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Like the famous nightclub it was named after, the "Moulin Rouge" teases with an invite to tax-free hedonism, the luxury to indulge every whim and fantasy without remorse or discourse. But as a film, Moulin Rouge fails to deliver on the promise that "nothing matters but love." It does have a love story at its center, albeit a simple one, but unfortunately it never rises above the pedestrian boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, "oh, the tragedy of love!" cliches. So it is up to Luhrmann's seemingly limitless visual imagination to carry the film. But while the formidable army of talent never fails to stun - one can't help but be awed by Donald McAlpine's cinematography, Brigitte Broch's set design and Catherine Martin's costumes  - this world just never feels real, merely artificial and contrived.

With such a highly stylized, overproduced world to contend with, the performances are largely lost amid the chaos. Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor star as the hopeless lovers, and they sure do look great. But the highly technical nature of Luhrmann's vision creates a crushing obligation no actor could hope to fulfill. Neither Kidman nor McGregor - both possessing merely adequate singing voices - can overpower the visuals, and there seemed to be little room for improvisation. The supporting cast, including John Leguizamo - who made such an impression in Luhrmann's own Romeo + Juliet - are uniformly strong, but even they can't surmount the overkill.

Speaking of overkill, is there a reason I long for the death of computer-assisted film editing? Just because you can make a fast cut every half-second, does that mean you have to? Running 126 minutes, not since The Phantom Menace have I seen a film so overstuffed, with every frame filled to the rafters with light, color, sound and movement. Unfortunately, while such a full-frontal assault can be highly stunning for a moment, after a minute it is nauseating, and the film lacks the simple ability to be quiet.

While an instant cult hit and a most unique vision sure to find favor with many, perhaps I would have appreciated Moulin Rouge more had I felt I was watching an actual film, not a montage (or listening to a real soundtrack, not a megamix.) Some of the most affecting, powerful moments - too few and far between - are the quietest ones. Luhrmann and company could have turned it down a notch, and I wouldn't have been reminded of that oft-repeated quote that just about sums up the unrestrained postmodernism that is Moulin Rouge. "So much sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

Despite no indication on the packaging and a press release stating otherwise, Moulin Rouge sports a THX-certified, 2.35;1 anamorphic widescreen transfer struck from a pristine print, and is simply lovely. Easily one of the best- looking films of the last decade, Moulin Rouge is filled with some of the most vibrant rainbow hues witnessed since the days of Technicolor. This transfer handles it beautifully, with a wonderful palette that is perfectly saturated, almost painterly. Indeed, the film is quite surreal, and features a variety of film stocks and effects trickery, as well as short sequences in black and white and sepia tones. But colors never smear nor bleed, appearing rock solid with accurate fleshtones, aside from the often harsh, garish lighting. Velvety smooth and beautiful!

Blacks are also dead on, though contrast inconsistent, if keeping entirely within the intended look of the film. Some scenes play with various photochemical techniques, so occasional contrast appears blown out or dulled. Detail is often extraordinary, with a three-dimensional appearance that is very smooth, supple and film-like. Shadow delineation only suffers at times in the darkest, most stylized scenes, and those with exceptionally high contrast. Aside from a thin amount of grain in a few shots (mostly those involving miniatures), edge enhancement is thankfully nil and nary a compression artifact noticeable. A gorgeous transfer all around.

Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?

Though not labeled on the packaging nor announced as such, Moulin Rouge includes both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 surround tracks. This is a musical extravaganza if ever there was one, and this is a sonic experience sure to please, if not quite as aggressive as I had hoped.

As this is a song-driven film to be sure, the music is the main focus. But a side from a few surround effects, the score and songs are primarily confined to the front soundstage. The overall dynamic range is excellent, as is fidelity, and stereo separation among the fronts is excellent. Highs are clear and free from that tinny, often harsh sound endemic to Dolby Digital tracks, and the DTS mix improves frequency range even more.

While imaging on the DTS track is a bit more transparent and surrounds fuller, the rears are active but still rather subdued. Some of the aggressive musical numbers (okay, most of the film) boasts some striking discrete surround effects, the mix still sounds front heavy. Low end is terrific on both mixes, though again the DTS track gets the edge with a bit more punch. Both mixes are sure to please, though not quite as involving as the transfer.

Note that similar to The Phantom Menace, Fox is releasing two separate Region 1 DVD versions of Moulin Rouge, one with an alternate French 2.0 surround track, the other Spanish 2.0 surround. Also included are English Closed Captions and subtitles.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Bursting with extras, kudos goes to producer Holly Radcliffe, her production team, and Fox Home Entertainment for putting together a lavish two-disc set with supplements that were, for me, often more entertaining than the film itself. There's so much here it is easy to be overwhelmed, but I'll give it the old college try...

Let's start with disc one. After the fully-animated and narrated menus (» Click for gallery), you'll find the mysterious Behind The Red Curtain branching version of the film. Click this on, and wait for the green fairy icon to appear onscreen during the movie. Our little flying friend will then branch off to various featurettes throughout the movie for a little glimpse behind the scenes, then take you back to the main feature. I counted 8 segments in all totaling about 25 minutes, ranging from a look at the blue screen and effects work used to create the opening sequence, to an in-depth look at the design of the main set pieces, and even a segment on creating Christian's poetry. Pretty neat-o.

Up next is not one but two screen-specific audio commentaries, the first with director Baz Luhrmann, production designer and costumer Catherine Martin, and director of photography Don McAlpine, and the second with Luhrmann and writer Craig Pearce. I was surprised at how technically-minded these commentaries were, and largely analytical. Luhrmann is surprisingly restrained, and both tracks allow all the participants a chance to shine and discuss their contributions to the film. Among some of the most interesting antecedents were Luhrmann and Pearce's discussion of the film's incredibly complex soundtrack, Martin's often amazing costumes and sets, and the rather progressive integration of live-action, miniature and CGI effects work. Pearce also goes more in-depth into the screenplay, which for me was overshadowed by Luhrmann's visual bravado - I wonder if someone else remade Moulin Rouge, would Pearce's ultimate themes have came through a bit more loud and clear?

Aside from the THX Optimode test patterns, the remaining features can be found on disc two and divided into 8 sections, with all video material presented in non- anamorphic widescreen and full frame. First up is a rather straightforward HBO First Look featurette, The Making Of Moulin Rouge. Like all such HBO features, this one is snappy and entertaining, and features onset interviews with Luhrmann, Pearce, Martin, producer Martin Brown, select crew, and actors Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo, and Richard Roxburgh. Most cool is the look at some of the recording sessions with composer Craig Armstrong for the film's soundtrack, though far too brief. The behind-the-scenes production montages are as nice as the sets are lavish, and this 28- minute feature is actually quite in-depth, and certainly fun.

Next up is The Stars, a rather unique interview gallery with the film's main principals McGregor, Kidman, Leguizamo, Roxburgh, and Jim Broadbent. (» View excerpt) Select a cast member from the submenu, and get a short 3- to 5-minute clip, with movie and early preproduction test footage thrown in for good measure. This Story Is About... is divided into three sections: a 4-minute interview with Luhrmann and Pearce (which is cool 'cause it includes the pair reading early pieces of the script), Pearce reading an early treatment (which is actually just a freewheeling interview with Pearce on the genesis of some of the film's characters), and text-only storyline and script comparisons dating back to 1998.

Moving down the menu we have The Cutting Room, which includes three subsections. We get a short 4-minute interview with Baz Luhrmann and Jill Bilcock on the approach to editing and structuring such an unusual film, six different montages of abandoned edits running 12 minutes total - "Come What May," "Dance Across The Sky," "Sidler's Rap," "Outside It May Be Raining," and "Green Fairy" - and some early previsualizations of 3 scenes (with "apologies to the actors" from Luhrmann.)

Way cool is The Dance, a section with four full-length dance sequences that were heavily cut to fit into the film. After a short intro from Luhrmann, you can watch "Hindi," "Tango," "Can Can," and "Coup D Etat" in their full versions and, except for "Hindi," in either one-camera or "Multi-Cam" mode. I actually preferred these versions to the ones in the final film, as they are less heavily edited and the choreography and design is so spectacular that the film just didn't do them justice. My only complaint is that these are presented in non-anamorphic widescreen and the quality is not as strong as the main feature, but this is still cool.

But wait, there's more! The Music section includes four segments detailing the film's bold approach to its soundtrack. A Musical Journey is a 10-minute interview with composer Craig Armstrong and musical director Marius De Vries, complete with rare preproduction and recording session footage montage, while Fatboy Slim contributes his own 6-minute interview, and then there is the Come What May music video. We even get a peek inside The Lady Marmalade Phenomenon(!?), complete with the MTV Movie Awards performance of the song and a short 2-minute behind-the-scenes clip with Missy Elliott.

Up next is The Design, boasting no less than 6 sections on the film's magnificent visuals. The Set Design and Costume Design still archives feature about 100 stills for 9 of the film's locations and 6 costume galleries, and each presented with o supporting text but easy-to-use interfaces and nice layouts. Most unique is the Graphic Design animated still gallery, which scrolls along a panoramic view of the film's many icons, billboards, backgrounds and images, all set to music. Also included in this section are two interviews running 8 and 6 minutes, respectively, with designers Catherine Martin and Angus Strathie. Each also includes a wealth of production footage including looks at the costumes and sets in various stages of creation, as well as a glimpse at concept and storyboard designs and meetings. Last but not least is Smoke And Mirrors, featuring interviews with conceptual artists and effects supervisors Andrew Brown, Grant Freckelton, Brent Feeney, and Belinda Bennets on the creation of "The Evolution Of The Intro" and "The Green Fairy" sequences, complete with early 3-D renderings of the film's surreal world. Whew!

Last but not least, we get to the Marketing section, features ad campaigns, trailers and TV footage. The International Sizzle Reel is a cool montage of all sorts of television and media coverage of the film. Kinda neat, and you fans of premieres and red carpet appearances will love this. Three still galleries are also included - Photo Gallery, Poster Gallery, and The Little Red Book - with (you guessed it) more behind-the-scenes and publicity stills, ad materials, and "The Little Red Book," which is some sort of story told in pictures that went over my head! In all, you'll find close to 60 images. Rounding out the extras is a music promo spot for the soundtrack, and three trailers - the film's theatrical trailer, a Japanese trailer, and a DVD promo for Baz Luhrmann's Red Curtain trilogy.

And, last but certainly not least, if you're a treasure hunter, you'll find plenty of easter eggs to keep you buys. I found five so far, all relatively short video bits including outtakes, rehearsals and alternate song takes. Cool!

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

Oddly enough for a Fox title, there are no ROM extras included.

Parting Thoughts