Diva

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful relief from the prior awful Fox-Lorber disk
Review: This version of Diva is remastered from the original elements and does credit to a great movie. Beware the former Fox-Lorber disk, which is one of the worst transfers of any film out on DVD. Come to think of it, beware Fox-Lorber. They generally tend to take great Criterion Collection releases like The 400 Blows or Hardboiled and force them out of circulation only to replace them with bad versions and junky transfers.

Rating:
Summary: The New Version is Nice, But...
Review: Watched a copy of this recently and noticed that, apparently for Political Correctness, there have been at least some changes in the English subtitles -- one that jumped out at me was the change in one character's nickname from a racially insulting (but appropriate both for the character and for the characters who called him that) term to something else a little less loaded.

While i wouldn't have noticed if i hadn't seen it theatrically at first release, it did jar a little.

Other than that, five stars all the way, right up to the scene involving the elevator.

Rating:
Summary: As wonderful now as it was then
Review: When I saw DIVA in the theaters, back in 1982, I knew I had witnessed something incredibly special. And for years it had kept a warm spot in my heart and mind. When I heard the DVD had been released, I was afraid of two things: 1) that the transfer would be a disaster and 2) the film would be terribly dated.

The not-so-good-news first: while superior to the earlier DVD release (which I had never seen, but heard about) the film suffers a little from some muddy sound, and at the worst times: during the operatic performances. Yet, the chase scenes have incredibly crisp sound. But I can't let that spoil the fact that the movie has held up incredibly well after 20+ years. While the fashions are of a by-gone era, everything else holds up perfectly. The plot, the direction, the performances are all as engaging as anything that's come out in recent years. Younger viewers may feel that this is a little old-fashioned, but I doubt it. This is a great film that has a little bit of everything: drama, love, comedy--and the strangest villains in cinema history! Give DIVA a chance.