CRASH

Director: David Cronenberg

Starring: James Spader, Holly Hunter, Deborah Kara Unger, Elias Koteas

A group of burnt out souls get their jollies by observing and participating in car crashes.

David Cronenberg’s typically intimate movie is a very difficult film to like, but nevertheless admirable. Even Cronenberg’s most ardent fans seem split on the film’s merits, despite it bearing close relation to some of the director’s best work, (Videodrome, for example). Columbia’s Region 2 disc presents the film in its theatrical 1.85:1 ratio, enhanced for 16:9 playback. The transfer is very nice, perfectly capturing Peter Suschitzky’s steely cinematography. Like the US disc the sound is Dolby Surround only. Oddly the disc does carry a terrific 5.1 mix, but it’s in Spanish! The disc contains a theatrical trailer but nothing else to tempt wavering punters. The Region 1 disc contains the same NC-17-rated theatrical version as the UK disc, but also a heavily-censored R-rated version.