Search - Radio On on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1979 DVD Release: 04/03/2007 Format: DVD - Black and White,Color,Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 42 mins Studio: Plexifilm Members Wishing: 0 Genres: Mystery, Road Movie

Set in England's dreary midwinter season, this slow-paced story chronicles the partial awakening from apathy of Robert, a DJ, as he investigates the mysterious death of his brother. As he travels, he is constantly surrounded by music from David Bowie, Kraftwork, Sting and Devo, among others. Despite his apparent intention of looking into his brother's death, he can't bring himself to investigate even the most blatant clues. As his anomie returns, he begins discarding any connection with his surroundings, eventually boarding a train bound for he knows-not-where. Despite the movie's relentlessly grim storyline and setting and its slow pace, some reviewers reported that they found this feature oddly refreshing. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

David Beames - Robert
Lisa Kreuzer - Ingrid
Sandy Ratcliff - Kathy
Andrew Byatt - Deserter
Sue Jones-Davies - Girl

Christopher Petit's low-key meditation on British malaise at the dawn of the Thatcher era Radio On has been given an American DVD release after many years out of print in this edition from Plexifilm. Radio On has been transferred to disc in its original widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1, letterboxed on conventional televisions and enhanced for anamorphic playback on 16x9 monitors. The source materials show some minor wear (occasional scratches and speckles), but the stark black and white images still look striking in this presentation. The audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital Stereo, and the quality is good, though the balance -- the music is quite loud, while the dialogue is much quieter -- may take some getting used to for most viewers. The dialogue is in English, with no subtitles or multiple language options. As a bonus, director Petit includes a short visual "remix" in which he revisits the locations of Radio On twenty years on and uses digital technology to merge and layer the images. Critic Sukhdev Sandhu also contributes an essay on the film to the enclosed booklet. While this release of Radio On is short on extras, it does capture the look and feel of the film with commendable accuracy, and those with an interest in British art cinema will find it worthy of investigation. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide