Review of A Tale Of Two Cities (Special Edition)

Introduction

Based on the classic Dickens` novel. This is a faithful, basic adaptation that has become a classic in its own right!

Video

Video is exceptional with great depth even though it`s in its original black and white, well at least they haven`t decided to put out a colourised version.
The film is presented in standard 1.33:1 mode. I`m not sure what its original aspect ratio was.

Audio

Sound is mono but is quite strident which makes it good and clear with only a slight amount of distortion due to the films age.

Features

You get a nice documentary on the making of the movie with some insightful anecdotes from the likes of Christopher Lee, Dorothy Tutin and director, Ralph Thomas. This runs at 27 minutes which is 2 minutes longer than stated on the box artwork. could this be described as and extra extra feature!
There`s also a stills gallery with behind the scenes and production shots. This adds up to quite a nice little package.

Conclusion

A wonderfully bright movie that has stood the test of time. Presented well with some good DVD production and authoring could have done with a little remix on the sound front but all in all a gem for any DVD collection if you a fan of the very older classics.

On a packaging note. I`ve had quite a few review discs and purchased discs recently where the disc has come loose from its central fixing. The disc then moves around in the case and gets scratched on the centre snapping clips. This disc suffered the same fate and refused to play until I did a re-polish with a fancy gadget I got from HMV last month. 99% of discs usually make it through OK but some care needs to be taken or a rethink about packaging as DVDs are very unforgiving with minor scratches.