While the acting in "Howards End" is exceptional,  I found the story unbelievable.  Still, this is a captivating, beautiful film, and the transfer lives up to the acclaim that the film actually received.  Many of the visual compositions are complicated in terms of light, offering great shadow and bright colors within the same image.  This bears no problem with the slick transfer offered here!  The contrast is in pristine condition.  Fleshtones are consistent throughout.  The dolby surround offers little in terms of directional effects, but the musical score is well represented through it.

One of the best film adaptations of Jane Austen's work, "Sense and Sensibility" finally arrives on dvd courtesy of COLUMBIA TRISTAR.  They've gone far to make this a collector's edition with writer/star Emma Thompson offering audio commentary on one of the tracks.  Director Ang Lee also offers commentary on another track.  Add to this Thompson's Golden Globe acceptance speech and deleted scenes!!!

Kate(Titanic)Winslet and Hugh Grant are but a few of the fine actors making up this film, and its plot involving two sisters, whose hopes of marriage are all-but-dashed after the family fortune is lost, is timeless and great for repeated viewings.

The transfer is flawless.  While I liked the laserdisc transfer as well, this one has more vibrant colors, sharper contrast, and one side versus three(3)!!!!    The dolby digital 5.0(not 5.1) offers enhanced sound quality.  While there are no LFE effects, this is not an action film requiring them!!! The musical score by Patrick Doyle is wonderful and fully captured in all speakers at key moments for maximum effect.

"Nicholas and Alexandra" is one of the last great "costume dramas", and the Academy Award it received for this category as well as for art direction were well deserved!  With this in mind, the dvd transfer from COLUMBIA TRISTAR is remarkable.   The clarity is so brilliant, one can truly sense the texture to the incredible variety of garments throughout the film.  "Nicholas and Alexandra" deals with an epic-time and the 2.35:1 aspect ratio as well as the various large-scale compositions are perfectly complimented here.  The mono sound has clarity that was missing in the PIONEER SPECIAL EDITION laserdisc, and COLUMBIA laserdisc, previously available.  In addition to the wonderful transfer, fans of the film may appreciate the 14 minutes of restored footage.  Our only complaint, why didn't the chapter index note where this footage had been restored?

"The Dreamlife of Angels" is an emotionally stirring film about two girls whom are drawn to each other out of necessity for warmth in a cold, hard world, only to have everything torn from them after one falls in love with an insensitive young man, destined to break them apart.

The dvd transfer alternates between quite good to average.  The contrast is adequate, but never on the level of most COLUMBIA TRISTAR releases. Fleshtones are fine.   The stereo sound is fine, but devoid of any directional effects.