Videodrome (David Cronenberg, 1983) (Criterion) [RePoPo]

******************************************************************************* Videodrome (David Cronenberg, 1983) ******************************************************************************* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Technical Information ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Type..................: Movie Container file........: AVI Video Format..........: H.264 Total Bitrate.........: 1987 Kbps Bits/(Pixel*Frame)....: 0.300 Audio format..........: AC3 192 Kbps (Untouched) Audio Languages.......: English 1.0 Subtitles Ripped......: English, Spanish Resolution............: 720x384 (Same as DVD, cropped black bars) Aspect Ratio..........: 1.85:1 (approx.) Original Aspect Ratio.: 1.85:1 Color.................: Color FPS...................: 23.976 Source................: NTSC Criterion DVD Duration..............: 01:28:50 Genre.................: Sci-fi, Horror IMDb Rating...........: 7.3 Movie Information.....: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086541/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE NOTICE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This rip comes directly from the Criterion DVD. Size has been calculated in order to get the optimum PQ without oversizing the file, hence the irregular size of the file (not the usual 700Mb/1.4Gb rip). A rate of Bits/(Pixel*Frame) around 0.3 is perfect, above that point, picture quality becomes virtually the same to the original source. Check you have installed the right codecs, as listed in this .nfo file, before trying to play it. VLC will play this file without having to install any codec. If you don't like the codec(s), container, resolution, file size, languages or any technical aspect on this rip, keep it to yourself and go and do your own. Serious feedback on quality will always be welcome. IF you can/can't play it on standalone players, PS3, Xbox, etc etc, that'd be of interest so I can enhance future rips. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Release Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SYNOPSIS When Max Renn goes looking for edgy new shows for his sleazy cable TV station, he stumbles across the pirate broadcast of a hyperviolent torture show called Videodrome. As he struggles to unearth the origins of the program, he embarks on a hallucinatory journey into a shadow world of right-wing conspiracies, sadomasochistic sex games, and bodily transformation. Starring James Woods and Deborah Harry in one of her first film roles, Videodrome is one of writer/director David Cronenberg�s most original and provocative works, fusing social commentary with shocking elements of sex and violence. With groundbreaking special effects makeup by Academy Award®-winner Rick Baker, Videodrome has come to be regarded as one of the most influential and mind-bending science fiction films of the 1980s. CAST James Woods - Max Renn Sonja Smits - Bianca O'Blivion Deborah Harry - Nicki Brand Peter Dvorsky - Harlan Les Carlson - Barry Convex Jack Creley - Prof. Brian O'Blivion Lynne Gorman - Marsha Julie Khaner - Briley Lally Cadeau - Rena King Sam Malkin - Bum David Bolt - Rafe Harvey Chao - Japanese Salesman Bob Church - Newscaster Jayne Eastwood - Caller Henry Gomez - Brolley Kay Hawtry - Matron Rainer Schwartz - Moses CREW David Cronenberg - Director / Screenwriter Claude Heroux - Producer Mark Irwin - Cinematographer Howard Shore - Composer (Music Score) Ronald Sanders - Editor Carol Spier - Production Designer Pierre David - Executive Producer Victor Solnicki - Executive Producer Delphine White - Costume Designer Frank Carere - Special Effects Rick Baker - Makeup Special Effects Peter Lauterman - Properties Master ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A REVIEW Jason Boyberg (http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/12109/videodrome-criterion-collection/) A sterling example of David Cronenberg's signature mindfuck style of weird cinema, 1983's Videodrome is one of those films that tends to elude you regardless of how many times you watch it. It's the type of trippy fright flick that confounds you even as it pulls you relentlessly forward with its disturbing imagery and gross-out watchability. At film's end, you're likely to rub your noggin and frown and wonder whether you've endured a waking nightmare during a great portion of Videodrome's running time. Is the film a bloody indictment of the effects of television violence? Or is it more likely a Cronenbergian comment on the increasingly organic relationship between man and media, between flesh and technology, between the mind and the machine? It's likely a bit of all those things, and even today, I'm a bit bewildered by the prospect of summing up this film in a few short paragraphs. Jaded Max Renn (James Woods) heads up a tiny, independent cable TV station that specializes in edgy softcore erotica and disturbing violence. Max is always on the lookout for the next piece of provocative sleaze, hunting the airwaves with his technical assistant Harlan (Peter Dvorsky) and searching the globe with the help of video freelancers like Masha (Lynne Gorman). When, with the help of Harlan, he stumbles on a fuzzy broadcast of something called Videodrome, which seems to feature graphic depictions of torture and murder, Max believes he's found something significant, the type of aggressively offensive video that's perfect for his station. As he pitches forward into his investigation of Videodrome's origin, he becomes involved with self-help maven Nicki Brand (Deborah Harry), and we find, as their relationship develops, that both share sadomasochistic desires that feed directly into Videodrome's allure. After Nicki disappears on her own quest to find Videodrome, Max finds himself experiencing increasingly bizarre hallucinations involving his stomach and his TV. By the time he meets Videodrome's Barry Convex (Les Carlson) and the elusive Brian O'Blivion (Jack Creely), Max is at the epicenter of a horrifying dreamscape, under the sway of some kind of video-borne mind control. That's Videodrome in a nutshell, and yet there's no way to adequately convey the way this film burrows under your surface and leaves you feeling as mind-altered as poor Max. It's also difficult to determine at what point in Videodrome's baffling plot trajectory that its events become merely fragments of Max's fractured mind. It's a slow descent into an alternate pseudo-reality in which a huge console TV bloats with life and folds Max into a moaning, gasping, sexual embrace�in which Max's abdomen cleaves into a vagina-like orifice that will accept firearms and Betamax tapes at its sucking whim�and in which characters come and go, dead or alive, within the dream reality of Videodrome. Soon, Max is himself a biotechnical weapon infused with malicious intent, and you're reminded of Cronenberg's eXistenZ, the 1999 film in which the director returned to story duties for the first time since�you guessed it�Videodrome. The two films make for a striking double feature, offering up twin stories of bizarre hallucinatory mindscapes and body-obsessed horror, and they might represent the most powerful manifestations of Cronenberg's statement on the sway of the mind and the flesh. You're left puzzled by the outward events of Videodrome, and yet you feel an almost visceral charge resulting from the onslaught of eroticized video-and technology-based imagery. These are truly images from out of your weirdest nightmares, made all the better by the fact that they're all practical effects rather than today's distanced CG imagery. These effects ooze with fleshy realism, and you can almost smell their wet messiness. These effects, combined with the film's zealous statements about media violence and technoflesh, start your synapses firing, and you begin searching for meaning in the muck. You start thinking about what you're watching on cable, and you start wondering fearfully about what's going on in the minds of your children when you catch glimpses of their zombified stares in front of the TV. And you think, Maybe it's too late. Maybe we're already under the influence of the very thing Cronenberg foreshadowed with that Beta-tape-in-James-Woods'-guts thing. Jokes aside, Videodrome remains a remarkably prescient endeavor, particularly to those of us writing and reading this review�yeah, you, you purveyor and obsessor of video-based media. The actors do an admirable job of bringing all this weirdness to pulsing life. Woods is oddly mesmerizing as Renn, our protagonist, and even as the things happening to him get more and more outrageous, we're there with him for every moment, eager participants in his psychotic predicament. Harry is a little awkward in one of her first acting roles, but there's no denying her masochistic allure. The bit players all share that weirdly stilted Cronenberg vibe, which feeds into the director's peculiar oddities. Maybe it's a Canada thing. HOW'S IT LOOK? Criterion presents Videodrome in a beautiful anamorphic-widescreen transfer of the film's original 1.85:1 theatrical presentation. This is really a gorgeous effort that belies the film's 21 years. Boasting a filmlike depth, the transfer offers a supreme level of detail, reaching into backgrounds. Sharpness is out of this world. The film's color palette is very accurately translated, with no bleeding or smearing. Everything is quite stable. I noticed some fairly significant source grain in a few outdoor shots, but nothing to get too uptight about. It's a remarkably clean print. Through a digital-restoration process, a lot of debris has been removed from the source print, but occasional dirt specks are in evidence here and there. Blacks are inky. This is an extremely satisfying presentation. HOW'S IT SOUND? The disc's Dolby Digital 1.0 mono presentation accurately translates Videodrome's original audio track. Obviously, it's a center-focused affair, offering no engagement from the sides, but the fidelity is very much intact. It also offers a surprisingly effective low end, particularly in Howard Shore's moody, electronic score. Dialog is clear and accurate, if a tad over-processed in a few scenes. Criterion has done an admirable job cleaning up hiss and other imperfections while retaining the track's fidelity. Overall, this is an amazing presentation considering its mono source. (removed part referred to extras) WHAT'S LEFT TO SAY? Criterion hits one out of the park�shall we say, out of the mind?�with Videodrome. This is a lovingly packaged and presented film experience, complete with uncommonly fine video and audio and stimulating extras. Cronenberg fans will find this set an absolute must, and all others should at least consider a blind buy of one of the director's very best works. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Mavr1ck (2009-03-17)

Just what I was looking for. Thanks repopo!

 rovhal_knullare (2009-04-01)

This film is amazing.

Ex0duS_5150 (2009-04-12)

i remember seeing this when i was a kid, freaked me out. good flick.. thanks a lot for the up..

fuckheineken (2009-05-23)

wow, unbelievable quality. amazing.
10/10
Thanks
greetz
m

 FatFreddy475 (2009-07-28)

unplayable on ps3, probably because it's avc level 5.1. Change to 4.1 and it will be playable.

themaicokid (2010-01-20)

Thanks repopo. They don't make them like this anymore!

asimbiju (2010-06-28)

The video quality is SUPERB... AMAZING... exactly same as DVD ---- Thanks u soo much for maintaining the DVD quality while compressing the video...

RailwaySims (2010-11-29)

Brilliant Film, Thanx :)

cogito_infected_moose (2011-05-17)

Hey thanks for the upload, repopo. Can you tell me how I can remove the Spanish subtitles?

Adbekunkus (2011-08-15)

thanks! im gonna whatch it tonight!

oniscoid (2011-12-05)

picture quality good but had audio sync problems in VLC (also in MPC and WMP)

uzlicek64 (2012-06-02)

Thank you!

allexfrq (2012-06-08)

This is a great movie. Please tell me how can I tell that I have seeded enough.

ghostrx (2013-03-07)

Thanks!

CarlZeiss (2013-05-04)

Thanks, repopo

ricky5005 (2013-06-18)

This jitters a bit when I play it in VLC, works better in MPC.

chinapon (2013-10-06)

Thanks a lot!

ashot1473 (2014-05-26)

thanks for sharing!!