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  Directed by
  Starring
  Specs
  • Widescreen 2.35:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  • Dual Layer (RSDL )
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • German: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  Subtitles
    English, German, Hebrew, Czech, Greek, Polish, Hungarian, Dutch, Arabic, Turkish, Icelandic, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Hindi, Bulgarian
  Extras
  • 7 Deleted scenes - with production sound and director's commentary
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Audio commentary
  • Cast/crew biographies
  • Featurette
  • Outtakes

Urban Legends: The Final Cut - Collector's Edition

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment . R4 . COLOR . 95 mins . M15+ . PAL

  Feature
Contract

Hollywood seems to love sequels, and nothing generates sequels quite so easily as a horror film. It's a simple formula: take the basic premise of the previous films, incorporate one or two characters that we've already met, add a young cast (actors already known to your target audience are preferable), place in front of a camera and shoot. Serves 90 minutes. Garnish with a catchy title as desired.

Urban Legends: Final Cut does break the sequel mould somewhat, by not being a traditional sequel - it's set in an entirely different location, only one of the characters of the original makes an appearance (and only then in a supporting role) and the events of the original are only briefly touched upon in passing. In fact, The original Urban Legends could have been the end result of this movie, thus making Final Cut a prequel... but let's not go there.

So, what do the two films have in common then, that gives this film "sequel status"? Final Cut follows student director Amy Mayfield (Jennifer Morrison) as she produces her thesis film so that she may graduate film school, and with a little luck, perhaps win the coveted "Hitchcock Award" - presented to the best graduating student each year. The subject of Amy's thesis film? A horror movie, set on a college campus where a killer is at large, using urban legends to kill his victims.

But of course, this is a horror film, and nothing should be so simple. While young Amy tries to piece together her masterwork, some mastermind is making pieces of her workers. Who could it be? You'll need to watch the film to find out...

  Video
Contract

Another fine disc from Columbia-Tristar, allowing all the aspects of good horror (and bad horror too, for that matter) to shine through on your TV at home. Blacks are strong and deep, flesh looks like flesh, and the blood, the beautiful blood, is a wonderfully vibrant red.

Sharpness and detail are strong, without appearing unnatural, and only the briefest touch of aliasing in a few scenes, and those mostly in the background, away from notice. On the flip side, is the fencing mask worn by the killer - a surface covered in thousands of points of light and shadow, with no hint of artifacting during the presentation is difinitely something worthy of praise.

  Audio
Contract

Sound is an important part in horror and thriller films, as it's usually what you can't see that will cause the biggest fright. And of course, a sudden loud noise when all is quiet creates a scare as big or bigger than something jumping out on screen. Add to this the ability to focus the sounds to come from specific areas, and drawing the audience into the experience of the characters is made even easier.

Unfortunately, Final Cut doesn't make great use of the extra channels, especially in scenes where it would make the most impact, such as the "Tunnel of Terror". Instead, we have a soundstage heavily weighted toward the front, with the rears only noticeable for scoring, environmental effects, and the bell in the bell tower.

Dialogue is crisp and clear, synched well with the video, despite extensive use of ADR throughout the film.

  Extras
Contract

Being a Collector's Edition release, we get a good swag of extras on this disc:

  • Audio Commentary with Director John Ottman. Director's commentaries can be a bit of a hit and miss affair - with John Ottman, we have a different experience. Final Cut was Ottman's first stint as director, however, he has worked on other films as an editor (picking up a BAFTA award for The Usual Suspects) and a score composer (receiving an Emmy nomination for his work on the pilot of Fantasy Island). On Final Cut he wore all three hats - Director, Editor, and Composer. As such we get a very interesting commentary on how each role has different desires in the making of a film, along with the normal commentary anecdotes from production.
  • Making of Featurette - the theatrical trailer, with a couple of interview questions with cast members and the director, running to a very brief three and a half minutes.
  • Gag reel of outakes and bloopers from the film's production.
  • Deleted scenes a collection of 7 scenes deleted from the film to help increase the pace. Taken directly from the AVID editor, the video quality is not as clean as the main feature, but then these scenes did not make it through the total production process. Presented both with production audio and a director's commentary, they provide a good look at the decisions that go into editing a film.
  • Talent Profiles a single page briefly mentioning the background of John Ottman, Jennifer Morrison, Hart Bochnar, Joseph Lawrence and Anthony Anderson, with a short filmography for each.
  • Theatrical Trailer

  Overall  
Contract

A very good disc of a... well, your opinion of the movie really depends on whether you appreciate teen slasher films or not. As far as the genre goes, Final Cut has some interesting concepts, especially in the art examining itself department, with the "slasher movie of the making of a slasher movie" that is very reminiscent of Wes Craven's New Nightmare. Unfortunately, it does tend to follow the formula of most slasher movies, the formula that allowed the Scream series to do what they did so well.

If you're a closet slasher fan, then the disc is well worth adding to your library. If not, at least think about hiring it for an evening of cheap scares and thrills.


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      And I quote...
    "Final Cut? Surely there's another sequel in there somewhere?"
    - Andrew MacLennan
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Pioneer DV-515
    • TV:
          Philips 29PT6361
    • Receiver:
          Denon AVR-2700
    • Speakers:
          Aaron ATS-5
    • Centre Speaker:
          Aaron CC-240
    • Surrounds:
          Aaron SS-120
    • Subwoofer:
          Aaron SUB-240
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard Optical
    • Video Cables:
          Standard Component RCA
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