Jackie Brown (Australia)

Tarantino`s third `proper` film is markedly different to his earlier works. It`s far more relaxed for a start, with a lot of time taken to introduce the main protagonists. A lot of people think the film is too slow, and to be fair that accusation holds some weight. Jackie Brown is a stylish film, but it doesn`t have the `quotability` factor of either Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction.

Video is presented in anamorphic 1.85:1, and is of a high standard. There is some aliasing evident at the start of the film, but nothing too serious. Colour reproduction is good.

The sound is very impressive, and is offered up in MPEG or Dolby 5.1 formats. The latter provides a great aural experience, with the varied songs all sounding fantastic. As ever, music plays a big part in this Tarantino film, and each character has his or her own musical accompaniment. The surrounds are used to good effect and the dialogue is always clear above the action.

Extras are a bit of a let down. We get a trailer and some biographies, but the menus are quite nice. They`re not animated, but some of the cooler tunes from the movie play in the background, and there`s the occasional bit of dialogue from the feature.

I found the acting to be of a very high calibre. Sam Jackson is, as ever, very cool as the villain of the piece. Robert De Niro is amusing as his bumbling crook friend, while Pam Grier portrays Jackie herself very skilfully. For me, it is Robert Forster who steals the show as the bail bondsman who falls for Jackie.

This may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I found it to be a very entertaining film with some fine performances. The picture and sound are both above average, and unlike the UK R2 disc, it`s not a flipper! Is it worth getting? If you`re a fan of the film then yes, however if you`ve never seen it then it might be worth renting the R2 version first.