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GHOST
GHOST is an appealing movie, with an appealing cast that is now available on a very appealing DVD. Fans will definitely want to own a copy. |
This DVD review 
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DVD
reviews are Copyright © 2001 THE CINEMA LASER and may not be copied
or reprinted without the written consent of the publisher. |
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Having
no significant female in my life at the time of its theatrical release,
meant that there was no one to drag me to the movie theater to see GHOST
($30). When the film hit Laserdisc, I was still in no hurry to check out
GHOST, so I kind of forgot about the movie. However, since more
than a decade has passed and the movie is now out on DVD, I figured it
was time that I sat down and watched this incredibly popular supernatural
love story.
After
seeing the film for the first time, I can see why the masses flocked to
see GHOST, making it one of the most popular movies of 1990. The
film drips of love and romance, which secured the female audience- plus,
GHOST offers the supernatural thrills, suspense and comedy for
the male audience. Of course, the icing on the cake is the fact that GHOST
stars Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore, whose sex appeal pushes all the right
buttons. In GHOST, Swayze and Moore play a loving couple Sam Wheat
and Molly Jensen. Unfortunately, tragedy strikes the couple, with Sam
being killed during a robbery. Although dead, Sam has not left this plane
of existence and remains to watch over Molly. However, when he sees the
man who murdered him entering Molly's apartment, he tries to find someone
with whom he can make contact and warn the woman he loves. Whoopi Goldberg
earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as con woman Oda Mae
Brown, who passes herself off as a spiritualist. When Oda Mae begins hearing
Sam's voice, she discovers she has a true gift for conversing with the
dead. Although she wants no part of Sam, he refuses to leave her alone
until she helps him to contact Molly. The cast of GHOST also includes
Tony Goldwyn, Rick Aviles, Phil Leeds and Vincent Schiavelli.
Paramount
Home Entertainment has made GHOST available on DVD in a 1.78:1
wide screen presentation that features the anamorphic enhancement for
16:9 displays. The transfer is very clean, very sharp and nicely detailed-
quite good for a circa 1990 movie. Colors are quite vibrant and wholly
stable. Flesh tones are usually very appealing, although in a couple of
shots they look a little too ripe. In addition, there are sequences are
lit with strong colored lighting and these too are rendered without flaws.
Neither chroma noise nor bleeding caused any problems during the presentation.
Blacks are pure and the image provides very good shadow detail and depth.
Contrast is excellent, including sequences that utilize strong white lighting
for an otherworldly effect. Digital compression artifacts are well concealed
by clean dual layer authoring.
For
this release GHOST has been given a new Dolby Digital 5.1 channel
re-mix. The mix is pretty aggressive- making full use of the format's
discrete properties. Split surrounds are effectively used throughout the
movie, which indicates that this mix is new from the ground up. The forward
soundstage has great channel separation, with cleanly positioned dialogue
and effects. Dialogue reproduction is natural and fully intelligible.
Music is reproduced with excellent fidelity and the bass channel is very
solid. Overall, this is an excellent re-mix of this material. English
and French Dolby Surround soundtracks are also provided on the DVD, as
are English subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the interactive menus.
Through the menus, one has access to the standard scene selection and
set up features, as well as some nice supplements. Director Jerry Zucker
and writer Bruce Joel Rubin are featured on a running audio commentary.
Their talk is informative, although it is Zucker's comic sensibilities
that make it entertaining. Also included on the DVD is Ghost: Remembering
The Magic, which features recent interviews with Zucker, Rubin
and Swayze. This retrospective runs over twenty minutes and brings out
some interesting aspects of the production that fans probably never knew.
A theatrical trailer closes out the supplements.
