Forrest Gump DVD
Loaded with extras on a second disc, and the first disc that Paramount has actually put EXTRAS on (heaven forbid!), Forrest Gump has been a long time coming to our favorite silver disc. It's here, and as I said on Tuesday, I picked up a copy.

The extras are wonderful and have two cool deleted scenes, one featuring Forrest and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and one featuring George Bush Sr. getting wacked in the balls with a ping pong ball! There is lots of information to be hand on this great movie.

As for the video, it looks great. I'm not a trained expert, but to my eyes, Gump was solid. I have no complaints about the 16x9 enhnanced presentation.

The audio just sucks. Forrest Gump was released theatrically in Dolby Digital 5.1, and that aural experience has been brought home. It's wretched, in my humble opinion. With the exception of the Vietnam scenes (which feature some fab sound), the rest is simply horrid. I expect music to be pumped through all five speakers, not just the front three, and there were quite a few times when I expected the surrounds to be used and they were left untouched. It is very unsatisfying, and a movie of this stature really deserved better. Not the disc to bust out to show off your sound system, that's for sure.

Vietnam, as I mentioned, is fabulous. The sound field is very enveloping and I loved the use of the surrounds for bullets whizzing past... every bit as good as Saving Private Ryan. The best part has to be the whump-whump-whump of the helicopters delivered through the subwoofer... awesome. This scene separates the men from the boys when it comes to subs, and I was pleased with the house rattling effects here... really a lot of fun!

The sound isn't great, but it really isn't horrible, just not as good as it could be, but the picture and extras do not disappoint. For a mere $17.95 for the next few days at Best Buy, this is a disc I recommend you pick up!