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A DVD Review of...
Images (C) Anchor Bay |
Genre: Drama/Mystery
Cast: Peter Ustinov, James Mason, Maggie Smith, Roddy McDowall, Dianna Rigg
Synopsis: Based on the novel by Agatha Christie. Hercule Poirot is called in to investigate a case for an insurance company regarding firstly a dead woman's body found on a moor and then a important diamond sent to the company to be insured turns out to be a fake. Poirot discovers that the diamond was bought for Arlena Marshall by Sir Horace Platt and Arlena is on her honeymoon with her husband and step-daughter on a tropical island hotel. He joins them on the island and finds that everybody else starts to hate Arlena for different reasons - refusing to do a stage show, stopping a book, and for having an open affair with Patrick Redfern, another guest, in full view of his shy wife. So it's only a matter of time before Arlena turns up dead, strangled and Poirot must find out who it is...
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Film Review: Ustinov's second outing as Poirot again features an all-star cast in an exotic island off the Albanian coast (actually it was shot in Majorca, Spain), and while the murder is a quite clever scheme (a trademark of the Poirot adventures) it pales compared to the film classic that was "Death on the Nile" (but proves better than the subsequent Poirot movies like "Appointment with Death" and "Dead Man's Folly"). Ustinov is perfectly cast as the clever, fiery and rather morbidly humoured Belgian detective with scenes like his 'swimming sequence' proving good fun. Emma Peel herself - Miss Diana Rigg is spectacular as the vain stunner actress and does some great banter with her ex-rival turned hotelier Maggie Smith as the claws come out. Roddy McDowall, James Mason, etc. all make fun suspects though the actors are slightly boxed in by a limited script which never lets them explore their full potential (they do their best with what's available). It does succeed in terms of plot, with the mystery made quite interesting by the fact that everyone seems to have an alibi that supports one another. Christie's mysteries always have trouble adapting to the big screen, and while this is just a 'good film' its certainly fun for those who get a kick out of elaborate plots and trying to figure out 'whodunnit'.
"Evil Under the Sun"
DVD Details In Brief (Region 1)
Rating: PG
Runtime: 127mins
Versions: 16:9 Enhanced Widescreen, 4:3 Letterboxed
Aspect Ratio: 1.77: 1
Sound: Dolby Digital Mono
Languages and Sub-Titles: English
Clips: 16-minute 'Making Of' Featurette, Theatrical Trailer
Region 1 vs. Region 4: Standard NTSC/PAL Differences |
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DVD Review: The DVD has a really cool menu that's a very 30's style artwork painting with a roving magnifying glass moving about finding the various 'suspects' that are hidden in the picture, while "I've Got You Under My Skin" plays in the background. The rest of the menus follow suit with a well layed out talent biography list. The film itself may be 16x9 enhanced, but as transfers go its quite disappointing with noticeable grain in certain scenes (especially outdoors) whilst the colour is a little too muted at times. The Digital Mono track will piss off surround sound fans but for stereo TVs it sounds quite reasonable (albeit a little 'hollow'). The 16-minute making of bio suffers from HORRIBLE film grain and over saturation, but feels very dated (this is an 80's movie but the doco feels like something made in the 1960's). There's some good location information though and the interviews with the likes of Guy Hamilton and Rigg are fun. The trailer is kind of different with Poirot addressing the audience at the start, but again the rest of it feels dated. Maybe worth a rental. - Garth Franklin
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