Sleepy Hollow
Paramount Pictures, 1999 (2006 Release)
Rated R
Video: 1080p High Definition (1.85x1)
Video Codec: VC-1
Audio: English, French, and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus; English 5.1 DTS
Subtitles: English, French, and Spanish Subtitles; English SDH
The
Feature:
Poor Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp). As a constable in 18th century New York City, all he wants to do is apply scientific techniques to criminal investigations, but his superiors want nothing of it; instead, they send him on a wild horseman chase, to see why residents of the small hamlet Sleepy Hollow are losing their heads, quite literally.
The nervous town elders tell the skeptical Crane of a Hessian Horseman who takes the heads of his victims, after his own head was severed years before. Crane will have nothing of this legend, swearing that the murderer is human, and that he will be discovered. But Ichabod's belief system is shaken to the core when he witnesses the actual Headless Horseman in action, doing things that no human could.
With the alluring Katrina (Christina Ricci) as a love interest, and the dedicated boy Masbath at his side, Crane tries to unlock the mystery of the Horseman, before everyone in town gets a splitting headache.
Tim Burton injects his own style of quirky humor into Sleepy Hollow, which diffuses some of the graphic violence. But heads do roll and blood spatters quite a bit. Hint: when Crane tells the boy to stay behind or vacate, that's a good time for the impressionable ones to leave the room. The tendency will be for parents to see this as a Tim Burton film which should be safe for kids. Nope, it's R-rated, and although the head chops are almost comical, the imagery is still something that might revisit the young in the middle of the night. It is best to go for the Disney version for the little ones.
But Sleepy Hollow stands on its own as a perfect Halloween movie for the teen and adult set.
The Video:
As the oldest of the first wave of Paramount's HD DVD titles, Sleepy Hollow is not as eye popping as other high definition releases, but this is more a choice of the cinematography and style. The picture is dark and murky, with lots of mist and fog. The color palate is muted, except for the occasional flourish (typically blood red). The framing is slightly different than the 2000 DVD release; the colors are also less pronounced than the DVD. Frankly, I thought the DVD looked pretty good when compared to the HD DVD.
The Sound:
Sleepy Hollow now offers four, count 'em, four 5.1 soundtracks--English, French, and Spanish Dolby Digital Plus, and English 5.1 DTS. This is a distinct improvement over the DVD, which only offered English Dolby Digital 5.1, and English and French DD 2.0. I mostly listened to the DTS track. It was largely front-focused, with the occasional surround effect--nothing terribly showy, but nothing very distracting. Switching between the DD+ and dts tracks yielded little difference.
The Extras:
The extras mostly mirror the original DVD release with cast/crew interviews, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and a commentary track by Tim Burton. A teaser and trailer are also included, but they have been upgraded to high definition.
The Original DVD:
Alas, the original DVD also includes cast biographies and a photo gallery. So if you are a collector, the DVD is a keeper.
The Final Word:
This was the first Paramount HD DVD I watched all the way through, and had it not been sent to me as part of a publicity package, it would have been one of my first purchases from Amazon, especially with that extra 10 percent Amazon discount. While the picture and sound are not really an order of magnitude improvement over the DVD, Sleepy Hollow is a welcome addition to the HD DVD library. Now let's see some more Tim Burton, okay?
Buy Sleepy Hollow from Amazon, along with two other HD DVD titles, and save an additional 10 percent off all HD DVD purchases for one year!
Poor Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp). As a constable in 18th century New York City, all he wants to do is apply scientific techniques to criminal investigations, but his superiors want nothing of it; instead, they send him on a wild horseman chase, to see why residents of the small hamlet Sleepy Hollow are losing their heads, quite literally.
The nervous town elders tell the skeptical Crane of a Hessian Horseman who takes the heads of his victims, after his own head was severed years before. Crane will have nothing of this legend, swearing that the murderer is human, and that he will be discovered. But Ichabod's belief system is shaken to the core when he witnesses the actual Headless Horseman in action, doing things that no human could.
With the alluring Katrina (Christina Ricci) as a love interest, and the dedicated boy Masbath at his side, Crane tries to unlock the mystery of the Horseman, before everyone in town gets a splitting headache.
Tim Burton injects his own style of quirky humor into Sleepy Hollow, which diffuses some of the graphic violence. But heads do roll and blood spatters quite a bit. Hint: when Crane tells the boy to stay behind or vacate, that's a good time for the impressionable ones to leave the room. The tendency will be for parents to see this as a Tim Burton film which should be safe for kids. Nope, it's R-rated, and although the head chops are almost comical, the imagery is still something that might revisit the young in the middle of the night. It is best to go for the Disney version for the little ones.
But Sleepy Hollow stands on its own as a perfect Halloween movie for the teen and adult set.
The Video:
As the oldest of the first wave of Paramount's HD DVD titles, Sleepy Hollow is not as eye popping as other high definition releases, but this is more a choice of the cinematography and style. The picture is dark and murky, with lots of mist and fog. The color palate is muted, except for the occasional flourish (typically blood red). The framing is slightly different than the 2000 DVD release; the colors are also less pronounced than the DVD. Frankly, I thought the DVD looked pretty good when compared to the HD DVD.
The Sound:
Sleepy Hollow now offers four, count 'em, four 5.1 soundtracks--English, French, and Spanish Dolby Digital Plus, and English 5.1 DTS. This is a distinct improvement over the DVD, which only offered English Dolby Digital 5.1, and English and French DD 2.0. I mostly listened to the DTS track. It was largely front-focused, with the occasional surround effect--nothing terribly showy, but nothing very distracting. Switching between the DD+ and dts tracks yielded little difference.
The Extras:
The extras mostly mirror the original DVD release with cast/crew interviews, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and a commentary track by Tim Burton. A teaser and trailer are also included, but they have been upgraded to high definition.
The Original DVD:
Alas, the original DVD also includes cast biographies and a photo gallery. So if you are a collector, the DVD is a keeper.
The Final Word:
This was the first Paramount HD DVD I watched all the way through, and had it not been sent to me as part of a publicity package, it would have been one of my first purchases from Amazon, especially with that extra 10 percent Amazon discount. While the picture and sound are not really an order of magnitude improvement over the DVD, Sleepy Hollow is a welcome addition to the HD DVD library. Now let's see some more Tim Burton, okay?
Buy Sleepy Hollow from Amazon, along with two other HD DVD titles, and save an additional 10 percent off all HD DVD purchases for one year!
Posted: Sun - July 23, 2006 at 08:04 PM
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Published On: Aug 03, 2007 08:54 AM
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Published On: Aug 03, 2007 08:54 AM