Coinciding with the release of the straight-to-video (and quite disappointing, by the way) 'Darkman II', the folks over at MCA/Universal have finally issued a 4-years-in-the-waiting widescreen edition of the original Sam Raimi comic-book extravaganza classic.
Filmed in an aspect ratio of roughly 1.66:1, the theatrical prints of 'Darkman' masked out vertical information to accommodate a roughly 1.85:1 projection matte. That’s what we get here: an image that maintains the theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1.
Compared to the murky tape and disc editions available since 'Darkman'’s 1991 video debut, this new remastering reveals substantially more picture information on the sides of the frame, maintaining a common top line and masking-out extraneous visual information at the bottom of the screen. Unlike some other 1.85 mattes from 1.66 images, the picture is consistently pleasing, with heads, hair and foreheads surviving the sometimes careless masking process (for a too-tight matting, see the widescreen 'Beverly Hills Cop').
The colors are more vivid, the shadows are blacker and—somehow— intentionally-cheesy effects shots seemed less corny this time. But maybe this has less to do with the enhanced picture quality of the disc and more to do with my excitement of FINALLY having a widescreen version.
The only complaint is a familiar one: unlike most every other widescreen reissue MCA/Universal releases, there’s no theatrical trailer. WHY NOT????
Vital statistics: MCA/Universal Home Video; 2 sides; CLV; Chapter stops; Widescreen (1.85:1); Stereo Surround; $34.95.
S. Damien Segal.
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