Review of Notting Hill: Collector`s Edition

Introduction

If you look back through most of the DVDs that I`ve reviewed, you`ll probably think that Notting Hill is rather an odd choice for my latest review. It would appear that it doesn`t really sit well with the sorts of things I like to watch.

However, it was written by Richard Curtis, whose work has amused me greatly over the years, which means that the film gets a fair crack of the whip. It`s actually one of the few films that I`ve seen at the cinema over recent years.

Even if you`ve been living on the International Space Station for the last few years you probably know the simple plot - normal bloke William Thacker (Hugh Grant) meets film star Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) and falls in love. This story is something that`s puzzled Curtis for a while, and the dinner party scene where William introduces her to his fellow guests was pretty much the basis for the whole film.

Video

An excellent 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer which brings the Notting Hill area of London to life. There was a lot of location work here, combined seamlessly with some excellent studio sets, and it all looks very convincing on this DVD.

Colours are excellent, the night scenes in streets and in parks all look good, and there are no artefacts on show. The now infamous "blue door" is there in all its glory, as is the excellent "four seasons in a day" sequence, which is very well edited.

Audio

A DD5.1 soundtrack is on offer here, which comes to life when any music is involved (an eclectic mix of tracks including Al Green, Ronan Keating, Elvis Costello and The Spencer Davis Group). For the rest of the film it`s mostly dialogue all the way, although there are some crowd scenes which bring your surround speakers to life.

Features

Lots of extras on show here, a lot more than can be said for the rather basic region 2 version of the disc.

The biggest and best extra is the audio commentary, featuring writer Richard Curtis, producer Duncan Kenworthy and director Roger Michell. This is a very interesting track - all of the participants have something interesting to say, and have plenty of stories to tell about filming and also editing of the final film. Whether it`s about spelling and grammar mistakes on things you see on screen, or about which scenes were deleted, it`s definitely worth a listen. It`s definitely geared towards Americans (this is a region 1 disc after all), but it`s not over the top.

You also get to see some of the deleted scenes mentioned in the commentary in a separate extra, which runs for about 10 mintues. The quality of the scenes is rather low, with video being non-anamorphic 2.35:1 and not always looking so hot. Interesting to see them though.

We also get "Hugh Grant`s Movie Tips" which are just short clips of Grant on set, offering useless pieces of advice, introducing us to his real parents and taking the you-know-what out of an Australian caterer because of the way she pronounces her vowels. Of novelty value only.

There`s another menu which allows you to jump directly to sections of the film where music is featured, which is quite useful, and there are also production notes and cast and crew biographies, which are again slightly slanted towards the American market (again, no shock there).

There`s also the "Interactive guide to Notting Hill" which is just a rather basic map with clickable sections which give you names and addresses of some shops, eateries, etc. Might be useful if you`ve never been to Notting Hill before, and again obviously geared towards American tourists who will be visiting London. Anything which stops them asking you for directions to the "changing of the ravens at Buckingham Towers" is fine by me!

You also get a trailer for the film, plus two other trailers for Universal films.

Conclusion

I started out with the premise that Notting Hill wasn`t perhaps my usual choice of viewing. And whilst I mostly enjoyed the film, it`s probably still true. If I really wanted to I could probably sit here and find faults with it, but in the end it`s an enjoyable romantic comedy which doesn`t tax the brain and generally tickles the funny bone for a couple of hours. And what`s wrong with that?

It`s interesting to see big Hollywood stars (Roberts obviously and Grant to a lesser extent) acting opposite small screen stars such as Tim McInnery - "Blackadder", James Dreyfus - "The Thin Blue Line"/"Gimme, Gimme, Gimme", Emma Chambers - "Vicar of Dibley", Dylan Moran - "How Do You Want Me?"/"Black Books" and Gina McKee - "Our Friends in the North"/"Brass Eye", and it`s this mix that gives the film a certain charm. It looks like your standard British film fare, and then Julia Roberts pops up.

The disc itself is very good, with great picture and sound, and extras including a commentary track that offers that extra insight into the film. You might not buy this disc for yourself, but it`s possible that you might know someone who wants it. If so then the region 1 version is the one to go for.