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"It's
just Chinatown, Jake..."
Sequels
are a tricky game. Generally they cost more to produce yet
make less than their origins did. The one way around this
seems to be stories that are continuations of the original
story, and not just rehashing all the things that made the
first film worthy of a sequel. They did it with The Godfather
Part II, The Empire Strikes Back, ALIENS,
and the Star Treks. It worked with those and it works with
The Two Jakes, although not quite at the same level of success
as those examples.
It's been
ten years after the land and water struggle that climaxed
in Chinatown
and Jake Gittes is still a detective for hire solving problems
of marital distress. His ethics are as rock solid as ever,
and he's got a new client. Jake Berman is a man at his last
resort: his wife's having an affair and he's sought out Gittes
to document the infidelity for the divorce trial. While the
audio recording of the indiscretion commences, it's all business
as usual for Gittes, that is until gunshots ring out from
the room as the insane husband enters to take his revenge.
Being a
possible accomplice to the murder, Gittes begins investigating
his client and not for him. Is there more to the murder than
just a jealous husband, who may have snapped under the temporary
insanity of seeing his wife in bed with another man? Who was
the man and what might be gained through his death? And as
one Jake gets closer to the other, is the past resurrecting
itself?
Jack Nicholson
returns for this outing, not only in the character of Jake
Gittes, but as director as well, taking over for Roman Polanski.
He handles the chore admirably and one wonders if the film
would have become as accepted as it has if someone not associated
with the original Chinatown had taken over at the helm. At
least they kept it in the family. Also returning from the
original family is screenwriter Robert Towne, who managed
to create a story and not simplify it for the masses. You've
got to watch and listen closely, and you'l more than likely
have to watch it more than once to get it all in. While The
Two Jakes isn't the best sequel ever put on film, it's a damn
respectable one.
Video: How Does The Disc Look?
When the
title was released as a widescreen laserdisc, The Two Jakes
was windowboxed at a 1.66 ratio. This essentially made the
laserdisc difficult to watch on sets with no overscan. That
has been rectified with this new DVD. The film is now properly
framed at 1.85 and is anamorphic to top it all off.
The film
has an intentionally stylized look reflective of forties film
noir. Colors are appropriately muted with the picture taking
on a warm, golden hue. The print used for this transfer is
relatively clean and free of defects to mar the final objective,
although some dirt and specs pop up time and again. Detail,
both in brightly lit and darker scenes, is excellent with
only the slightest presence of shimmer every now and then.
This is a huge improvement over the laserdisc and is proof
positive of the improvements that can be made with DVD if
the proper care is taken.
Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?
Par for
the course for Paramount releases, The Two Jakes has gotten
an overhaul in the audio department with a new Dolby Digital
5.1 remaster. While this is, like Chinatown, a primarily dialog
driven soundtrack there are improvements over the original
2.0 surround. The music score is given an extra level of dimensionality
and separation that really expands the front soundstage and
sounds lush. The dialog is firmly anchored in the center channel
without bleeding or wavering into the left or right for a
strong center channel without distortion. Surround use natural
and never overbearing with a great level of audible range
to them. Even the .1 LFE gets a moment or two to pound away.
This is not a flashy soundtrack by any means, but is totally
appropriate for the film.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There? The original
theatrical trailer is presented in non-anamorphic widescreen
at a cropped ratio of 2.35 with mono sound.
Parting Thoughts
I've always
really liked The Two Jakes. Admittedly, a follow up to Chinatown
must have seemed like a daunting, no win situation but it
takes a different path and therefore distances itself slightly
from comparisons to the original. The DVD is up to the usual
high Paramount standard with impressive video and audio. If
you're a fan of The Two Jakes, this DVD won't let you down.
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