FEATURES
- Interviews with Cruise, Kidman, and Spielberg
- Theatrical Trailer
- TV Spots
- Cast & Crew Bios

STUDIO
Warner Bros.

RECOMMENDATION
Buy it!

GRADING SCALE
Film
Features
Audio
Video

EYES WIDE SHUT isn't the big sexy thriller that was advertised, instead, it's a remarkable rich story about jealousy, relationships, love, and death. It's a 160-minute fantasy that asks the audience what's real and what's not. The final stamp on Kubrick's illustrious career.

Features
On a film like this, you would expect to get more features than what is presented. There is about 30 minutes worth of interviews with Cruise, Kidman, and Spielberg. They're good, but I wished they were longer. The rest of the list is the usual text features. It would've been nice if there was a commentary by Cruise, since he loved working on this movie. Production Notes are listed under the special features section on the back packaging, but I couldn't find any at all.

Audio
One of the view Kubrick dvds that actually has 5.1 surround. Being a talky film, there's not much use in the surround channels, but the bass is another matter. It's aggressive, especially when that dark, haunting score is playing. Dialogue is recorded nicely, with every line being heard easily. When I saw this in the theater, the sound was terrible. Much better movie when you get to hear it all.

Video
Most average fans will puke when they see the color in this film. But it was intended. It's muted, ugly, and dry. Just like most Kubrick films. There's a red/blue tone throughout the picture. Aside from the "intended" picture, it is a great transfer.

Once the film starts, it has a disclaimer stating that Kubrick wanted the film to be shown in full frame, as the director did for most of his films. I'd still love to see a 1.85:1 16x9 version of this. Still looks good, unlike his other dvd movies.