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| Special Features: |
Widescreen letterbox format
Chapter selection
Original theatrical trailer
Sneak peeks |
| Video Format: |
Widescreen (1.66:1)
[SS-DL]
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| Languages: |
English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
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| Subtitles: |
English, Spanish, French.
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| Captions: |
Yes
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| Casing: |
1-Disc Keep Case
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Dr. Martin Dysart (Richard Burton) is a psychiatrist who works with troubled teens. His latest patient is Alan Strang (Peter Firth). The teenaged stable boy blinded six horses with a steal spike. Dysart must unravel the mystery behind the young man's act if there is to be any hope for Alan's future.
Playwright Peter Shaffer's "Equus" won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1975. Sidney Lumet brought the psychological drama to the screen two years later with mixed results. On the plus side, "Equus" contains great performances by the entire cast. Richard Burton and Peter Firth were both nominated for Oscars for their performances.
The excellent supporting cast includes Joan Plowright (Mrs. Laurence Olivier) as Alan's super religious mother. Colin Blakely plays the beleaguered father. Sexy Jenny Agutter won a British Academy award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Jill Mason, Alan's co-worker and far-off object of desire. The stoic Harry Andrews is also grand as the grieving, vengeful stable master.
 Richard Burton picked up his seventh and final Oscar nomination. Burton's performance is fine, but also contains the film's main problem. There are a number of scenes in which Burton rants directly to the camera. Sometimes it is hard to adapt a play for the screen without having it look like a filmed play. "Equus" almost overcomes this pitfall. Still, that fault aside, "Equus" is a very entertaining and riveting portrayal of religious mania gone afoul.
Very good movie. Good picture and sound. No real extras.
Picture Quality: 7/10
The transfer is good for the most part. There are some noticeable artifacts in several places. The picture is also very soft around the edges in places. Good delineation between light and dark colors, especially during Peter Firth's nighttime rides on horseback. Excellent flesh tones. Jenny Agutter fans will appreciate this movie.
Sound Quality: 8/10
The mono sound is fine for this movie. As you would expect, "Equus" is dialogue intensive. The musical score is almost non-existent. There is no loss of dialogue. American ears may have a few problems at times with a couple of the accents. Nice balance between the ranges.
 Menu: 8/10
Nice design. Still frames from the film. The design tends to give away some of the film's mystery (for those who think symbolically). No Easter Eggs found
Extra Features: 2/10
No extras other than the movie's trailer. The price reflects the disk's "vanilla" status.
The Final Word:
A bit theatrical, but nevertheless a very good movie. Powerful acting all around. Jenny Agutter in full frontal glory.
Rusty White
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