Ironweed (Hector Babenco) -- March 2013

[McCrutchy]

Olive Films will release Hector Babenco's Ironweed (1987), starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, on Blu-ray in March. Both Streep and Nicholson were nominated for Academy Awards for their performances.


Note: Fans will note that Ironweed has rarely, if ever, been seen in widescreen since its theatrical release. Most DVD editions, including the recent Lionsgate US DVD, are in the 1.33:1 ratio. To my knowledge, the only DVD to present the film in its OAR or 1.85:1 was the TF1 French R2 DVD, which has long been out of print and contains forced French subtitles.

[Blu-Velvet]

Saw this when it first came out, projected at 1.66:1 and looking great at that ratio. Powerful, if rather downbeat film, with excellent performances. It would make a good double-feature with BARFLY or triple-feature with LEAVING LAS VEGAS!

[Lordy]

Excited to see this come out on Blu and get the upgrade it deserves. I was thinking that this would be a could Criterion title someday but a good choice by Olive. Solid performances by Nicholson and Streep, and also Nathan Lane as the ghost who haunts Nicholson's character.

[legendarymatt92]

Want to pre-order this but not sure for two reasons:

1) can't find whether it's region free or not

and

2) not sure how much Amazon.com charge for shipping to the UK.

Can anybody clear this up for me please?

[balthazar_bee]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

Most DVD editions, including the recent Lionsgate US DVD, are in the 1.33:1 ratio.

Added to this, the DVD has utterly terrible picture quality. It looks like a VHS dupe.

[Beard Esquire]

Cannot wait for this. Had no idea it was coming out until today. Pre-ordered!!!

[Chaz05]

Has anybody received their copy? Amazon says it's out of stock and mine hasn't shipped even though I pre-ordered back in January.

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by Chaz05

Has anybody received their copy? Mine hasn't even shipped from Amazon and I pre-ordered back in January.

I have not.

[Beard Esquire]

I pre-ordered via Deep Discount and my order status - backordered.

[Scottywah]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

I have not.

Amazon says mine will be delivered sometime the week of April 9. Can't wait to have this in my hands! It is indeed a downer, but I think it's a very cool, sadly underrated film. The whole bar scene where Streep performs for the crowd never fails to get me. And I think Nicholson is at his peak here. Great performances by the whole cast. Hoping the picture quality is good, but frankly anything would be better than the DVD version I currently have... :-)

[Beard Esquire]

My copy via Deepdiscount is on its way.

[McCrutchy]

I received my copy today.

BDInfo scan:

                                                                                                                Total   Video                                             
Title                                                           Codec   Length  Movie Size      Disc Size       Bitrate Bitrate Main Audio Track                          Secondary Audio Track
-----                                                           ------  ------- --------------  --------------  ------- ------- ------------------                        ---------------------
00004.MPLS                                                      AVC     2:23:19 24,436,844,544  24,517,005,834  22.73   19.89   DTS-HD Master 2.0 1612Kbps (48kHz/16-bit)

DISC INFO:

Disc Title:     IRONWEED
Disc Size:      24,517,005,834 bytes
Protection:     AACS
BD-Java:        No
BDInfo:         0.5.8

PLAYLIST REPORT:

Name:                   00004.MPLS
Length:                 2:23:19.591 (h:m:s.ms)
Size:                   24,436,844,544 bytes
Total Bitrate:          22.73 Mbps

VIDEO:

Codec                   Bitrate             Description     
-----                   -------             -----------     
MPEG-4 AVC Video        19888 kbps          1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1

AUDIO:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
-----                           --------        -------         -----------     
DTS-HD Master Audio             English         1612 kbps       2.0 / 48 kHz / 1612 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)

FILES:

Name            Time In         Length          Size            Total Bitrate   
----            -------         ------          ----            -------------   
00004.M2TS      0:00:00.000     2:23:19.591     24,436,844,544  22,733          

CHAPTERS:

Number          Time In         Length          Avg Video Rate  Max 1-Sec Rate  Max 1-Sec Time  Max 5-Sec Rate  Max 5-Sec Time  Max 10Sec Rate  Max 10Sec Time  Avg Frame Size  Max Frame Size  Max Frame Time  
------          -------         ------          --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  
1               0:00:00.000     0:16:56.640     21,362 kbps     32,618 kbps     00:16:44.837    30,979 kbps     00:16:44.003    28,825 kbps     00:15:25.049    111,367 bytes   506,123 bytes   00:09:12.468    
2               0:16:56.640     0:24:58.747     20,139 kbps     27,999 kbps     00:18:56.260    27,014 kbps     00:18:55.259    26,581 kbps     00:19:14.111    104,998 bytes   302,858 bytes   00:18:22.392    
3               0:41:55.387     0:11:16.467     18,625 kbps     23,529 kbps     00:51:01.558    22,205 kbps     00:52:54.212    22,145 kbps     00:52:49.207    97,101 bytes    250,595 bytes   00:50:58.305    
4               0:53:11.855     0:20:09.208     19,810 kbps     26,816 kbps     00:54:29.766    26,204 kbps     00:54:27.389    26,029 kbps     00:54:28.390    103,281 bytes   338,365 bytes   00:54:05.116    
5               1:13:21.063     0:17:00.019     20,326 kbps     25,587 kbps     01:22:51.216    24,505 kbps     01:22:50.382    24,221 kbps     01:29:05.256    105,970 bytes   555,433 bytes   01:19:39.816    
6               1:30:21.082     0:20:14.046     20,922 kbps     25,981 kbps     01:41:26.455    25,096 kbps     01:32:28.584    24,985 kbps     01:32:26.040    109,079 bytes   358,125 bytes   01:50:03.555    
7               1:50:35.128     0:17:20.330     19,404 kbps     27,190 kbps     01:53:47.111    26,581 kbps     01:53:47.111    26,378 kbps     01:53:41.981    101,161 bytes   279,406 bytes   01:59:00.007    
8               2:07:55.459     0:15:23.088     17,612 kbps     28,670 kbps     02:10:15.724    27,995 kbps     02:10:11.720    27,647 kbps     02:10:06.715    91,818 bytes    274,059 bytes   02:11:09.570    
9               2:23:18.548     0:00:01.042     75 kbps         78 kbps         02:23:18.548    0 kbps          00:00:00.000    0 kbps          00:00:00.000    405 bytes       2,454 bytes     02:23:19.549    

STREAM DIAGNOSTICS:

File            PID             Type            Codec           Language                Seconds                 Bitrate                 Bytes           Packets         
----            ---             ----            -----           --------                --------------          --------------          -------------   -----           
00004.M2TS      4113 (0x1011)   0x1B            AVC                                     8599.508                19,889                  21,378,974,641  116,310,264     
00004.M2TS      4352 (0x1100)   0x86            DTS-HD MA       eng (English)           8599.508                1,612                   1,732,687,604   10,676,852