DVD Review by Jack

Frank Darabont has made some great movies in my humble opinion. “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The Green Mile” being two of them. He has a way of telling a story that forces one to become a part of the movie. We are not just onlookers…we know the characters and we tend to feel what they are experiencing. He populates his movies with a good number of memorable characters in the same way that Robert Altman does. Everyone of the main characters in the movie is there to be met by us.

If you are reading this, then you are a candidate to fall into this movie. A part of the movie is about following ones dream…in this case the dream of restoring a movie theater as put forth by Harry Trimble (Martin Landau). In addition we take a long hard road that leads to the discovery of the real Peter Apppleton as played by Jim Carrey.

Peter Appleton is a screenwriter in Hollywood during the 1950’s and is enjoying a moderate success. His screenplays are not great but seem to be getting better. He dates a pretty young girl that is believe it or not, in his movies. We instinctively know that when trouble comes, she will be long gone. The narrative is that good.

We are shown that Peter while imaginative is essentially spineless and has no strong belief system that can take him to the next level in his life. We are witness to scenes wherein Peter sits in meetings about making his screenplays into a movie while several studio bullies twist and turn his words about into a completely different story. Peter sits there daydreaming and lets it all happen without a peep.

One day, the studio lawyers approach him with information that seems trivial at first but will change his life forever. The events that unfold seen so natural and believable that we never question what is going on. However, evil lurks behind the scenes and it is seen how the truth can be twisted and turned to fit any scenario necessary. The evil here is in the form of the US Government and its witch trials of the 50’s. Imagine being told that you are a communist by a guy (McCarthy) that has a completely secret private life that if known would definitely have brought him down from his holier than thou public persona in a hurry. Now go one step further and imagine that you are being labeled a communist because you attended a meeting of people unknown to you. You attended the meeting in the first place to meet and impress a young lady, nothing more. There were no ties, you were just a normal young man looking for a date.

This movie has been labeled Capra-esque in its presentation of life and I guess I will have to admit that it is. In light of movies like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and It’s a Wonderful Life, this movie has a feel good attitude while presenting a deeper message with huge implications to it. I like the way it unfolds and this is my kind of movie.

The question now is how does it look and sound. Well, not bad but not the best either. The dialogue was relatively clear although there was a smidgen of heaviness in some male voices. Please know however that the dialogue was very clear and easy to understand. Ambient sounds were quiet impressive right down to the crickets at night. Music was also quite well rendered and seemed to flow naturally with the film, never calling undo attention to itself. There are some moments of extremely deep sounds, particularly when the “bad” guys enter the picture that definitely added dread to the scene but other than that there is not much need for booms and bangs.

There is no DTS and I know Yanman does lower the ratings because of that, but in this case I don’t think it matters so very much. DTS while usually a better presentation of the soundfield would not have been a big deal.

Visually, the colors were rich and clean looking. The picture was a bit soft but I think that was the effect Darabont was going for. The movie is set in the 50’s after all. One special part, wait until they light up the marquee above the Majestic Theater. Colors will abound and if your display device can handle it these colors should be positively vibrant.

There are some extras as laid out above and they are fine but nothing fantastic. But then again, keep in mind that I am not a real big fan of too many extras. I never get around to watching them all except in special cases. As such, I would rate the extras as average here.

Get this movie, it is quite a nice experience to be sure.

Video – 4 out of 5 stars

Audio – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Extras – 3 out of 5 stars

Overall Movie Rating 4 out of 5 stars

The Majestic

Staring:

Jim Carrey
Martin Landau

Director:

Directed By:

Frank Darabont

Running time: 152 Min. 
Rated: PG
 

Bonus Materials

• Additional scenes Movie within the movie: "Sand Pirates of the Sahara" - the complete sequence
• Interactive menus
• Theatrical trailer
• Cast/director
• Film highlights
• Scene access
• Languages & subtitles: English & Français (dubbed in Quebec)