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There is an afterlife at least for popular movies on
DVD. While this edition won't make you give up the ghost
of a perfect DVD edition, it is an improvement over the
previous edition of the film. Well written by Bruce Joel
Rubin, "Ghost" seems like a dry-run for Rubin's "Jacob's
Ladder" which I suspect it is. When I was reading screenplays
for Dino DeLaurentiis "Jacob's Ladder" made the rounds and
was optioned constantly but never produced gaining the reputation
as the best unproduced screenplay in Tinseltown. Rubin found
a way to recycle some of the concepts from that script in
a more commercial film which struck a nerve and finally
allowed his magnum opus to be produced. Director Jerry Zucker
("Airplane") does a terrific job of directing his first
"serious" film. He deftly manages both the comedic and thriller
elements of the script creating a film that can touch even
a cynic's heart. ***
Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze) seems to have the perfect
life. He's moving in with his girlfriend Molly (Demi Moore),
successful at work and well liked by his peers including
his best friend Carl (Tony Goldwyn). When Sam is murdered
in a seemingly random mugging, he's taken away from all
that. Now he's a disembodied ghost walking the Earth who
has to help Molly solve his own murder with the assistance
of faux spiritualist Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg in her
Oscar winning role) to save Molly's life before the scumbag
that killed him gets her. ---
Image & Sound:
"Ghost" manages to look better in DVD afterlife than
it ever has before. The colors are lively and the images
are sharp for the most part. There is an occasionally soft
spot but that could be due more to how the film was shot
than the transfer itself or even due to the aging negative.
Digital grain due to compression is kept to a minimum. ***
Audio has nice presence with dialogue crystal clear and
the surround effects are used well in the film. ---
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