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Frankenstein: The True Story (TV)
R2 - United Kingdom - Second Sight Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (17th February 2014). |
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The Film
 ***This is a technical review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** One of the most acclaimed versions of Mary Shelley's classic, Frankenstein: The True Story features a stellar all-star cast including James Mason, Leonard Whiting, David McCallum, Jane Seymour, Tom Baker, Ralph Richardson, John Gielgud and Peter Sallis. In 19th century England, Dr Victor Frankenstein (Whiting - Romeo and Juliet), bitter over his brother's untimely death, voices his wish that men could have power over life and death. Following a chance encounter with Dr Henry Clerval (McCallum), a surgeon experimenting in this very field, they join forces and Victor achieves the impossible, the creation of life. He creates a handsome, highly intelligent young man (Michael Sarrazin - The Gumball Rally), but unforeseen problems and the involvement of evil scientist Dr Polidori (Mason - North By Northwest) lead to shocking, unimaginable horror.
Video
Although DVD has now been around for seventeen years, there are still many many films, mini-series, and television shows yet to be released in their home nations. Although "Frankenstein: The True Story" has previously been released in America by Universal Pictures, this disc from independent studio Second Sight signifies the first time it has been released in the UK on any format. The feature was originally a mini-series which aired over two nights, and was later released in a shortened, 123 minute version for theatrical release. On this disc, we get the full three hour version, in the original aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Unfortunately, it is not in great condition, but is at least perfectly watchable and better than general VHS quality. The transfer is quite grubby throughout, and shows numerous signs of damage. There's quite a lot of dirt littering the screen which is worse in some places than others, and there is a distinct lack of sharpness at times. Although some scenes show some good detail in the faces and clothing, others have a slightly fuzzy feel. Colours are a little washed out, and so the transfer feels overly soft at all times, especially the garish decor of the mansion. I'm guessing the source material for this is rather poor, as the USA release also looks disappointing. Let's hope one day, that someone will do a full restoration, as it's a decent mini-series that deserves to be treated better. The disc is PAL, and the feature runs 175:50.
Audio
There is only a single English Dolby Digital 2.0 Dual Mono track available on the release, and it likely sounds just as it did during the original television broadcast. One thing I noticed almost immediately, is that I had to pump the volume up by double what I usually use in order to hear it clearly, as it's strangely quiet, especially in comparison to Second Sight's logo when the disc initially loads up. At least once you find a reasonable volume setting, it remains consistent. There are no drop outs in the track, but it doesn't always show great clarity and lacks depth. There's clearly been no work put into restoring the audio, and it's an uninspiring effort. Overall, the audio is flat, unproblematic, and uninvolving. It's adequate for the task, but nothing more.
Extras
The sole extra on this release is an introduction from actor James Mason, running 5:30 - impressive in comparison to most introductions we see. It's definitely an introduction of its time, which has Mason talk about Mary Shelly, even showing us her tombstone. A reasonable chunk of the extra is made up of footage from the feature, but it's a good introduction, if spoilerific, and better than the "thanks for buying, enjoy" introductions we have become used to. Annoyingly though, there is no option to play it as part of the actual feature.
Overall
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