Babette's Feast... Australian BD any good?

[DaViD Boulet]

Hey all,

has anyone had purchased and played the Blu-ray of Babette's Feast available in Australia?

http://www.amazon.com/Babettes-Feast.../dp/B008KCGS2O

I can't stand to watch the R1 non-anamorphic DVD and would love to have the (currently available) best viewing copy I can play in a Region A Blu-ray machine.

Has anyone else gone on the hunt for the best version of Babette's Feast and figured out the plan?

thanks!

-dave

[jjfitz0]

I haven't checked it out myself but I have also been on the hunt for a blu-ray version of this film for my wife. The closest I have come to getting some solid information about it was this review posted on Amazon Australia:

5.0 out of 5 stars Australia Blu-Ray Import = Good, August 22, 2012
By Charles (Santa Cruz, CA USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Babette's Feast (1987) ( Babettes gæstebud ) [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import - Australia ] (Blu-ray)
This Blu-Ray version from Australia (for all regions A/B/C) is good and worthwhile for folks who like the movie and want the best copy currently available (through Amazon US at least):

1. The movie is in the original Danish with American English subtitles. Subtitles cannot be turned off as far as I can tell (no menu options for language or subtitles). If their are no options then this is the best default for American audiences since you can hear the original acting and read the translation. If you speak Danish you might be frustrated that you cannot turn off the subtitles.

2. The subtitles are very crisp--a big improvement over the DVD which has jagged subtitles. The subtitle translation appears to be the same as the DVD version.

3. The sound quality is noticeably better than the DVD. I don't know whether it could be improved further or is using the highest quality Blu-Ray audio, but I have a very good stereo and it's a very apparent improvement.

4. The Blu-ray transfer appears to be good. It's not inherently a crisp and hyper-detailed movie. This transfer appears to capture all of the detail available--the film grain is just visible but not a distraction. It's consistent with seeing the original film projected in a theater. It's possible that future transfers could be a little sharper and cleaner, but there are no evident problems with this one (other than a couple of dust specks and a brief line on the opening title screen).

5. The film fills my HDTV screen. The DVD, although upsampled to 1080 by my Blu-ray player (Oppo BDP-93), was letterboxed on all sides. So with the Blu-ray I get more detail and the image fills the screen.

Overall it's the best version that we can buy in the US (as far as I can tell, as of August 2012). Four stars for the Blu-Ray and five stars for the film.

I hope that a new US Blu-ray comes out with perhaps an improved transfer, the option to have different subtitles (or turn them off), and perhaps some extras. The only extra on this Blu-ray version is a trailer for the film.

Hope that helps somewhat. Let me know what you think if you try it.

[DaViD Boulet]

pushed me over the edge... order placed!

I'll post an update here once I can do a serious A/B with the (disappointing) DVD on my shelf.

Thanks!

dave