Magnolia
OVERALL:
ASPECT RATIO(S)
16x9 Widescreen (2.40:1)
SOUND MIX
FEATURES
STUDIO
RECOMMENDATION
Dolby Digital 5.1
- Making-Of Documentary
- Seduce & Destory Infomercial
- Frank T. Mackey Seminar
- Music Video
- Outtakes
- Theatrical Trailers
- TV Spots
New Line Cinema
Buy it!
GRADING SCALE
Film
Features 
Audio
Video
Paul Thomas Anderson's melodrama Magnolia is like a rollercoaster ride. They're bumpy. That is the case for a few people in California. We get a close look at some intriguing characters' lives that all take place and sometimes at the same time in one day. There's a cop (Reilly), a guilt-riden wife (Moore), a cocky sex-guru (Cruise), and more.
The highlight of the movie is undoubtedly Tom Cruise. His overly confident, inspirational speaker is one of the best performances of 1999. Cruise dominates this movie every second he is on screen. Having a screen time of around 45 minutes, Cruise was originally supposed to have alot less. But thankfully P.T. Anderson added to the script to give Cruise more screen time. Cruise isn't just the biggest movie star today, he is also a great actor.
Features
Being a 3-hour long film, "Magnolia" had to put its extras on the second disc. Most will look and see that the listings of these extras don't look too appealing. Well, the documentary is great. It's not the "he's great to work with" versions that we've seen before, it's just behind-the-scenes shots of the whole production. See if you can count how many times PT Anderson uses the "f" word.
There's some hidden outtakes (click on the color bars option), with one involving John C. Reilly that is hilarious. All that keeps this from getting a 4-star rating is a PT Anderson commentary. Too bad.
Audio
Forget the LFE channel. Just concentrate on the center speaker. This is a dialogue heavy film. The fronts are pretty quiet and the surrounds aren't used that much, except near the end. During that scene, they are used quite effectively and are very active. But other than that, everything is pretty quiet. No complaints, however.
Video
Another fine 16x9 transfer from New Line. This was approved by Anderson and it shows. It just looks great. He's not known for expressing his films with colors, so don't go crazy if they don't jump off the screen. There isn't one single pixel or piece of grain on this print. The film is dark most of the time, but the resolution and detail isn't lost at all. Excellent.
Overall
This was one of the best films of the year last year and should have gotten more than a measly 3 Nominations. Features a mega-huge cast and a director who has guts. You probably won't see another film quite like this one. Add in some meaty extras and a great transfer, and you really don't have anything to worry about. Respect the DVD, and tame the...