Dating the Enemy (1996) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Romantic Comedy | Main Menu Audio & Animation Music Video-Right On-OMC TV Spots-2 Biographies-Cast Trailer-Malcolm; What's Up, Tiger Lily? |
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| Rating |  |
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| Year Of Production | 1996 | ||
| Running Time | 100:05 (Case: 97) | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 1,2,3,4,5,6 | Directed By | Megan Simpson Huberman |
| Studio Distributor |
 Umbrella Entertainment |
Starring | Claudia Karvan Guy Pearce Lisa Hensley Matt Day Pippa Grandison John Howard |
| Case | Click | ||
| RPI | $34.95 | Music | David Hirschfelder |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Screen, not known whether Pan & Scan or Full Frame | English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) | |
| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | None | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement | No | ||
| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | Unknown | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | None | Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
��� While the premise is quite amusing, Dating The Enemy does tend to rely on it too much, becoming somewhat of a one-joke movie. While there are some nice moments involving the interaction of Brett and Tash, the film does feel a little too long, even at only an hour and forty minutes. The major problem for Dating The Enemy is that its genre has been so well covered that even what is actually a good effort pales into comparison to the many great comedies from the same genre. Still, with an amusing premise, good performances from two very good looking leads, and the patriotic feeling that goes along with watching local product, there are many worse ways to spend an hour and a half.
��� Presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, this disc is not 16x9 enhanced. I could not locate any information as to whether the transfer is full frame or pan & scan (and the back cover is no help, listing it as "Full Frame Pan & Scan"). From the composition of the shots, an open matte transfer can be ruled out, which means this is either pan & scan, or originally composed for 1.33:1 - either way given that the majority of the action takes place in the centre of the screen, it would appear to make little difference.
��� Sharpness is quite poor, although grain levels remain low during the transfer. There is an omnipresent level of background grain, but it never really becomes obtrusive. For the opening minute or so of the film, there is also a very disturbing "ghosting" that appears almost to be an interlacing artefact, as the people walking by on the street clearly create trails (maybe they're just walking very fast?). Fortunately, this disappears once the real action starts, but it is disturbing none the less. Shadow detail is better, although it still falls short of what could be called "good". The darker scenes generally show enough information to make out the action, but more subtle detail is invisible. There is no low level noise present.
��� Colours are quite good for the most part, with the bright colours of the set on which Brett works showing up very nicely. There are a few occasions, predominantly in brightly lit conditions, where the colours become slightly washed out, but these are rare and not distracting.
��� There are no compression artefacts in this transfer. Film-to-video artefacts do not fare so well. Telecine wobble is a constant presence throughout the transfer, and while it is most obvious when credits are showing - especially the opening credits - it also becomes apparent at other times, such as when Tash is lying on the couch from 73:44 onwards. Aliasing is also a constant presence, showing up in most scenes. It is not helped by the costume design that continued to dress Rob in striped shirts, such as at 1:52, and 18:58-19:24 that create a frenzy of aliasing. Film artefacts are consistently present throughout the transfer, and while most are small, there are a few, such as at 39:47 and 46:27 that are quite large and very noticeable.
��� There are no subtitles on this disc.
��� This is a single layered disc, and as such has no layer change.
| Sharpness |   |
| Shadow Detail | |
| Colour | |
| Grain/Pixelization | |
| Film-To-Video Artefacts |   |
| Film Artefacts | |
| Overall | |
��� There is only a single soundtrack on this disc, being the original English Dialogue in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo at 224 Kbps.
��� Dialogue is clear and easy to understand at all times. There are never any problems in regard to the mixing levels, even during the numerous party scenes.
��� Audio sync is generally good, although there are a few occasions where the audio becomes subtly out of sync. By far the worst of the sync problems is from 17:00 to 18:04, where it is quite obvious that the sync is not right.
��� The musical accompaniment for Dating The Enemy is a combination of contemporary pop pieces and score from David Hirchfelder. The score has a generally light and slightly jazzy feel and is quite effective, being one of the better romantic comedy scores.
��� Being a stereo soundtrack, there is obviously no use of the surround channels. The stereo separation, however, is quite good, and the soundfield is decently wide. For the subject nature of this film, the lack of surround presence is not as large a liability as it might have been.
��� As there is no dedicated subwoofer track, it will only get redirected bass, and in this film that is likely to be very little. It essentially stood dormant for the entire film.
| Dialogue | |
| Audio Sync | |
| Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
| Surround Channel Use |  |
| Subwoofer | |
| Overall | |
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
��� The video quality is quite poor, and is a major distraction from the film itself.
��� The audio quality is very good for being a straight stereo mix. Given the genre though, the lack of surround channels does not hurt it too badly.
��� The meagre selection of extras present is very disappointing, especially given their generally low quality.
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Extras | |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer DV-535, using Component output |
| Display | Loewe Xelos 5381ZW. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Onkyo TX-DS787, THX Select |
| Speakers | All matching Vifa Drivers: centre 2x6.5" + 1" tweeter (d'appolito); fronts and rears 6.5" + 1" tweeter; centre rear 5" + 1" tweeter; sub 10" (150WRMS) |
