Midnight Express - Via Vision 2023 release

[blurayagent]

https://viavision.com.au/shop/midnight-express-blu-ray/

https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/m...s-1978-blu-ray


Has anyone picked this up as yet? If so, What is the Picture and Audio Quality like? Suprised Imprint did not release this as one of it's own, even though Via Vision is Imprint.

[Rick Grimes]

I would assume it would be a port of the original Blu-Ray release in Australia, (which is the same as the UK, US etc.), especially since it was a Sony release and Sony are inexorably linked to ViaVision.

Interesting to see that Midnight Express is getting a BD re-release in Australia, since the last time there was a physical media release, it was DVD only (an NTSC DVD as well in fact, which is at least better then a PAL squeaker, especially considering Giorgio Moroder’’s Academy Award winning soundtrack).

FYI, I imported the UK set, ‘cos by the time I wanted to buy Midnight Express in Australia, it was OOP:



UK set:

[SubElement]

I’ve got it.

What’s the tool people use to pull that BD Info I always see around? Happy to pull that on the disc.

[Anamnesis]

Originally Posted by SubElement

I’ve got it.

What’s the tool people use to pull that BD Info I always see around? Happy to pull that on the disc.

It is actually called literally that: BDinfo - quick google search should find it on VideoHelp (not sure I can post link here)

[SubElement]

Originally Posted by Anamnesis

It is actually called literally that: BDinfo - quick google search should find it on VideoHelp (not sure I can post link here)

LOL... Of course it was... Thanks! A little bit of learning later and it works like a champ!

Info about the disc:

                                                                                                                      Total        Video                                                                           
Title                                                           Codec   Length    Movie Size        Disc Size         Bitrate      Bitrate      Main Audio Track                          Secondary Audio Track    
-----                                                           ------  -------   --------------    ----------------  -----------  -----------  ------------------                        ---------------------    
00001.MPLS                                                      AVC     02:00:59  32,485,779,456    48,354,041,590    35.80 Mbps   24.96 Mbps   Dolby TrueHD 5.1 1900 kbps (48kHz/16-bit)

DISC INFO:
Disc Title:     Midnight Express (1978) - Blu-ray™
Disc Label:     MIDNIGHT EXPRESS
Disc Size:      48,354,041,590 bytes
Protection:     AACS
Extras:         BD-Java
BDInfo:         0.8.0.1b

PLAYLIST REPORT:

Name:           00001.MPLS
Length:         02:00:59.252 (h:m:s.ms)
Size:           32,485,779,456 bytes
Total Bitrate:  35.80 Mbps

VIDEO:

Codec                   Bitrate             Description     
---------------         -------------       -----------     
MPEG-4 AVC Video        24,964 kbps         1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1

AUDIO:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
---------------                 -------------   -------------   -----------     
Dolby TrueHD Audio              English          1900 kbps      5.1 / 48 kHz /  1260 kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Embedded: 5.1 / 48 kHz /   640 kbps / DN -31dB)
Dolby Digital Audio             English           192 kbps      2.0 / 48 kHz /   192 kbps / DN -31dB
Dolby TrueHD Audio              French           2003 kbps      5.1 / 48 kHz /  1363 kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Embedded: 5.1 / 48 kHz /   640 kbps / DN -31dB)
Dolby Digital Audio             Spanish           640 kbps      5.1 / 48 kHz /   640 kbps / DN -31dB
Dolby TrueHD Audio              Portuguese       2046 kbps      5.1 / 48 kHz /  1406 kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Embedded: 5.1 / 48 kHz /   640 kbps / DN -31dB)
Dolby Digital Audio             English           192 kbps      2.0 / 48 kHz /   192 kbps / DN -31dB / Dolby Surround

SUBTITLES:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
---------------                 -------------   -------------   -----------     
Presentation Graphics           English         14.79 kbps      1920x1080 / 632 Captions
Presentation Graphics           English         13.91 kbps      1920x1080 / 960 Captions
Presentation Graphics           French          13.94 kbps      1920x1080 / 593 Captions (6 Forced Captions)
Presentation Graphics           Spanish         14.96 kbps      1920x1080 / 644 Captions
Presentation Graphics           Portuguese      15.05 kbps      1920x1080 / 642 Captions
Presentation Graphics           Spanish         50.05 kbps      1920x1080 / 1876 Captions
Presentation Graphics           Portuguese      49.99 kbps      1920x1080 / 1874 Captions

FILES:

Name            Time In         Length          Size            Total Bitrate   
--------------- -------------   -------------   -------------   -------------   
00011.M2TS      0:00:00.000     2:00:59.252     32,485,779,456  35,801 kbps     

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     0:08:15.828     25,078 kbps     43,400 kbps     00:00:41.374    33,610 kbps     00:01:03.897    31,916 kbps     00:00:57.307    130,732 bytes   417,046 bytes   00:01:54.322    
2               0:08:15.828     0:06:31.724     24,976 kbps     38,625 kbps     00:11:50.459    29,982 kbps     00:11:56.465    29,458 kbps     00:11:53.963    130,212 bytes   554,987 bytes   00:11:50.501    
3               0:14:47.553     0:08:33.846     24,754 kbps     40,039 kbps     00:15:44.652    29,323 kbps     00:15:40.648    28,386 kbps     00:16:09.301    129,055 bytes   405,124 bytes   00:16:10.511    
4               0:23:21.400     0:06:40.483     25,106 kbps     37,484 kbps     00:25:19.893    31,581 kbps     00:27:15.508    30,614 kbps     00:27:11.212    130,892 bytes   429,013 bytes   00:28:10.980    
5               0:30:01.883     0:07:18.646     24,344 kbps     31,307 kbps     00:34:37.492    28,369 kbps     00:34:37.492    27,851 kbps     00:34:37.575    126,917 bytes   416,350 bytes   00:37:20.529    
6               0:37:20.529     0:07:54.432     24,589 kbps     34,985 kbps     00:38:13.165    30,427 kbps     00:38:13.165    29,849 kbps     00:38:09.912    128,198 bytes   397,949 bytes   00:37:21.322    
7               0:45:14.962     0:04:33.690     26,772 kbps     35,136 kbps     00:47:30.848    31,337 kbps     00:46:29.453    30,468 kbps     00:46:29.453    139,576 bytes   399,910 bytes   00:47:20.587    
8               0:49:48.652     0:08:49.737     24,991 kbps     37,835 kbps     00:52:29.396    31,732 kbps     00:56:28.593    31,301 kbps     00:56:28.593    130,289 bytes   440,807 bytes   00:56:28.635    
9               0:58:38.389     0:08:02.231     24,058 kbps     46,118 kbps     00:59:14.342    30,351 kbps     00:59:14.384    30,025 kbps     01:02:45.511    125,428 bytes   416,908 bytes   00:59:15.093    
10              1:06:40.621     0:06:05.073     26,854 kbps     33,123 kbps     01:10:04.158    30,815 kbps     01:06:42.999    30,191 kbps     01:06:41.163    140,005 bytes   360,646 bytes   01:10:48.535    
11              1:12:45.694     0:08:36.182     23,732 kbps     34,451 kbps     01:14:50.152    28,366 kbps     01:15:08.420    27,518 kbps     01:14:45.397    123,729 bytes   398,909 bytes   01:15:37.407    
12              1:21:21.877     0:07:21.816     25,315 kbps     48,186 kbps     01:21:22.085    32,129 kbps     01:28:21.004    29,375 kbps     01:28:20.503    131,981 bytes   524,331 bytes   01:26:44.866    
13              1:28:43.693     0:09:53.634     25,252 kbps     44,480 kbps     01:32:55.403    31,766 kbps     01:29:56.224    29,038 kbps     01:29:56.224    131,651 bytes   542,494 bytes   01:32:55.820    
14              1:38:37.328     0:04:56.754     25,408 kbps     35,877 kbps     01:43:24.781    31,368 kbps     01:38:45.461    28,915 kbps     01:38:43.542    132,468 bytes   360,061 bytes   01:43:24.823    
15              1:43:34.082     0:06:16.709     24,634 kbps     40,345 kbps     01:45:29.072    31,953 kbps     01:45:52.596    28,761 kbps     01:45:53.347    128,432 bytes   390,309 bytes   01:45:29.156    
16              1:49:50.792     0:11:08.459     24,937 kbps     33,237 kbps     01:51:30.308    30,456 kbps     01:57:24.746    30,038 kbps     01:57:24.579    130,017 bytes   402,151 bytes   01:51:55.458    

STREAM DIAGNOSTICS:

File            PID             Type            Codec           Language                Seconds                     Bitrate                  Bytes        Packets       
----------      -------------   -----           ----------      -------------           --------------          ---------------         --------------  -----------     
00011.M2TS      4113 (0x1011)   0x1B            AVC                                     7259.169                 24,965 kbps            22,652,701,209  123,214,828     
00011.M2TS      4352 (0x1100)   0x83            TrueHD          eng (English)           7259.169                  1,900 kbps             1,723,968,064   12,430,656     
00011.M2TS      4353 (0x1101)   0x81            AC3             eng (English)           7259.169                    192 kbps               174,222,336    1,134,260     
00011.M2TS      4354 (0x1102)   0x83            TrueHD          fra (French)            7259.169                  2,003 kbps             1,817,408,390   13,166,360     
00011.M2TS      4355 (0x1103)   0x81            AC3             spa (Spanish)           7259.169                    640 kbps               580,741,120    3,402,780     
00011.M2TS      4356 (0x1104)   0x83            TrueHD          por (Portuguese)        7259.169                  2,046 kbps             1,856,371,846   13,573,495     
00011.M2TS      4357 (0x1105)   0x81            AC3             eng (English)           7259.169                    192 kbps               174,222,336    1,134,260     
00011.M2TS      4608 (0x1200)   0x90            PGS             eng (English)           7259.169                     15 kbps                13,421,583       77,036     
00011.M2TS      4609 (0x1201)   0x90            PGS             eng (English)           7259.169                     14 kbps                12,621,101       74,667     
00011.M2TS      4610 (0x1202)   0x90            PGS             fra (French)            7259.169                     14 kbps                12,649,519       72,622     
00011.M2TS      4611 (0x1203)   0x90            PGS             spa (Spanish)           7259.169                     15 kbps                13,578,302       77,951     
00011.M2TS      4612 (0x1204)   0x90            PGS             por (Portuguese)        7259.169                     15 kbps                13,653,850       78,347     
00011.M2TS      4613 (0x1205)   0x90            PGS             spa (Spanish)           7259.169                     50 kbps                45,417,177      258,933     
00011.M2TS      4614 (0x1206)   0x90            PGS             por (Portuguese)        7259.169                     50 kbps                45,364,034      258,625

[Rick Grimes]

Yep. Looks like it’s a port of the original. Same audio and subs. Same bitrate as well.



Glad ViaVision is offering local buyers an alternative to importing.

[Andy CYP]

Man I wish someone would drop this in 4K. It would look so good.
45 year anniversary as well this year, so would make a great special edition.

[PT Ryan]

A couple of years back I read After Midnight, the memoir by Brad Davis's widow Susan Bluestein with Hilary De Vries. Definitely not an easy read, with its litany of Davis's self-destructive and self-sabotaging behaviours. Even so, the story of life is told with compassion. It's long out of print, but available to borrow on Archive.org.

As an ironic side note, the real Billy Hayes (who subsequently had a minor acting career) plays a drug smuggler caught going through Customs in the pilot episode of Babylon 5. Whether the casting was a deliberate nod to his real life notoriety, I have no idea.