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| Disc Specifications |
| Region Coding |
4 |
| Picture Format |
1.85:1 16:9 enhanced |
| Audio Format(s) |
German DD 2
French DD 2
Italian DD 2
Spanish DD 2
English DD 2
|
| Disc-type |
Single-layer
Single-sided
Non-flipper |
| Macrovision |
Yes |
| Subtitles |
English
Spanish
Dutch
Polish
German
French
Italian
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| Running Time |
106
minutes (PAL) |
| Chapters |
28 |
| Trailer(s) |
Mr Deeds, Bugsy and Cactus Flower |
| Commentry Track |
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| Other Extras |
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| Starring |
Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Goldie Hawn, Jack Warden and Lee Grant
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| Classification |
Rated (M15+) |
| RRP |
$ 19.95 |
| Disc Rating |
| Plot |
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| Video
quality |
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| Audio
quality |
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| Extras |
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| Overall |
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THE MOVIE
Shampoo is a sharp, insightful comedy set against the backdrop of Nixon’s election in 1968. The film cleverly skewers the sexual practices of the time, with its characters discovering that free love does not necessarily lead to happiness.
Warren Beatty stars as George, a hairdresser or perhaps more appropriately a walking gland for whom the act of cutting or blow drying hair is akin to a sexual act. Unable to resist the advances of any woman he meets George’s existence is largely defined by his moving from one sexual liaison to the next.
George, however, does have ambitions beyond his next sexual partner and is eager to ascend to the next level in hairdressing, owning his own store. However he is thwarted in his quest for a loan, due to his lack of financial references. This is despite assurances from George that he has “got a lot of heads”.
Felicia (Lee Grant in her oscar winning role) one of George’s latest flames comes to George’s rescue by suggesting that her husband Lester, a rich investor might be willing to invest in his store at her suggestion.
To complicate matters Lester is seeing an ex-flame of George’s Jackie (Julie Christie), over whom George has never really gotten over. While George’s current girlfriend, Jill (Goldie Hawn), Jackie’s best friend is growing increasingly suspicious of George’s behaviour.
This intricate web of relationships of course cannot last and events come to a head on election night.
Solidly directed by Hal Ashby from a script by Robert Towne and Warren Beatty and with excellent cinematography from Lazlo Kovacs Shampoo is an enjoyable film that has aged well in large part due to its script, which captures the interplay of relationships so realistically. The performances are uniformly excellent, with Hawn in particular turning in a bewitching and beguiling performance.
THE TRANSFER
Video:
The video in Shampoo has not been restored and its shows, the print is grainy, dark in places, scratched and the colours are muted (Bit rate - mbps 2-3.5). There are also some video artifacts. While certainly watchable it is a shame that this fine film has not been given a better DVD treatment.
Audio:
The audio mix is not fantastic with dialogue being a little unbalanced compared to other elements (Bit rate kbps 192). There is also some lip synching issues at one point during the film.
THE EXTRAS
Trailers for Mr Deeds (Adam Sandler re-make), Cactus Flower (which introduced Goldie Hawn) and Bugsy (Beatty starring as the legendry mob boss who envisaged and built Vegas). There are subtitles for the trailers in Dutch, French, Italian, German and Spanish).
SUMMARY
Warren Beatty stars as an oversexed hairdresser in this insightful comedy about the sexual practices of the sixties. Unfortunately the film is given a somewhat desultory treatment on its DVD debut. |
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