Goats
R2 - United Kingdom - Koch Media Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (29th January 2014). |
The Film
***This is an A/V and extras review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** You can't choose your family...or can you? Coming-of-age comedy drama directed by Christopher Neil and starring Graham Phillips and David Duchovny. Young intelligent stoner, Ellis (Phillips) moves to the East coast to attend the prep school his dad went to, leaving his New Age mother, Wendy (Vera Farmiga), and goat herder father-figure 'Goat Man' (Duchovny) behind in Tucson. Struggling to adapt to his new surroundings but excelling in all aspects of his school work, he begins to reassess his situation and learns some lessons about love and life while doing so.
Video
Koch Media have released "Goats" onto DVD in the United Kingdom in the original aspect ratio of 2/40:1. The transfer has been anamorphically enhanced, and is good, but not great. Shot digitally using an Alexa camera, I'm surprised by the fact that this transfer seems a little dark at times, and not quite as detailed as one would expect, especially for such a new feature. Blacks are not always as deep as they should be, but the more sun-kissed colours look great. Skin tones are slightly orange and a little warm though. Edge enhancement is unfortunately noticeable at various points, though it isn't quite bad enough to be any particular problem. Detail is okay, but a lot of background elements lack clarity and sharpness. There isn't any noticeable damage to the transfer such as scratches, or any other blemishes. The disc is PAL, and the feature runs 90:14.
Audio
Koch Media have provided two audio tracks for this release; English Dolby Digital 5.1 and English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. There's no doubt about it, "Goats" is very much a dialogue driven film, with little in the way of action sequences, but this DVD does make good use of the surrounds and LFE for environmental sounds and the score. Wind swirls around the Arizona landscapes, footsteps encroach, and general chatter of other people nearby is well directed through the relevant speakers. Separation is good, and there are no signs of any sort of audio damage. I noticed no dropouts, no scratches, and no background hiss. Optional subtitles are available in Dutch only (I believe the same disc is released in Benelux).
Extras
None.
Overall
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