Catherine McCormack, Mel Gibson's wife in "Braveheart", stars in "Dangerous Beauty".  Loosely based on the true story of a 16th century Courtesan in Venice, the plot revolves around the young girl falling in love with a nobleman and risking her life to find love.  The acting is fine, although Jacqueline Bisset's role seems almost camp.  While the story is usually engaging, at times it feels like a Daniele Steele novel!  The picture quality is outstanding, perfectly complimenting the wonderful production design and setting of Venice.  Colors and contrasts are sharp and vibrant!  The correct 2.35:1 aspect ratio is intact on one side, with a pan&scan version on the alternate side.  The pan&scan version isn't nearly as sharp in color or contrast, due to being blown up.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound  offers some nice atmospheric effects, but few directional effects.   George(The Crucible)Fenton's score is memorable and more lively in the Dolby Digital 5.1 mode than in standard pro-logic. 

"Quest For Camelot" is certain to please young viewers with its colorful characters and adventure.  Unfortunately, the musical score leaves much to be desired, offering nothing memorable, in spite of  several fine musicians being involved.  The story follows the adventures of a young girl who comes to King Arthur's aid after his sword is stolen.  The animation is impressive with great detail, made even more distinguishing in the slick transfer.  In addition to the film properly letterboxed with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, there are 3 mini-documentaries, a music video from Steve Perry's song, "I Stand Alone", computer animation tests, and more!  The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is filled with directional effects, and the music is as lively as its limitations allow it to be.

Director Roman Polanski's "Frantic" has a great premise: An American doctor vacationing with his wife in Paris, finds his wife has simply vanished after returning from a shower in his hotel room.  In order to find her, he enlists the aid of a troubled but beautiful girl(Mrs. Polanski) helping to navigate him through the dark world of Paris night-life and the seamier side of town while time is running out.  This is one of  WARNER BROS' lower priced DVDs offering no frills and the full-frame format.   While we wish WARNER BROS. would at least go the distance and "throw in" letterboxing, instead of making consumers feel punished for paying less, the transfer is generally sharp!  Because the framing appears to be unaffected, we believe the film was shot with a soft-matte, meaning that we're actually seeing more on top and bottom of the frame than a properly letterboxed version would offer.  The colors are perfect and the contrast is generally sharp.  Directional effects are used sparingly in the Dolby Surround sound mix, but the wonderful Ennio Morricone score is well presented.

"Sharkey's Machine" is one of our guilty pleasures.  It's got some real problems in structure, and the villain is so over-the-top, it's laughable, but it leaves a strong impression after its ended!  The transfer is actually sharper than the previously available laserdisc, and while neither is letterboxed, it appears from the framing, to have been originally shot with a soft matte.  Again, this means that the viewer is actually seeing more info on top and bottom of the picture than originally intended.  The Dolby Surround sound offers a minimal amount of directional effects.

"Next of Kin" is worth seeing for its "who's who" of supporting cast members alone!  In additiion to Liam Neeson, there's also Bill Paxton "and" Helen Hunt!  Adding the fact that these are only supporting actors and Patrick Swayze is the star, demonstrates just how fast the film industry changes.   Swayze stars as a Chicago cop transplanted from his roots of the Appalacian(Get the title!) backwoods.  When his brother is killed by the mob,  Swayze returns to his native instinct in extracting revenge.  Director John(Hamburger Hill)Irvin is gifted and helps raise the film's quality far higher than its mediocre script demands.   The picture is extremely sharp, with great clarity evidenced from the detail obvious in a rainstorm sequence.  Colors and fleshtones are perfect.  The framing to this full-frame transfer doesn't appear tight, suggesting this is a film shot with a soft-matte, offering more picture information on top and bottom of the screen than originally intended.  The Dolby Surround soundtrack offers a sound mix that's active with directional effects.

"Protocol" is one of those special comedies that retains its entertainment value over many viewings, mostly due to its intelligent script by Buck Henry.  Its political humor is as timely today as it was back in 1984 and Goldie Hawn gives one of her better performances.   Hawn stars as an air-headed cocktail waitress responsible for preventing an assasination of an Arab dignitary, and awarded a job with political prestige, bringing about countless laughs.  Unfortunately,  the transfer leaves much to be desired.  Although we've been told the film was shot in soft-matte,   there are several scenes that appear to be poorly framed, suggesting "cropping".  In addition, the contrast is often of only fair quality, lacking the sharpness we associate as standard with WARNER BROS releases.  The mono sound is fine.

South Park Volume 1 includes Cartman Gets an Anal Probe,  Volcano, Weight Gain 4000 and Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride.  While we're pleased to see that another example of affordable programming that DVD technology provides, we're also disappointed that it's been censored! "South Park" on videotape appears less altered than these dvds.  Even though "Comedy Central" bleeps some of the dialogue, we believe that consumers should be able to purchase the program as an "uncut" version!  The image looks terrific with the color quality of the animated show intact as well as its 1.33:1 aspect ratio.  The Dolby Surround sound makes full use of   directional effects.  Unfortunately, there is a rare but annoying "clicking" sound that appears on the soundtrack. We're not sure if this is due to a defect of the disc or if all pressings have the problem.  It's noticeable on all three volumes however.

South Park Volume 2 includes An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig, Death, Pinkeye, Damien

South Park Volume 3 includes Starvin' Marvin,Mecha-Streisand,Mr. Hankey,The Christmas Poo, Tom's Rhinoplasty