 |
DVD Title |
Premonition |
International Title |
Premonition |
DVD Length |
Original Length |
95 Minutes |
95 Minutes |
Company |
Year of Manufacture |
Lions Gate |
2005 |
Language |
Subtitles |
Japanese |
English, Spanish |
Region |
Number of Discs |
1 |
1 |
Aspect Ratio |
Sound |
1.85:1 (Anamorphic) |
2.0 Stereo, 5.1 Surround |
Extras |
. |
Menus (English) |
. |
Chapters (16) |
. |
Trailers: Infection
(US), Ju-On (US), Alone in the Dark,
Undead, Devil's Rejects |
. |
Interviews (23 minutes total) |
. |
Making of Featurette (38 minutes total) |
. |
Press Conference (4 minutes) |
. |
Visual FX Feature (6 minutes) |
 |
|
Captures |
|
Review |
Fittingly released simultaneously with Lions
Gate's Infection,
as both films were double billed for their theatrical
release in Japan, Premonition, surprisingly,
ends up being one of the best Toho discs on the
region 1 market. All in all, Lions Gate has done
a fantastic job across the board, with a great
video presentation, excellent audio tracks, and
a wealth of extras to mill over.
|
Video: |
 |
Another excellent video presentation from
Lions Gate, as there really are no problems to
be had with the quality. The colors are distinct,
with their only fault being that they lack the
true lush array that has been seen in some of
Tristar and AnimEigo's work, while the brightness
level is set just right to not drown out the lighter
scenes while making the darker ones visible. In
regards to digital inconsistencies there aren't
really any complaints to be had, while the film
looks naturally sharp without obvious signs of
edge enhancement. As for the shape of the print
used for the transfer: outstanding with no scratches. As for noise, there is a
faint hint of grain, but comes off as more natural than distracting and likely was something digitally added by the original production crew anyway.
Premonition is presented in its original
aspect ratio of 1.85:1, and is Anamorphic for
widescreen TVs.
|
Audio: |
 |
Like its video presentation, Premonition
also boasts great audio quality with the two tracks
present. Both of the tracks are of the film's
original Japanese audio, and come in a 2.0 stereo
mix and a 5.1 surround mix. Both are generally
flawless, although Premonition isn't
exactly the type of movie to give one's speaker
setup a work out, but the distinction is still
noticeable none the same.
The audio tracks can be accompanied by English
or Spanish subtitles, which can be toggled on
or off.
On a side note, the disc would have gotten a
perfect score in this regard if it had an additional
language track, something which might not even
matter to some so it seemed worth mentioning.
|
Extras: |
 |
A huge surprise, as Lions Gate has packed
this disc full of extras to better explore elements
of the film. It's obvious that the company cared
a lot more about this release compared to Infection,
but the difference is really night and day.
To start off with on supplemental content on
this disc, there is a large collection of interviews,
each separated on the disc by their participants,
that include: Norio Tsuruta (Director), Hiroshi
Mikami (Actor), Noriko
Sakai (Actress), Maki Horikita (Actress),
Mayumi Ono (Actress) and Kazuo Yoshiyuki (Actress).
The director's interview is 8 minutes in length,
while the other five are each 3 minutes in length.
All six are in Japanese and include, removable,
English subtitles.
Next up is a "making of featurette"
which explores 6 sequences, which are also broken
up that way on the disc, for a total run time
of 38 minutes. Like the other features, this is
done in Japanese with, removable, English subtitles.
Following that is a short, 4 minute, press conference
which opens up with the producer gushing about
how Ring
(1998) and Ju-On have been turned into
US remakes before the director and cast get to
be interviewed.
Rounding out the list is a 6 minute Visual FX
feature which, speaking for myself, I found fascinating
as they dissect a lot of the work in the movie.
What makes this extra so interesting is that a
lot of the FX work that is dissected here is virtually
unnoticeable as special effects during the movie
itself. Such as this shot here
before it turned into the final
product as show during the movie. It's not
a simple "before and after" either,
as the original elements are shown while each
of the changes is quickly displayed before the
final product is run. During this time, there
is also running commentary, in Japanese, by Mitsuaki
Hashimoto who explains in greater detail what
is going on, while he is complimented by removable
subtitles on the disc. It's an incredible supplement
that is interesting from beginning to end.
Now if only Lions Gate would have stuck the film's
Japanese trailer on here...
|
Overview: |
 |
Bottom line, this disc is a very pleasant surprise
after Lions Gate's Infection,
and it's not exactly clear why such little care
was placed in that release in contrast. Regardless,
in terms of video, audio and extras, Premonition
is simply one of the best region 1 Toho discs
on the market. One can only hope that the company
decides to release more Toho films in the future
with the same amount of care placed into them
as this disc.
|
- Anthony Romero |
Buy
this DVD |
|