Stars:
Julian Sands, Nancy Travis, Judith Ivey, Matt Keesler, Kimberly Brown, Melanie
Lynskey, and Matt Ross
Writer:
Stephen King
Director:
Craig R. Baxley
Feature
length: 253 minutes
Extras:
Production Commentary, Trailers, Bad House: The Making Of Rose Red, The Diary Of
Ellen Rimbauer, Storyboard Comparison, Still Gallery
Languages:
English, French, and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:
English Captions and Spanish Subtitles
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 36
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year
of DVD Release: 2002
Home
Video Distributor: Lions Gate Home Entertainment
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
“Stephen
King’s Rose Red” was the best television miniseries of an original Stephen
King story written directly for the screen since “Stephen King’s Storm Of
The Century” and this is should be a surprise once one learns that the film
was produced and directed by the same team who bought “Storm Of The Century”
to television years ago.
Inspired
by Shirley Jackson’s “The Haunting Of Hill House,” “Stephen King’s
Rose Red” is a layered tale about the obsession a paranormal psychology
professor has with the notorious Seattle mansion, which literally has the
ability to build extensions to itself continuously and the nasty habit of
“eating” the unfortunate souls who get lost within the labyrinth that is
Rose Red.
The
film also focuses on a high-powered autistic child with remarkable abilities
that is key for the group’s paranormal investigations and the source from
which the house draws power when they arrive. Finally there is the jealous
psychology professor who is determined to undermine the investigation and ruin
the other professor’s career by proving she’s a fraud.
Great
characterization, good effects, legitimate chills, and a strong teleplay by
Stephen King make “Rose Red” must viewing for King fans and the upcoming DVD
is definitely an excellent edition to anyone’s Stephen King film library on
DVD. Lions Gate Home Entertainment presents “Stephen King’s Rose Red” in a
very good (1.33:1) aspect ratio that preserves the manner of the original
network television broadcast. The transfer is free of blemishes and is quite
sharp though there is a very fine grain that sometimes makes a few scenes look a
little softer, but overall the transfer is better than the original television
broadcast and should not disappoint viewers. A choice of English, French, or
Spanish Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtracks are included and are
well mixed. English Captions and Spanish Subtitles are also encoded on to both
dual layered DVD discs.
The
disc also features a program length screen specific audio commentary track with
Director Craig R. Baxley and Production Designer Craig Sterns. Among the
interesting anecdotes was that the initial concept came from a collaboration
between Steven Spielberg and Stephen King, which ultimately grew too complex and
dense to film as a feature so amicably both Stephen and Steven went their
separate ways and their collaborative project spawned the DreamWorks’ remake
of “The Haunting” as well as “Rose Red.” It took four months to shoot
“Stephen King’s Rose Red.”
The
three parts are merged together as one long feature without any credit breaks
between the parts. The first 170-minutes are on disc one and the remaining
83-minutes are on the second disc. Disc one features a trailer for “Stephen
King’s Rose Red” while disc two contains the rest of the extra features.
On
disc two is a 50-minute behind-the-scenes making of documentary entitled “Bad
House: The Making Of Rose Red” with cast and crew interviews as well as a look
at virtually every aspect of the making of this miniseries. Also included is the
ABC Television Special “The Diary Of Ellen Rimbauer,” which is more of a
companion piece in the same vein as “The Curse Of The Blair Witch” TV
Special that aired on Sci-Fi years ago when “The Blair Witch Project” was in
theaters.
There are also
three short storyboard to completed scene comparisons
that can be viewed individually or collectively. A still gallery along with
another trailer for “Stephen King’s Rose Red” and trailers for “Stephen
King’s Storm Of The Century,” the upcoming USA television series version of
“Stephen King’s The Dead Zone” with Anthony Michael Hall, “Monster’s
Ball,” and “American Psycho 2” wrap up the extra features in this DVD set.
The
main menu is subtly animated while the rest of the menus are standard
interactive still frames that are easy to navigate. “Stephen King’s Rose
Red: 2-Disc Deluxe Edition” will debut on DVD-Video from Lions Gate Home
Entertainment on Tuesday, May 14, 2002.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.