Kurosawa collaborator Takemitsu wrote the score, highlighting the stark landscapes with his style of simple and magical chords. The DVD is a solid, yet uninspired transfer. Images are clear and clean, but lack a sense of visual power. They are obviously limited by the roar material. There are no evident disruptive artifacts.
Color is clean.
A tad more contrast would have been preferable. The Dolby Digital 2.0 surround is minimally enveloping. Richie's narration is clear and the spare tones of Takemitsu's score float above the views, hanging and haunting. Our featured star is Spencer Tracy. DVDPlanet is the DVD incarnation of legendary laser retailer Ken Crane's.