The first installment of Pulp Fiction director Quentin Tarantino's hyper-violent revenge epic makes its DVD debut courtesy of Miramax Home Entertainment. Presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, the image sports even skin tones and bright, vivid colors, offset by deep, solid blacks. Some unfortunate evidence of moderate edge-enhancement seems to be the only drawback to an otherwise near-flawless visual treatment. Sound is presented in English Dolby Digital 5.1, English DTS, and an alternate French-language track, with optional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish subtitles. It is in regards to sound that this disc truly excels, with Tarantino's exhausting, eclectic soundtrack offering an ideal auditory backdrop to the onscreen mayhem. Limbs are detached and swords clash with resounding fury and clarity, while the roar of motorcycle engines and airplanes push the low-frequency capabilities of one's home-theater system. As The Bride makes her final decent into the House of Blue Leaves, it's hard for viewers not to be seduced by the slick sound editing and driving score that accompanies the eye-popping battle. If there's one aspect of the disc that disappoints, it has to be the lack of extra features. Though the promise of a massive special edition DVD release when Kill Bill Vol. 2 hits the home-video market looms on the horizon before the concluding chapter has even hit theaters, it's hard not to feel slighted with the sparse offerings here. Despite the offering of the occasional interesting tidbit, "The Making of Kill Bill Vol. 1," when all is said and done, is little more than a cog in the ever-present hype machine -- an extended, 20-minute commercial for the film that is similar to the brief previews shown in-between movies on pay cable. A pair of bonus songs by infectious House of Blue Leaves rockers the 5.6.7.8's at least entertains, though it's all-too-brief, and aside from the intriguing "Bootleg Trailer" for the film (also included on the soundtrack CD), the trailers offered here are nothing that Tarantino fans haven't already seen a million times before.

New Zealand's Peter Jackson is known for his skewed, gross-out films. Dead Alive is probably the grossest film he's made, but it's also the funniest, and the unrated, widescreen presentation on this DVD is a sick, hilarious treat. The video quality is superb. The widescreen transfer is clean and colorful. Jackson's steadicam trickery is allowed to make its maximum effect; the camera zips around every nook and cranny of the stylish settings. Colors do seem a bit muted at times, but this only adds to the clean-cut look of the more sedate scenes. The cookie-cutter look contrasts quite fiercely with the graphic mishmash in other sections of the film. Buckets of blood and comic dismemberments shockingly spill off the screen, and the digital transfer never hampers the horror. The digitally mastered sound fits the visuals to a tee. It's a startling, unusual vision done justice by DVD. As far as supplemental material, the package is lacking. A scene index and a theatrical trailer are the only bonus features. The scene index is split into six screens, allowing instant access to 24 chapters (displayed in full-motion video thumbnails). The theatrical trailer is a full-frame, amusing affair that will either win over uninitiated viewers or turn their stomachs. Dead Alive is a disturbing comic gem, given a respectful, yet bare-bones transfer to DVD.