Intro
I was quite interested in viewing this film, and I must say, it did not disappoint. Don’t Say a Word is a very suspenseful film with great acting and an interesting storyline.
Synopsis
“When the daughter of a prominent New York psychiatrist (Douglas) is kidnapped, his only hope for her safe return is to pry a 6-digit number from the memory of a troubled teenage girl – and time is running out!”
Audio
This film sounded great on DVD… in both DTS and Dolby Digital…5.1. The score was beautifully transmitted through all of the speakers, and the soundstage was solid. The surrounds were used very effectively for both the score and the sound effects, the left-to-right sound movements were good, and the center channel was nicely used to transmit crystal clear voices. The base is deep and shook, creating a suspenseful feel for this thriller. Fox did a great job setting the mood for this film through sound.
The commentary tracks on this DVD were done the right way. The actors are all included in the commentary process, but in scene specific roles. This way, each main actor gets to talk about their role and character without interfering with the featured director’s commentary. The director’s commentary is very educating, covering topics such as the film making process and the making of the film, while the actors add there own spice to their specific scenes. Great job Fox!
Video
The picture looked very good on this DVD. The colors looked very natural, and the transfer was very sharp. The picture did not contain any image artifacts of granulation, and there were very few edge enhancements. If you are looking for a solid picture with no distracting blemishes… you will really appreciate this DVD.
Features
Fox continues to impress in regards to the Special Edition releases that they have been producing. This DVD has some beautiful menus (fully animated and scored) and also included many special features.
First up is a Making-Of Featurette. This is the basic interviews / clips / story overview / behind the scenes look at the film. The 8 minute running time is long enough to cover some basic topics, and short enough to keep your attention. Next up… deleted scenes. There are three deleted scenes include on this disc, and as usual with such scenes, you can tell why they were cut. These scenes are fun to watch, but are not overly missed in the film.
There are lots of other features also include on this disc. There is a great screen test with Brittany Murphy (the teenage girl with issues), that really shows her acting ability. There are some very nice storyboard to screen comparisons, all of which use a split screen to compare the differences and similarities between the planned and the actual scene. There is a multiple angle comparison for one of the scenes of the film. This multiple angle feature encompasses 9 separate camera angles to view the scene. Lastly, a few other included features are trailers, interviews with the director and producers, a set tour, and cast & crew bios.
Closing Thoughts
This is a very good film… and thankfully it received a great DVD treatment. The sound and special features were fabulous, and the video quality was also very good. If you enjoy thrillers such as this, you cannot go wrong with this disc. This DVD will leave you saying “… I’ll never tell.”
Special Features List
- Director’s Commentary
- Actor scene specific commentaries
- Deleted Scenes
- Making of featurette
- Set tour featurette
- Film scoring featurette
- Screening room dailies
- Brittany Murphy screen test
- Storyboard-to-screen comparisons
- Theatrical trailer
