Cirque du Soleil's Dralion on Superbit DVD

An Entertaining Sensory Feast

Cirque du Soleil has gained worldwide fame and fortune for its fascinating and involving blending of circus, music and dance. Dralion is a production that fuses the traditional Cirque approach with that of an ancient Chinese circus.

Though the disc doesn't really make it apparent, Cirque's web site explains that Dralion is meant to be a celebration of life and the "four elements" that maintain the natural order: air, water, fire and earth. What you end up with is a multifaceted tour de force and, though you may never understand a word being sung or, more rarely, spoken, you're drawn into the show and become amazed, excited, and titillated at the same time.

Not all of the acts are performed by Chinese acrobats, though a majority are (and some of the acrobats appear to be surprisingly young) and they include ballet on lights, incredible diving through hoops, work with bamboo poles, juggling, teeterboard, double trapeze and skipping ropes.

Some of these might sound pretty trite, but until you've seen what these people can do with hoops and jump ropes you won't believe it.

One of the other acts is a particularly avant-garde juggler who, in Cirque tradition, takes what could have been an ordinary juggling act and turns it into a tour de force of athletics and acrobatics at the same time.

Part of what makes Cirque du Soleil special is its use of costumes, lighting and sound to move the circus from the traditional sawdust ring into a far more theatrical environment. They also tie everything together with dynamic music sung by Cirque's version of ringmasters, a male and female duo who - singly and together - weave tonal tapestries that provide a wonderful backdrop to the acrobatics happening on stage. If only the camera would spend less time focusing on them and more time focusing on the acts.

In short, Dralion is one heck of a show, and it really should be experienced.

We weren't very happy with the first DVD release of this show, however. Despite the production having been shot in anamorphic widescreen, and with good audio quality, the picture suffered from "digital artifacts" which take curved lines (and Cirque is full of curves of various types, whether human or from equipment or settings) and turn them into rough "stairsteps." To our video snob eyes, these take what should be a wonderful experience of color and light and turn it into an annoying example of how not to make a video production. It's so bad you'd think the thing was produced by amateurs.

So it was with gusto that we tackled the Superbit version. Superbit DVD's are usually toys for the eyes and ears, so we expected the problems with the first DVD version would be addressed.

And they are, to a certain extent. But unfortunately, while overall the color is rich and deep and terrific, those damn digital loose ends are still there, though to be fair we don't think they're as bad as on the original release.

Naturally, the Superbit version is also presented in anamoprhic widescreen (16x9 TV compatible), and despite those artifacts it seems at times more crisp, sharp and alive than the original.

Maybe they'll get it right when they release a high definition version - though we doubt it since the artifacts are undoubtedly in the original source material.

The Superbit version's audio, however, is spectacular. We particularly liked the addition (and the sound quality of) the dts track. It's so crisp and powerful that it goes a long way toward making you feel a part of the live experience. and the use of the surround tracks to immerse you in the audience works very well.

As with most "regular" Superbit titles (as opposed to the "Superbit Deluxe" ones), there are no extras on this version.

So which is better? Well, while we're suckers for bonus stuff, and we were disappointed in the picture, the audio track of the Superbit version is mesmerizing enough to make us choose it as our favorite of the two versions.

Cirque du Soleil presents Dralion, the Superbit Edition, from Columbia Tristar Home Video
89 minutes, Widescreen (1.78:1), 16x9 TV compatible, Dolby Digital

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