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    WSR Detailed DVD Review
    Solaris
    1972
    Genre: Science Fiction

    Reviewed In Issue 69 (Feb 2003) Of Widescreen Review®

    Stars:
    Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionks, Yuri Yarvet, Vladislav Dvorzhetsky, Nickolai Grinko & Anatoly Solonitsyn

    WSR Review Scores
    WSR Picture Rating: 3.5
    DD Sound Rating: 2
    DTS Sound Rating: NA
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    Reference Systems
    Critics' Composite Score: 4
    Internet Links
    http://www.criterionco.com
    Special Features
    An audio commentary track with professors and authors Vida Johnson and Graham Petrie is included on Disc One of this two-disc set. Disc Two includes nine deleted and alternate scenes; interviews with Natalya Bondarchuk (32 minutes), cinematographer Vadim Yusov (34 minutes), Mikhail Romadin (17 minutes), and a 22-minute conversation with Eduard Artemyev (all are in Russian with English subtitles); and a five-minute excerpt from a documentary featuring author Stanislaw Lem.


     DVD General Information

    (Studio/Distributor): The Criterion Collection
    (Catalog Number): SOL070
    (MPAA Rating): Not Rated
    (Rating Reason):
    (Retail Price): $39.95
    (DVD Type): Two-Disc Set / DVD-9 x 2
    (Widescreen Edition): Yes
    (Full Screen Edition): No
    (Anamorphic Widescreen): Yes
    (Running Time In Minutes): 166
    (Color Type): Color With B/W Sequences
    (Chaptered/Scene Access): Yes
    (Closed Captioned): No
    (Regional Coding): 1
    (Theatrical Year): 1972
    (Theatrical Release): Yes
    (Direct-To-Video Release): No
    (DVD Release Date): 11/26/02
    (THX® Digitally Mastered): No

     Credits Information

    (Director): Andrei Tarkovsky
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      DVD Picture Information

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      WSR Narrative Review
    Story Synopsis:
    Psychologist cosmonaut Kris Kelvin is sent to investigate bizarre transmissions from the Solaris space station, and to check on the three remaining crew members. Not long after Kelvin arrives does he begin to experience the strange phenomena that has afflicted the Solaris residents. But will it be too late to recover when he discovers that it is the water that is causing the chaos? Based on the short science fiction novel by Stanislaw Lem. (Suzanne Hodges)

    DVD Picture:
    The anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1 DVD offers a nicely restored picture, transferred from a 35mm low contrast print made from the original negative. When the story shifts from the expanses of Earth to the confines of the space station, the cinematography shifts to more claustrophobic or isolating visuals. Colors are quite nicely balanced, with rich saturation, slightly brownish fleshtones, and deep blacks.The restoration required quite a bit of debris and scratch removal, but there are few signs that this process adversely affected the picture

    Soundtrack:
    The Dolby

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