Video & Audio: ERA's all-region "Digitally Remastered Edition" of Raise the Red Lantern is at least the third release of this title, following the label's region-free version from 2001 that was not enhanced, and Razor Digital very poor unenhanced edition released at the beginning of this year. This new version is a stunner, 16:9 enhanced (at 1.77:1, approximating its 1.85:1 OAR), dual-layered, and progressive, nearly flawless. All this is absolutely essential because of Fei Zhao's incredible cinematography, which uses twilight much as Nestor Almendros had on Days of Heaven (1978) which those glowing orange-red lanterns used for visual punctuation.** The Dolby Stereo sound is just fine; subtitles supporting the Mandarin dialogue are available in English, traditional and simplified Chinese.

Extra Features: The only supplements are a spoiler-filled Chinese or perhaps Hong Kongese trailer, also 16:9, and a fairly impressive photo gallery.

Parting Thoughts: ...ERA's remastered edition, though light on supplements, is a clear DVD Talk Collector Series title.

** Some critics, including Roger Ebert, have stated that Yimou Zhang's films from this period were shot in "three-strip Technicolor," but this is probably a mistake. Apparently the film was printed in IB Technicolor from a monopack color process, a printing method no longer used in America and Britain.