Synapse Films presents the long-awaited DVD debut of “A Better Place”, a film written, directed, edited, and co-produced by Vincent Pereira. This picture was funded by Kevin Smith’s (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma) View Askew Productions, and filmed on am incredibly low budget of $40,000 during the summer of 1997. The film, which has previously screened only at film festivals and colleges, to much acclaim, will be available on this special edition DVD for the first time in August, 2001. This special edition features an all new video transfer of the film, and a new Dolby Digital 5.1 soundmix from the geniuses at the Skywalker Ranch. I sat down with a test disc to give everyone here at News Askew an in-depth first look at the most requested of the unreleased films in the View Askew catalog.

I’d love to give this the full five stars, since this transfer represents an INCREDIBLE facelift for the film. Just check out some of the deleted material to see what the movie USED to look like. Given the material on hand, Vincent’s put together the absolute best copy of this film that’s humanly possible. A few scenes remain blurred, as all of the coverage shot that day came out that way. The flashback scenes which were restored to the print for this version were taken from the original workprint, as that’s all that remained to use. Vincent likes to point out all of these little faults during the commentary (see below), but they’re not even distracting. Given the fact that this film was shot on 16mm, it’s truly astounding just how crisp this thing looks. Occasionally you’ll notice some film grain or pops, that just couldn’t be removed, but the cleanup job is truly first rate. In fact, unless you REALLY look for it, you probably won’t notice any of this stuff. I challenge someone to show me a better 16mm film transfer on DVD. This disc sets the bar.

It’s an absolute miracle what those folks at the Skywalker Ranch can do when they remix a film. A Better Place is one of the BEST examples you will ever see regarding what a HUGE difference that doing a new sound mix of a film will do. The backround noises have been eliminated, the dialogue’s been punched up several notches, and the rear surround tracks are highly active during the film’s outdoor scenes. The new music score has been mixed in seamlessly - You’d never know that it was never there in the first place. Subtle effects like a character throwing a rock have discrete channel transitions. Pereira and the gang at Skywalker took their time to give this film a whole new sound, and what a differnece in makes.

AUDIO COMMENTARY

The film itself is so good that even without a commentary, this would be a great disc, however, Periera has always been a big fan of laserdisc, DVD, and film itself so of course he would not have let this flick see a release without a commentary track. Of course, being a guy who’s listened to quite a few of them in his day, he knows exactly how to run one. This track features Pereira, Rob Dipatri (Barret), Brian Lynch (Eddie), and Joseph Cassese (Todd). Over 90 percent of the dialogue in this commentary is delivered by Pereira, who offers most of the information as well. The final three guys guide things along by making suggestions or remembering occurrences during filming. Lynch offers a bit of comic relief here and there, yet the majority of the track is rather serious in tone, and very informative.

Here’s just a sample of some interesting tidbits that can be learned from this commentary - Vincent had Terrence Malick’s Badlands in mind when he was filming the movie, and also used some editing and filming techniques inspired by Italian horror directors Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci. Two of the homes used in the movie, both exterior and interior, are Pereira’s & Dipatri’s. Brian Lynch’s father plays a teacher. One of the film’s actors was actually punched (for real) during a fight scene. Jason Lee always aspired to play “a bum having sex with an imaginary person” on film. Pereira also explains the countless amounts of script changes, ideas they had on the spot, and unfilmed material from the script itself. It was interesting to hear that one of my favorite lines, “God I love this place”, was a favorite of someone else’s as well. Watch the movie and listen to the commentary to get the full effect of that one.

I really dug this commentary. It had just the right mix of information about the film itself, the decisions that were made, the actors, interesting stories from the set, and the atmosphere and interaction between the guys on the track works out perfectly. I couldn’t tell if they stopped the track to stay on subject at times, but if they did, it’s been edited together quite well. Pereira keeps up with the story, gets off on few tangents, and is a very interesting speaker. I’ve seen him do several Q&A sessions about the film, and I do believe he’s managed to work a lot of that material into this commentary. This was clearly a guy with a well-laid out plan in recording this, not someone who just sat down to joke around for an hour and a half. Watch the film first, but do go back and listen to the commentary sometime after.

8 extended or deleted scenes have been restored and presented in their own section from the special features area of the DVD. A scene selection screen allows you to select each scene one at a time. A “play all” option would have been nice for watching them straight through, but the menus are quick so it wasn’t too big of a burden. These sequences feature some never before seen material like the gun buy sequence (which was in the festival screening prints of the film, but removed for the DVD release), a couple new scenes of Barret with Augustine, and more. Where available, the original transitions of the scenes before and after the deleted or extended material have been included, an excellent feature that allows the viewer to see how and where they would exactly have fit into the film had they not been excised.

It’s recommened you watch these scenes AFTER you’ve watched the film and the commentary, as Vincent wisely references a lot of these sequences in the film commentary, so you understand the nature of where they fit it and why they were cut. In addition to that, there’s a full commentary on each of these where Pereira explains the scene in detail, and comments on why cuts were made yet again. Again, you can select to watch these with commentary or their original soundmix, or use the audio button to switch between the two tracks.

Some of the scenes here were never placed in the film, and some were at some point in time, even during screenings. Vincent has wisely trimmed the fat and left out some things, resulting in a film that clocks in at just the right time. It’s nice to see that everything he had left has been put back on the disc, though.

Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier, of View Askew Productions, executive produced “A Better Place” and offered to record an introduction to the film. They ended up doing three different takes of this, all of which are presented on this disc, with the two standing and talking about the picture as it runs on a small monitor behind them. As usual, Kevin and Scott are very tongue-in-cheek and entertaining during these segments, which vary in length but run for at least a few minutes each. The disc gives you the option to start the film immediately without an intro, or to choose one of the tree to play before the actual film.



If you let the “Color Bars” section run for 10 or 20 seconds, you’ll be treated to a short gag-reel of sorts, featuring
alternate takes, outtakes, and scene clips from the film. A nice surprise.


Rumor has it that there may be some other hidden items on this disc as well, which we’re sure will come to light, but this
reviewer was unable to locate them during a quick inspection. With some more digging, we’ll track them down for you.

The disc features very straightforward menu navigation, with static menu screens that feature modified still images from
the film. I found getting around the disc to be quite simple. When the disc was first placed inside the player, I was
immediately presented with a choice of audio, Dolby Digital 5.1 or a Dolby Surround 2.0 downmix. If you don’t have a true
5.1 setup, definitely don’t select it, as they’ve taken the time to make sure that the 2.0 downmix still sounds damn good
on a standard surround or non-surround system. I like this idea, as many DVD players won’t adjust the soundmix appropriately
and often viewers will miss this feature.


Menus themselves, including the scene selection, are not animated in any way, but it’s not something I’m a big fan of
anyway. Animation is always fun to watch once, then I spend time impatiently waiting for it to pass by the next time I
pop the disc in. Plus, I think A Better Place is one of those movies that just doesn’t cry out for an extravagant menu
system. The menus and navigation fit the mood nicely. Everything is laid out intelligently and it’s easy to move around.
I like it. In fact, it’s perfect.


As I’ve just got a blank test pressing of the disc, I’ll have to wait to receive a final product to review the packaging
and the disc design itself.

Well, another 4 and a half star review from me. There’s not really much I can say is missing from this disc, it really is a near perfect DVD. Had that play all option been there with the deleted scenes, it would have been tough to find this disc flawless. Most fans of Kevin Smith’s View Askew Productions might be purchasing this DVD just on the basis of its ties with that organization. That’s fine, but trust me when I say this film is worth owning and watching regardless of its background. A Better Place is the perfect example of what an independent film can be, and sets the bar high for up and coming filmmakers looking to make a splash. After several delays and over 3 years since I first saw the film projected, I can say this DVD was well worth the wait for the superior product that it is.

Major kudos to Synapse Films for letting Pereira do exactly what he wanted with this disc. There’s nothing like a dedicated, personal touch on a DVD. It makes all the difference. There’s no question that an incredible amount of time and thought went into this, and that the space and technology the format offers were used to the fullest. I can only hope that the DVD release of this film raises the attention of other producers out there, and that Vincent Pereira has the opportunity to make more films, of course resulting in more fantastic DVDs like this one, a most welcome DVD to my collection.