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The Green Mile
DVD Review by Yanman |
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The Green Mile "What happens on the mile stays on the mile, always has" The Green Mile shares both writing credits (Stephen King) and directing credits (Frank Darabont), with another recent "prison" movie, The Shawshank Redemption. That is where the similarities end, however. Tom Hanks leads an incredible cast of characters through an amazing tale of hardship, friendship, faith, and miracles. Nominated for four Academy Awards including a very much-deserved nomination for best supporting actor for Michael Clarke Duncan. We open in the present day, in a nursing home, and Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) is feeling a little melancholy. He has been keeping a secret for many many years. So when his current girl friend finally gets him to open up, she is in for the story of a lifetime. It was 1935 and Paul was a prison guard in charge of the Louisiana State Prison death row, he supervised all the executions. Most death rows are know as the "The Last Mile", but this one had been given the nick name "The Green Mile" due to the floor's faded lime green color. 1935 stands out in Paul's mind for a lot of reasons, first he had the worst urinary infection of his life, and it was the year of John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan) and the two dead girls. From the time that John arrives on cellblock E, the guards can all tell (just from his size and demeanor if nothing else) that John Coffey is different. It doesn't take long however for them to realize just how different, because John is hiding a gift, an ability to perform miracles. Could a man with these supernatural powers really be a child killer? The video quality here is somewhat a disappointment. There is an amount of grain and artifacts visible, some softness as well as a considerable amount of dirt throughout. We have read reviews of this disk at other sites (yep we do that from time to time), and they give this one really high marks. So being the perfectionist that we are, we decided to test this one on the other players, TVs, and even computers around here, just to see if it was something with this disc and our reference set-up. First was the Reference setup used for most of our reviews, Toshiba 5109 progressive scan, using component video, then using S-video, then the Sony 550D using both component or S-video, both on the Toshiba 56x81 HD-Ready set. No go there. So next was the DVD player in the Toshiba Satellite Pro 4200 series laptop, that I write my reviews on, it was worse than the TV for sure, but better than the DVD Player on our editors desk top PC (This is an older Compaq using a software only player). Ok then one last try, the old direct view 32-inch 4:3 TV in the back room, with the first generation Pioneer A-100 DVD player using S-video connections. As hard as it was for us to believe it, this set up gave the best picture of all the configurations, while we could still see the afore mentioned problems, they were less noticeable, and the picture seemed somewhat sharper. Just continuing to prove that not all DVDs, players, TVs are created equal. The 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack here is somewhat muted, reflecting the somberness of the films environment. And while the majority of the films soundfield is directed toward the screen, the times that remaining channels are utilized certainly does add dramatic effect. All and all the audio receives high marks, more for how it fits the film then for how much adds to it. Only one real extra here and that is a behind the scenes documentary entitled Walking the Mile. Surely the reason there are not more extras here has to do with the amount of space on the DSDL (Dual Side/ Dual Layer) disc. With a three plus hour movie there isn't a lot of extra room. So the next logical question here is: Can we expect a Special Edition two disc set sometime in the future? Only time will tell While there are some three plus hour movies out there that just feel way to long, The Green Mile is different. The hours pass by quickly, leaving you asking for more. And this DVD leaves you asking for a lot more, extras! Still with that said, there is not a video collector out there that should not own a copy of this movie, the acting is just that good. Mr. Jangles do you want more popcorn?
This DVD was reviewed on Yanman.com's Reference Theater #1, using a Toshiba SD-5109 DVD player, Toshiba TW56X81, and M&K 750 THX Speakers. Panamax protects all systems at Yanman.com. |
The Green Mile Tom Hanks leads an incredible cast of characters through an amazing tale of hardship, friendship, faith, and miracles Staring: Tom Hanks Directed By: Frank Darabont Running time: 188 Min Bonus Materials
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