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Patience
is definitely a virtue when it comes to DVD. When Columbia TriStar
released their first discs in April of 1997, Easy Rider was
one of the titles that was announced as "coming soon."
Now, a brisk two-and-a-half years later, Easy Rider has finally
rode in on DVD in a presentation that surpasses what would
have been released had the disc seen the light of day in 1997.
The classic
counter-culture flick about drugs, motorcycles, drugs, and...drugs
shows something that the decade of the 60's seems
to exemplify, that last fleeting feeling of absolute freedom.
When two bikers leave their Los Angeles digs on a cross-country
trip to New Orleans and Mardi Gras, they repeatedly encounter
characters of the most peculiar kind. That's what this movie
ultimately ends up being about. It's about the backgrounds,
the landscapes and the people they encounter along their ride
trough America. These are the settings and people that make
up this country and are what we all find when we scratch deeper
than the surface. It's a kaleidoscope of opposition and only
tolerance survives in this melting pot.
It's amazing
how well this somewhat subliminal message still holds up today,
maybe more than ever. To be totally honest, I'd never seen
Easy Rider before and although I really enjoyed it, I get
slightly creeped-out by the hippie lifestyle portrayed in
films and documented in news footage. Hey all you hippies
out there, don't feel bad, I get the willies from silent films,
too. It's just something that I need to work through.
Video: How Does The Disc Look?
Benefit
No. 1 of the extended wait for Easy Rider's release: the brand
new high-definition downconverted anamorphic widescreen transfer.
While the thirty-year-old film definitely shows signs of its
age, I was surprised at how good this looks, especially for
such a low-budget film. Overall the look of the colors are
slightly muted leaving some fleshtones looking slightly pink.
Artifacting is a rare thing to be found here, but slight shimmer
pops up from time to time.
Detail is
again surprisingly strong with only the occasional shot appearing
softened. Black level and shadow detail are slightly wanting
in some scenes, and that along with the desaturated colors
are what remind viewers that the film was not made just a
few years ago. But keep in mind, this film IS thirty-years-old
but never really looks its age. I've seen many films from
the 70's that had much higher budgets look much older in their
DVD presentations than Easy Rider does. Columbia, another
nice presentation, thank you!
Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?
Along with
redoing the picture, Easy Rider has been given a breath of
new life in the audio area. The newly re-mixed Dolby Digital
5.1 soundtrack has moments that shine, but again the track
is a victim of the age of the audio elements. The music, probably
the quintessential element of the track, is again only as
good as it's source. Some songs sound really good with a bit
of bass present while others sound slightly muffled.
Most of
the soundtrack exhibits a limited dynamic range, as it should
after thirty-years of audio advancements. Slight hiss is heard
occasionally behind some of the dialog, but dialog in general
is clear and easy to understand and isn't masked by the music
and effects. Surround use is spotty with discrete use heard
in a few effects. Most of the surround use is purely musical
to provide a slight reverb on certain songs. Overall the soundtrack
is front heavy with limited frequency range, but I expected
nothing less out of it and didn't come away too disappointed.
A 2.0 stereo track is also included with English, Spanish,
Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, and Thai subtitling.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There? A new 64-minute
documentary, "Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage," has been created.
Detailing production stories through the recollections of
Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Karen Black, and others, this
is an utterly fascinating look at the insanity contained within
the film and ultimately surrounded its production. The origins
of the story and its road to the screen are told in surprisingly
candid detail, but boy is Karen Black weird!
Director
Dennis Hopper also provides a screen-specific audio commentary
throughout the entire film. Actually, probably half the film.
There are long dry spells where Hopper has nothing to say.
I actually forgot that I was listening to the commentary several
times until Hopper started up again. For my money, the documentary
was far more interesting and I think you'll take away more
from that than the commentary.
Lastly,
slim talent files are provided for the main cast to finish
off the disc.
Parting Thoughts
Like I said
at the beginning, patience is a virtue when it comes to DVD
and Easy Rider. None of these features would have been on
a disc released in DVD's inaugural year. But through waiting,
Columbia has now treated us to a nice package that, while
not a truly earth-shattering special edition, has extras that
will long be cherished by Easy Rider fans for years to come.
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