Watched this last night and I was blown away. For all the sh*t we give Studio Canal for their often poor compression, they know damn well how to restore a movie. Their restorations are beautiful and honestly could stand for a decade at least as the best these classics will look, so it's a shame when the compression isn't up to par... but not here.
Obviously this is a David Mackenzie encode, and it shows. The image quality is breathtaking. Lots of beautifully rendered grain, tons of detail with no artifacts, and a stupidly high bitrate that's second highest on the format to my knowledge (the JP UHD of Mary and the Witch's Flower ranks slightly higher- DLN being 88.9 and Mary being 90.03, but they are very different films- one is a digitally produced anime, the other a 1973 film on 35mm). The HDR doesn't have that WOW and POP factor that, say, Sony discs may, but it fits here with the visual style of the film, and is most likely more accurate to the source material.
As for the film, the opening was perfect. 10/10 stuff. I was entranced. The rest? Kind of bored me except for the ending and select moments due to the editing... until after watching it, I was still thinking about it. I was looking back and realizing the artistry on display there. Then I watched the bonus features, and now I have more of an appreciation for it. I'll probably watch it again tonight, as I think now that I have more context and a baseline understanding of it, I can appreciate it more.
Overall, a must own release for the 4K quality alone.
|