/Distributor): Warner Home Video
    (Catalog Number): 15873
    (MPAA Rating): PG13
    (Retail Price): $29.98
    (Running Time In Minutes): 95
    (Color Type): Color
    (Chaptered/Scene Access): Yes
    (Closed Captioned): Yes
    (Theatrical Release): 1998
    (LD Release Date): 12/98
    (THX® Digitally Mastered): No

    Credits Information
    (Director): Jeremiah S. Chechik
    (Screenplay/Written By): Don MacPherson
    (Story): NA
    (Music): Joel McNeely
    (Director Of Photography):
    (Production Designer): Stuart Carig
    (Visual Effects):
    (Costume Designer):
    (Editor): Mick Audsley
    (Supervising Sound Editors):
    (Re-Recording Mixers):
    (Executive Producers): Susan Ekins
    (Co-Producers): NA
    (Producers): Jerry Weintraub

    DVD Picture Information
    (Principal Photography): Academy Standard Flat
    (Theatrical Aspect Ratio): 1.85:1
    (Measured LaserDisc Aspect Ratio): 1.80:1

    DVD Sound Information
    (DVD Soundtrack): Dolby Digital Surround
    (Theatrical Sound): DTS, SDDS & Dolby Digital
    (Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
    (Remastered Dolby Digital): No
    (Remastered DTS Digital Surround): No
    (Additional Languages):

    WSR Narrative Review
    Story Synopsis:
    An adaptation of the 1960s tongue-in-cheek spy series, The Avengers stars Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman as the stylish secret agents John Steed and Emma Peel. In this 1998 adaptation, the two crime fighters find themselves faced with the evil genius of Sir August De Wynter (Sean Connery) and his plot to control the world with a high-tech weather machine that is capable of creating beastly heat or vicious snowstorms.

    LaserDisc Picture:
    The LaserDisc is nicely rendered in all visual aspects. Color fidelity is superb with vividly rendered hues, accurate fleshtones, and deep, solid blacks. Shadow detail is superb, with excellent visual information in the darker areas. While subtle chroma noise is apparent, there are no distracting artifacts. The LaserDisc is matted at 1.80:1.

    LaserDisc Soundtrack:
    The Dolby® Digital 5.1 discrete soundtrack is splendid, as is the matrix PCM soundtrack. The discrete sound design utilizes the discrete surround palette effectively with aggressive directional sound effects. At times, the PCM delivery better resolves low level ambience and always produces a surround presence. The dynamic and richly harmonic music score is well recorded with a wide and deep soundstage presence. Bass extension is deep and powerful, especially in the discrete’s .1 LFE channel.
    (Surround Bass Below 50Hz): Yes
    (Aggressive System Surround): Yes
    (Intense 25Hz Bass): No
    (Deep Bass Challenging): No
    (Aggressive 0.1 LFE):
    (Holosonic Soundfield): Yes
    (Aggressive Split Surround): Yes
    (Center Back Surround Imaging): No
    (Directionalized Dialogue): No
    Superb Sound Effects Recording Quality:
    Superb Music Score Recording Quality:
    		 Yes
    Superb Special Visual Effects Quality:
    		 No
    Superb Color Fidelity:
    		 No
    Superb Cinematography:
    		 -
    Reference LaserDisc:
    		 Yes
    Collector Edition:
    		 No
    DVD To LaserDisc Comparison:
    The anamorphic DVD picture, when viewed through the component video output, is brilliant with finely resolved detail and sharp imagery. The otherwise excellent LaserDisc looks slightly veiled by comparison. Color fidelity on both is superb with vividly rendered colors, accurate fleshtones, and deep, solid blacks. Color resolution has that extra oomph from the heightened vertical and horizontal resolution delivered by DVD’s anamorphic processing. Shadow detail is superb on both, but the DVD clearly reveals more visual information in the darker areas. While subtle chroma noise is apparent in the LaserDisc picture, there is virtually no noise apparent on the DVD. There are no distracting artifacts. While the LaserDisc is matted at 1.80:1, the anamorphic and letterbox DVD aspect ratios are 1.78:1. The DVD and LaserDisc Dolby® Digital 5.1 discrete soundtracks are splendid, as is the LaserDisc matrix PCM soundtrack. The discrete sound design utilizes the discrete surround palette effectively with aggressive directional sound effects. At times, the PCM delivery better resolves low level ambience and always produces a surround presence. The dynamic and richly harmonic music score is well recorded with a wide and deep soundstage presence. Bass extension is deep and powerful, especially in the discrete’s .1 LFE channel.