The Addams Family
Paramount Home Video
Cast: Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Christina Ricci
Extras: Theatrical trailers
Rating:
Based on Charles Addams“ cartoon strips, this feature film immediately hit it with fans of the series, as it fully managed to hit the dark and somewhat macabre humor of the original. The beautiful cinematography and the perfect cast, makes ”The Addams Family“ a great dark comedy.
Paramount Home Video’s release presents the film in a transfer that is enhanced for 16×9 television sets and restores the movie’s original theatrical 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio. The presentation is powerful and stark, making a great impression from the first seconds. With solid blacks that make the shadows of the movie more looming, and powerful highlights that never bleed, this transfer is another example of DVD’s capabilities. The color reproduction is faithful to the original film with somber grays and contrasting colors, reproducing even the most subtle hues and tones without any problems. The compression is flawless without noticeable pixelation or ringing from edge-enhancement.
The DVD contains a remastered 5.12 channel Dolby Digital audio track that vastly adds to the overall experience of the film. With aggressive surround usage and a good bass extension, the haunting atmosphere of the film will completely engulf you. The mix creates a wide sound field with crisp, but unexaggerated and undistorted high ends and a good, natural sounding frequency response. Especially the majestic score of the film benefits from the new mix, as it images the orchestra much wider and spatial than ever before.
For fans of the movie this DVD is a delight. It brings ”The Addams Family’ to life vividly with a staggering visual and sonic presentation. Too bad only, that the extras are limited to the movie’s trailers, but other than that, this disc is a winner!
