WTPARNELL.com

Husbands And Wives DVD
Husbands and Wives DVD Review
by W. Tracy Parnell © 2007 Unauthorized Duplication is Prohibited

Special Features
  Decidedly "Un-Special" Features

Special Features (7)

Because I am a huge fan of Mr. Allen, I'm going to be very generous here and score a seven since this disc has about as many "special features" as any of his DVDs. Woody's fans have lamented the paucity of DVD features for as long as his films have been available in the format. The explanation seems to be that Allen is a “minimalist” filmmaker who doesn't like to review his work, instead preferring to move forward with a new project after finishing a film and therefore presumably uninterested in doing a director commentary. Fans are left to hope that with the passage of time, Allen will rethink this philosophy and release some DVDs with a commentary track. Until that happens, they will have to be satisfied with the excellent book by Stig Bjorkman (Woody Allen on Woody Allen), the documentary Woody Allen: A Life In Film and the occasional media interview for Woody's insights concerning his work. The features on this DVD are limited to:

  • Widescreen and Fullscreen presentations
  • English and French audio
  • Subtitles in four languages
  • Trailers for Husbands and Wives and Manhattan Murder Mystery

    • It is obvious when viewing the trailer that this film was intended to be marketed as "Woody Allen's latest comedy" since it focuses on the film's one liners and other scenes that could be considered humerous when taken out of context. Both trailers are presented in fullscreen 1:33 aspect ratio. On the bright side, since this is a dual layer disc you can choose your aspect ratio without "flipping" the DVD. Fans who like "Pan and Scan" won't be missing too much, but I prefer the wider framing and tighter picture quality of the Widescreen version. Interestingly, the back of the DVD claims the film has been "Remastered in Hi Definition". I'm not sure what this is supposed to mean, but I guess "Hi Definition" is different than "High Definition" because this certainly is not an HD-DVD.

    Bottom line-the powers that be should seriously consider some real special features for Allen's films, some of which are among the most important and influential of all time and deserve better.

    Go To: Home Talent Video/Audio Special Features Conclusion

  • About
  • Articles
  • Reviews

    • Website and Articles © W. Tracy Parnell All Rights Reserved