Undertow DVD Review

The 1.85:1 anamorphic image is very good and the steamy and dirty Southern environment is fully realised by cinematographer Tim Orr. You can almost feel the mud and the smell of the pigs. Some darker scenes seem a little soft but skin tones are consistent throughout. For a low budget film, this looks excellent and there is no print damage, specks or scratches. A fine transfer.

Only one audio track available and that is an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track that serves the film very well. It is generally dialogue driven so surround effects are kept to a minimum but work very well when required. A few times I was unsure of some of the actor's dialogue as the separation between the dialogue and the score was difficult at times. However to be fair, the southern burr is hard to comprehend on occasion. The evocative score by Philip Glass sounds excellent throughout and really adds to the tautness of the film. Certainly not a jaw dropping track by any means but one that totally works for this movie.

Apart from the Theatrical Trailer, none at all unfortunately, but it's a film that needs to be explored in more detail and viewed a few times, so extras would have been very useful. Its Region 1 counterpart is packed with them however; once again Region 2 is short-changed.
Recommended and it would have been a must buy if there had been the same extras as the Region 1 version. My advice? Rent, beg or steal a copy of this and if you like what you see of David Gordon Green, then perhaps hunt down the MGM R1 for the plentiful extras. In addition I would go back and take a look at his first two movies as well, I certainly intend to.