BLU-RAY REVIEW

Fountain, The

Featured In Issue 122, July/August 2007

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WSR Score3
Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
(Studio/Distributor):
Warner Home Video
(Catalog Number):
81039
(MPAA Rating):
PG13
(Rating Reason):
For some intense sequences of violent action, some sensuality, and language
(Retail Price):
$39.99
(Disc Type):
Dual Side/Dual Layer (HD DVD30/DVD9)
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
No
(Running Time In Minutes):
96
(Color Type):
Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
Not Indicated
(Theatrical Year):
2006
(Theatrical Release):
Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release):
No
(Disc Release Date):
05/15/07
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
No
(Director):
Darren Aronofsky
(Screenplay/Written By):
(Story):
(Music):
(Director Of Photography):
(Production Designer):
(Visual Effects):
(Costume Designer):
(Editor):
(Supervising Sound Editors):
(Re-Recording Mixers):
(Executive Producers):
(Co-Producers):
(Producers):
(Academy Awards):
(Principal Photography):
(Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
(Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
(Disc Soundtrack):
Dolby Digital+ 5.1
(Theatrical Sound):
(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
(DTS Bit Rate):
(Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
(Additional Languages):
(French Language):
(Spanish Language):
(Chinese Language):
(Subtitles):
(Cantonese Language):
(Mandarin Language):
(Japanese Language):
(Italian Language):
(German Language):
(Portuguese Language):

It is said that whoever drinks the sap from the Tree of Life will live forever. "The Fountain" takes place in the past, the present, and the future—yesterday, today, and tomorrow—where one man (Jackman) will travel to the ends of earth, throughout time, to save the woman he loves (Weisz). (Tricia Spears)

Special features on Side A include a 13-minute interview with Jackman and Weisz, almost nine minutes on visual effects ("VFX Step by Step"), fifteen-and-a-half minutes of scene-to-storyboard comparison ("Inside The Director's Mind"), the six-part "Inside The Fountain: Death And Rebirth" (51 minutes), a 95-minute montage of macro-photography sequences ("Peter Parks Bonus"), and the theatrical trailer. Side B features are the same as those on the DVD and include: the 32-minute "Inside The Fountain: Death And Rebirth" featurette and the theatrical trailer

The VC-1-encoded HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc both show the same problems with the less-than-perfect black levels and bloomy whites, and shadow delineation is far from superb. Resolution is good, but not quite at the level of the best high-definition releases. (Danny Richelieu)

The HD DVD's Dolby Digital Plus encoding provides a subtle increase in overall fidelity over the Blu-ray Disc's Dolby Digital encoding, but both sound almost identical. Imaged effects are slightly easier to pick out of the soundfield in the HD DVD version, but, again, only slightly. (Danny Richelieu)