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Stars:
Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight, Patricia Arquette, Tim Blake Nelson, and Shia
LaBeouf
Writer:
Louis Sachar
Based
On The Novel By: Louis Sachar
Director:
Andrew Davis
Feature
length: 117 minutes
Extras:
Gag Reel Deleted Scenes, Cast Commentary, Filmmaker Commentary, Music Video,
Featurettes, Bonus Trailers
Languages:
English, French, and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 24
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2003/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: PG
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
“Holes”
is a strange film based on a popular children’s novel. It is sort of a fantasy
film and yet it is quite dramatic in the way the best stories that depict a
hardship undertaken by one or more young characters are illustrated. The story
has three different timeline tales that are seemingly unrelated at first. The
main plot has a young boy by the name of Stanley Yelnats (That is Stanley
spelled backwards), who is played here by Shia LaBeouf, falling victim to the
family curse through a strange set of circumstances. Sent to a camp for juvenile
delinquents, it turns out to be more like a chain gang where the boys are forced
under harsh conditions to dig holes. “Digging holes builds character” is the
motto, but they are all being exploited by the staff headed my the warden
(Sigourney Weaver) and her two flunkies (John Voight and Tim Blake Nelson.)
Centuries
earlier in the old country, the great ancestor of Stanley sought the help of a
fortuneteller to win the hand of a girl he pined for. Despite being told his
fortune was in the new world, he beckoned for her help and subsequently agreed
to a promise that if he betrayed would curse his family for generations to come.
The third interrelated timeline story is in the 19th century and
depicts how a young schoolteacher turned into a notorious outlaw after a black
man is hung for kissing her, a white woman. The manner in which the three tales
converge adds extra punch to the emotionally heartfelt ending that is sure to
bring a tear to the eye and a smile to the face as it warms the heart.
Walt
Disney Home Entertainment’s DVD edition of “Holes” delivers an excellent
detailed anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) aspect ratio presentation that is THX
certified complete with the THX Optimizer® program for proper picture and sound
calibration. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is quite
effective and there is also French and Spanish Language Dolby Digital 5.1
Surround Soundtracks and English Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing
impaired as well as Spanish Language Subtitles encoded onto the dual layered DVD
as options. For the kids there is a feature length cast commentary with four of
the young actors and for the whole family there is a feature length
filmmaker’s commentary with Director Andrew Davis and Author/Screenwriter
Louis Sachar.
Additional
extra value features includes a look at the making of the film and how the boys
prepared for the desert location filming in “The Boys Of D-Tent” (10:41) as
well as an interview with the Author, Director, and select Stars on the genesis
of the novel and development of the film (9:08). There are six letterboxed
deleted scenes (6:40) that can be viewed continuously or individually and there
is even a gag reel (1:43) and a music video with the D-Tent Boys singing “Dig
It” (1:09).
Bonus
trailers for “The Lion King: Platinum Edition DVD” (2:22), “Big Brother”
(2:14), “George Of The Jungle 2” (1:20), “Finding Nemo” (1:28), “The
Santa Clause 2” (1:09), and “Freaky Friday” (1:16) wrap up the extra
features included on this DVD. A full screen version of “Holes” is also
being released with the widescreen version with the same extra value features,
but sold separately.
“Holes”
is now available on DVD-Video at retailers on and offline from Walt Disney Home
Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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