Howard The Duck – Special Edition (1986/Universal DVD-Video/U.S. NTSC)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C Film: C-
After
reviewing an import DVD version of the film, Universal has finally issued the
infamous 1986 bomb Howard The Duck
on DVD in the U.S. and in that review, I got to say everything I wanted to say
about the film itself. You can read
about it and that disc at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6827/Howard+The+Duck+(1986/DVD-Video
That
leaves the performance and extras. The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image is a bit weaker than I expected, not
having the color, depth or definition the PAL format DVD version did. Though the print is not bad, it is just weak
and even dated looking. This disc offers
both Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 mixes, but the 5.1 waters the sound down a good
bit and the Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is weaker still. An even odder thing is that the PAL DVD’s Dolby
Digital 2.0 Stereo had surprisingly good regular Pro Logic surrounds, giving us
a very good idea of the kind of soundfield the 4.1 Dolby magnetic stereo tracks
would have had in the 70mm blow-ups of this film and more so than either
offering here. Guess it will take a
Blu-ray to beat the PAL DVD.
The only
extra on the PAL DVD was the hilarious theatrical trailer, but this adds more
teaser trailers and a bunch of featurettes.
A Look Back At Howard The Duck &
Releasing The Duck are new featurettes, while you
also get four vintage featurettes including a news piece and three on stunts,
music and visual effects respectively.
Altogether, they are more interesting than the film.
- Nicholas Sheffo