"FARINELLI" tells the true story of  Carlo Broschi, perhaps the most famous castrato of his time.  He took the name "FARINELLI" in honor of his music teacher, the "FARINA" brothers.   The film explores several themes, including the loss of innocence.  What better example than the tale of young boys forced into castration, to preserve their angelic voices!  The opening scene is startling!  A young man plunges to his death, but not before warning the young boys beneath him, "Don't sing!  They'll do this to you(Gripping where once were his testicals) Your death is in your throat!"    From this captivating scene all the way through, the film is always engaging, often hypnotic.  Director Corbiau captures the strange world of the Castratos, but also the beauty of the period, with incredible colors, and an almost epic-like production design.

The film also explores the world of "celebrity", and demonstrates that even in the 1700s, there were sex-starved fans.  In an ingenious twist,  since Farinelli can't actually fulfill his fans' desires, his untalented brother, Ricardo takes on the responsibility! 

The transfer to this DVD from COLUMBIA TRISTAR is grand!  With beautiful architecture and layered costuming, the significance of great clarity and depth of image is made clear in this flawless presentation.  The fleshtones are consistent, and there is no artifacting anywhere.  The dolby surround sound compliments the wonderful music, while directional effects are virtually non-existent.  The film is also 16:9 enhanced, offering even greater depth.We were a little disappointed that a title calling out for special attention to its sound design, wasn't given dolby digital 5.1 remastering.  Still, the dialogue is well balanced and clear.  There are three trailers, but unfortunately, only mediocre in quality, without proper letterboxing.

Long before Michael Crichton became known for "E.R." and "Jurassic Park", he was dabbling in the sci-fi area of filmmaking as the writer/director of "RUNAWAY", and the even lesser-known but better film, "LOOKER".  "RUNAWAY" has just been given a nice treatment on dvd via COLUMBIA TRISTAR.   Tom Selleck stars as a police sergeant in the near future assigned to track down and destroy "runaway" robots.  His character isn't an anti-hero ala "Blade Runner", more like Gary Cooper in a western!  Teamed up with Cynthia Rhodes(remember her band "Animotion"?), Selleck duels a villain, played with over-the-top corniness by Gene Simmons.  While the film is still entertaining, it suffers from being dated in a sense.  Made 16 years ago, Crichton's vision of the future, with the exception of a bullet that tracks its victim,  wasn't nearly as exciting or as creative as he's been able to muster up in the '90s!  The film works extremely well though, and it actually makes for repeat viewing.  We've already watched it twice today!

The transfer is good, although not as sharp as some of TriStar's recent releases.  Colors appear subdued at times, but fleshtones are consistent, and there's excellent definition throughout most the film.  The 16:9 enhancement is a definite advantage in bringing out even better clarity.  The dolby digital (4.0) discrete soundtrack option is preferred over the dolby surround setup option also offered.  While there's no LFE track, there's a great deal of directional effects from the front to the rear.  Trailers for "Gattaca", "Johnny Mnemonic" and "Runaway" are also included.