THE MOVIE

Primal Fear is the screen adaptation of best-selling author William Diehl’s novel of the same name. It introduces the recurring character Martin Vail (Gere), hotshot attorney at law. From the outset, Vail is a flashy character, closely controlling every situation in his life. When respected clergyman Archbishop Richard Rushman is brutally murdered and young altar boy Aaron Stampler (Norton in an Academy Award Nominated performance) is chased from the scene and captured by police, Vail seizes the opportunity to take on the high profile case.

The District Attorney pursues the Stampler case with vigour, employing Vail's former lover and colleague Janet Venables (Linney) to prosecute. The deeper Vail's team investigates, the more they uncover the truth behind the life and death of Archbishop Rushman.

Put simply, courtroom dramas are a dime a dozen in Hollywood. And apart from a few standouts over the years, Devil’s Advocate and A Few Good Men (to name but a few) they have to be pretty special to rate a mention. Aside from Gere, the talent behind this film goes largely unheralded. Norton is fantastic in his breakout role and Linney has received some critical acclaim in the last year, her talent becoming clear to the masses. So good is Norton that even people that don’t like or loathe the film find positive things to say about his performance.

Not completely set in the courtroom, there is enough other action to steer this away from the usual Gere drama. Similarly, it has more than a few wry laughs, but manages to avoid the usual Gere comedy terrain.

In short, it's got wide appeal without being mass-market drivel and injects something into a tired genre. Based on a solid foundation laid by Diehl (who also co-wrote the screenplay, this is a film that has definitely got a lot to offer.

THE TRANSFER

Video:

The main feature is presented in Anamorphic Widescreen with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 (slightly wider than the OAR of 1.85:1) Usually, the fact that a film has been made by a large studio in the last 10 years, and has a new Anamorphic transfer means that it should hold up fairly well. This is not the case with Primal Fear.

There is a high degree of film grain evident and the colours are far from solid. The print used for this transfer is also very dirty throughout, a number of minor specks and hairs are evident. Considering this is a Paramount release and many films older than this have been given a new life on DVD, you could be forgiven for expecting something more.

Audio:

In the tradition of other Paramount releases, there is a range of audio soundtrack choices on this disc. There are English, French, Italian and Spanish 5.1 soundtracks, all in 5.1 Channel Dolby Digital. Dialogue is fairly clear throughout which is important in the court scenes (Aaron's stutter comes through clearly). Also on the plus side, there are no discernible pops and clicks in the audio. It has a wide presence over the front channels, with little surround usage.

There are a few moments of action, which provide for some audio highlights, but they are few and far between. As the mix is dialogue-heavy there is little bass other than for the musical accompaniment. The score (credited to Howard Shore) is extremely effective in the film as is the Dulce Pontes track, a sort of proxy theme, which provides a highlight.

THE EXTRAS

The only extra to speak of is a theatrical trailer, which is presented in matted (non Anamorphic) Widescreen video and a 2 channel soundtrack. It manages to create a little mystery without divulging any major spoilers.

There are English, Croatian, French, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Portuguese, Slovenian and Spanish subtitle tracks. The English track runs fairly close to the on-screen dialogue, with the exception of a few expletives, which have been cleaned up for the hard of hearing folk.

SUMMARY

Primal Fear is a film that has no doubt been in many VHS collections for years. It’s a great film that contains some fine performances. As it isn’t a new release, there might be many out there that have seen it. For those that have, and enjoyed it, it hasn’t looked better on home video. For those that haven’t seen it, don’t ask anyone about it, just get hold of it.

Although it has slight technical failings on DVD, it far exceeds the quality that can be found in the Pan-and-Scan video and Surround Sound of the Very Hazy System: This Paramount release instantly replaces that version. Unfortunately this release, which came at the beginning of Paramount DVD slate in Australia, has almost nothing for the DVD extra hunters. Despite the extras being thin on the ground and the video being less than reference quality, it is still a worthwhile release for the film alone.