Review Detail
9.1 3 10
(Updated: September 12, 2012)
Overall rating
8.8
Audio/Video Quality
8.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
9.0
Enjoyment
8.0
September 1, 2011
I saw Indecent Proposal years ago and didn’t care for it at all. It seemed like an interesting subject cheapened down by an overly-Hollywoodized approach helmed by a hack, featuring phoned-in performances and moving at a sluggish pace. The best thing about it is the fact that it spawned one of the most memorable Simpsons episodes. But, the second best thing about it might very well be this recut version.
Plot: Consistent (or as consistent as the original script allowed), with no holes created by the edit. Now it’s overall still contrived, but much more believable. In some moments, the characters even feel like human beings and not Hollywood clichés (in others, they’re still awful, but no solution for that). Stopping where it does, this version is much darker and almost completely devoid of movie cheese, so it works much better than the original “love conquers all” garbage. The characters are still despicable (Gage a vomitive sexist asking David permission for things about Diana, the couple obnoxious snobs), but this version isn’t trying as hard to force us to like them. Which is grateful. Still, I think that AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL sequence with Jeremy the lawyer and the two screenwriters should disappear. It adds nothing, is not narratively needed, and cheapens the overall movie. Rating: 9/10.
Image quality: This is only available as an .avi file, and the technical info indicates the source was a divx (which means compressed), and that’s too bad. Blocking/pixelation is present all through it, particularly whenever a dark hue dominates the frame. Not too unusual for a xvid file, but it’s too bad we aren’t getting a DVD. The B&W conversion does not create great visuals, sometimes it’s more like ugly washed-out grey on grey, yet it’s competent and works. Rating: 6/10
Audio quality: Again, this can’t be judged against the standards of a DVD, but I noticed no mistakes or level errors whatsoever when watching it on a 2.0 system. Maybe a 5.1 would reveal further details, but so far, rating: 10/10.
Difference to the original: As I say, less Hollywood corn and more serious drama. Which improves things a lot. Still a bad movie, right, but that can’t be fixed. Rating: 8/10.
Overall presentation: Only the .avi, which is too little and too bad for such a well made edit. Rating: 5/10.
Entertainment: Much higher level than the original could ever dreamed. Rating: 8/10.
Technical editing: FLAWLESS in audio and video, except maybe for one very slight jump at 0:46:32, in which there appear to be one or two missing frames. Still, it’s hard to spot and it even may be a flaw of the original, I have seen way more noticeable hard cuts within the same shot in theatrically released movies (there are two particularly ugly ones in the James Bond film Never Say Never Again). Rating: 9/10.
Overall rating: 8/0. BUT, to the faneditor: please consider releasing a DVD, much preferably if it’s a 2.0 version in which the screenwriters sequence is nowhere to be seen!
I saw Indecent Proposal years ago and didn’t care for it at all. It seemed like an interesting subject cheapened down by an overly-Hollywoodized approach helmed by a hack, featuring phoned-in performances and moving at a sluggish pace. The best thing about it is the fact that it spawned one of the most memorable Simpsons episodes. But, the second best thing about it might very well be this recut version.
Plot: Consistent (or as consistent as the original script allowed), with no holes created by the edit. Now it’s overall still contrived, but much more believable. In some moments, the characters even feel like human beings and not Hollywood clichés (in others, they’re still awful, but no solution for that). Stopping where it does, this version is much darker and almost completely devoid of movie cheese, so it works much better than the original “love conquers all” garbage. The characters are still despicable (Gage a vomitive sexist asking David permission for things about Diana, the couple obnoxious snobs), but this version isn’t trying as hard to force us to like them. Which is grateful. Still, I think that AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL sequence with Jeremy the lawyer and the two screenwriters should disappear. It adds nothing, is not narratively needed, and cheapens the overall movie. Rating: 9/10.
Image quality: This is only available as an .avi file, and the technical info indicates the source was a divx (which means compressed), and that’s too bad. Blocking/pixelation is present all through it, particularly whenever a dark hue dominates the frame. Not too unusual for a xvid file, but it’s too bad we aren’t getting a DVD. The B&W conversion does not create great visuals, sometimes it’s more like ugly washed-out grey on grey, yet it’s competent and works. Rating: 6/10
Audio quality: Again, this can’t be judged against the standards of a DVD, but I noticed no mistakes or level errors whatsoever when watching it on a 2.0 system. Maybe a 5.1 would reveal further details, but so far, rating: 10/10.
Difference to the original: As I say, less Hollywood corn and more serious drama. Which improves things a lot. Still a bad movie, right, but that can’t be fixed. Rating: 8/10.
Overall presentation: Only the .avi, which is too little and too bad for such a well made edit. Rating: 5/10.
Entertainment: Much higher level than the original could ever dreamed. Rating: 8/10.
Technical editing: FLAWLESS in audio and video, except maybe for one very slight jump at 0:46:32, in which there appear to be one or two missing frames. Still, it’s hard to spot and it even may be a flaw of the original, I have seen way more noticeable hard cuts within the same shot in theatrically released movies (there are two particularly ugly ones in the James Bond film Never Say Never Again). Rating: 9/10.
Overall rating: 8/0. BUT, to the faneditor: please consider releasing a DVD, much preferably if it’s a 2.0 version in which the screenwriters sequence is nowhere to be seen!
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