The Adventures Of Priscilla – Queen Of The Desert:
Extra Frills Edition (DTS DVD)
Picture: C+ Sound: B- Extras: C+ Film: C+
At the
same time, two comedies about traveling cross-dressers arrived in theaters in
1994. To Wong Foo… did not work out well and did limited business along
with its mixed reviews. Stephan Elliot’s
The Adventures Of Priscilla – Queen Of
The Desert was the British counterpart, fared better critically, won awards
and was a moderate hit. MGM has reissued
it in an upgraded Extra Frills Edition
with Terence Stamp, Guy Pierce and a then-lesser-known Hugo Weaving as the
travelers.
Of the
two films, this one is less forced, less mean-spirited, features better acting
(casting in Foo plays more like a
joke) and a screenplay (by Elliot) that seems to have something more to
say. The result is a film that holds up
much better and with gay men more prominent in the media, has aged much
better. I still thought parts of it
lagged and maybe missed some of the gay references or culture, but the leads
were braver here by playing it (ironically?) straight as gay and that is why
the film is still talked about.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is soft, suggesting an older transfer,
but the colors have their moments, especially considering the Academy
Award-winning costume design by Lizzy Gardner and Tim Chappel. The original sound was Dolby Digital 5.1,
which is included here, but this was always a low-budget film and the dynamics
are limited. This is more obvious with
the DTS 5.1 track, but that is still richer and the preferred sound mix. Hit songs are the big beneficiary. Extras include a feature length audio commentary
by director Elliot, Birth Of A Queen featurette,
deleted scenes, “tidbits” from the set, bloopers, stills and two trailers: one
teaser, the other final. The case has a
small booklet inside with an essay.
- Nicholas Sheffo
