Had Artisan gone that extra mile, they could have killed two birds with one stone. Darker scenes are usually well rendered, although shadow detail could have been a bit better in places. Color reproduction on this DVD is excellent. There are plenty of vivid warm hues that are perfectly recreated, plus the cold blues and greens look really good. Flesh tone appear very natural, especially the darker complexions of the desert dwellers.
Blacks have good definition and the contrast is relatively smooth.
The use of dual layer technology disguises all traces of compression artifacts. The mix is very active and takes full advantage of the discrete nature of the Dolby Digital format for precise placement of sound effects. Spilt surrounds are well utilized, enhancing many of special effects sequences. Dialogue reproduction is usually very clean and intelligible, plus the soundtrack boasts a very solid bottom end. The interactive menus are very well designed, with full motion video, animation, music and sound.