Search - Coma on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG Content Advisory: Violence, Brief Nudity, Adult Situations, Suitable for Children, Adult Language Movie Release: 1978 DVD Release: 10/26/1999 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV,Pan and Scan Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, French SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 53 mins Studio: Warner Home Video Total Copies: 9 Genres: Thriller, Psychological Thriller

A feisty, feminist intern uncovers a medical conspiracy in this icy thriller about mysterious goings-on at Boston Memorial Hospital. When her best friend and aerobics partner, Nancy Greenly (Lois Chiles), emerges in a vegetative state from a routine abortion, Dr. Susan Wheeler (Geneviève Bujold) does some digging and discovers an overabundance of anesthesia-induced comas among otherwise healthy young patients. The male authority figures who challenge Susan's technically illegal tampering with medical records include her boss, Dr. Harris (Richard Widmark); the chief anesthesiologist, Dr. George (Rip Torn); and even her boyfriend, Dr. Mark Bellows (Michael Douglas), who doesn't want Susan's shenanigans to get in the way of his shot at chief resident. As Susan continues her crusade, the paper trail leads to the Jefferson Institute, a mysterious, experimental facility in which vegetative patients are stored en masse, suspended from the ceiling by wires threaded through their long bones, in order to reduce the cost of long-term care. A shadowy assailant begins to stalk Susan just as she uncovers the link between the Jefferson Institute and the comas at Boston Memorial, setting the stage for climactic suspense scenes involving morgues, malpractice and endless institutional corridors. Writer/director Michael Crichton adapted his second feature film from Robin Cook's bestseller of the same name. Tom Selleck, who would star in Crichton's Runaway several years later, appears briefly in Coma as another victim of lethal anesthesia. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Geneviève Bujold - Dr. Susan Wheeler
Michael Douglas - Dr. Mark Bellows
Elizabeth Ashley - Mrs. Emerson
Rip Torn - Dr. George
Richard Widmark - Dr. Harris

Michael Crichton's Coma was one of the earlier films released on DVD, coming out in 1999, at a time when the format had already (and unexpectedly early) become profitable, but the technology was still new. Warner Home Video tried to be ambitious and generous, but this disc is hampered by the limitations that existed in the format. Each side has a different transfer of the movie, one letterboxed to the non-anamorphic 1.85:1 aspect ratio of the original release, and the other full-screen (1.33:1). The letterboxed version is preferable, maintaining Crichton's original tight image framing, which enhances the feeling of claustrophobia and paranoia one should get while watching the movie. The 113-minute film has also been given a whopping 30 chapters, which break the plot down very neatly. The flaws can be found in the details; the Dolby Digital Mono audio, though clean, has been mastered at an extremely low volume level, which is likely to require viewers to have to drastically turn up the normal setting on their televisions just to get to an acceptable volume -- and that's essential to appreciate the complex and subtle score by Jerry Goldsmith. Additionally, this was an early digital transfer, and while it does run circles around the old laserdisc edition, there are momentary digital artifacts that probably would be avoided on a modern transfer. The only bonus feature is the original trailer, which must be accessed manually along with the main menu -- otherwise, as with many discs of this period, the movie begins automatically on startup of the disc. There are also options for French and English subtitles. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide