DVD Review - Leviathan

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Site created 12/15/97.

review added: 1/22/99

Leviathan
1989 (1998) - MGM

review by Todd Doogan, special to The Digital Bits

Enhanced for 16x9 TVs

Film Rating: C
Of all the Abyss rip-offs, this one (written by Blade Runner scribe David Webb Peoples and Jeb The Fugitive Stuart) is the best. Whoever says to you that vodka doesn't give you a hangover, hasn't seen this movie.

Disc Ratings (Video/Audio/Extras): B+/B+/C
I love the MGM DVD logo. All the whooshing makes me giddy. The sound field created on this disc is wonderful. Even the French audio track is better than most discs. The video is crisp, with just a few artifacts during the opening title sequence. The extras are all in an 8 page booklet, that seems to be standard MGM issue. I particularly like the little miner on the menu screen. I don't know why, I just do.

Overall Rating: B+
It's a pretty good movie, with a scary Stan Winston monster, a good script, and a whole bunch of great performances by Peter Weller, Amanda Pays, and company. It's a nice The Thing meets The Abyss kinda thing.

Specs and Features

98 mins, R, letterboxed widescreen (2.35:1), 16x9 enhanced, single-sided, singled-layered, Amaray keep case packaging, 8 page booklet, theatrical trailer, animated film-themed menus, scene access (32 chapters), languages: English & French (DD 2.0), subtitles: English and French, Closed Captioned

Bottom line

This is one of those movies, that if you saw it on the Superstation or the USA Network, you'd stop and watch it -- just because. What you get on DVD looks great, so next time you notice it on TV, think to yourself: "You know, I could be watching this on DVD." And you'd enjoy it a lot more.

Todd Doogan
todddoogan@thedigitalbits.com