Review of Purple Rose Of Cairo, The

Introduction

This is my all time favorite Woody Allen movie, it`s free from his melodramatic paranoid ramblings and just tugs at the heart strings with a passion for the movies that must come from deep within Allen`s own heart and soul. For me this movie appearing on DVD is enough, but for the home cinema perfectionist is it? Let`s find out!

Video

The picture is good but not excellent. Presented in 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen it`s fairly sharp but contains some grain in the more darker scenes. For me this is not a problem as the grain lends itself to the movie content and its age. Too many older movies are being given the top notch DVD transfer treatment making them an overly new and false. Maybe we should get two versions of a movie on one disc. One with a super sharp transfer and full Dolby Digital 5.1 crystal clear sound .The other transfer should have a grainy picture, slightly out of focus with the odd hair flickering in the top corner or side of the screen. The sound for this should feel like your listening to it under water wearing a balaclava and could be called Dolby Dreadful 5.1.

Audio

Sound is mono but was surprisingly clear and punchy. I must admit I do like good sound on a movie and this feels like a very lazy way of getting out back titles. This is a superb film that deserved more but was still just as enjoyable.

Features

Extras are feeble as you only get a theatrical trailer. If there not going to remix the sound there surely not going to trawl the archives for extras!

Conclusion

Like I said, for me this is a great movie that is out on R2 DVD and I will cherish it. It has it`s flaws, mainly in the sound department but because it is such a great film it stands well on its own in its slightly grainy and mono edition.