Eastern Promises Reviews and Reactions

[papaholmz]

According to the review at High-Def Digest, the video gets a 5/5!!

The Video: Sizing Up the Picture

The HD DVD edition of 'Eastern Promises' boasted one of the finest transfers on the high-def market and, I'm pleased to report, Universal has blessed Blu-ray fans with the same magnificent 1080p/VC-1 transfer. You may not expect that such a striking presentation would accompany a bleak Russian mafia flick, but Cronenberg uses vibrant reds and browns to energize his vision of London. The transfer handles his dramatic palette with panache, rendering imagery that looks exceptionally solid and three-dimensional. For such a dark film, skintones are impeccably natural, contrast is strong, and black levels are pure and unaffected by crush. Likewise, fine detail is flawless and maintains a remarkable degree of clarity in even the heaviest shadows. I could count individual bricks on distant buildings, see the tiniest specks of blood spatter, and note the skin texture beneath Mortensen's tattoos.

To top it all off, the source is pristine -- I didn’t spot any artifacting, digital noise, or edge enhancement. There is a light veil of grain present at all times, but it never spikes or becomes intrusive. As it is, the only misstep I can point to is a minuscule bit of banding in the steam clouds at the bathhouse. Even so, I'd be hard-pressed to call this filmic presentation anything but reference quality. Viewers bothered by the already intense imagery may not appreciate the unyielding picture, but fans of the film will be floored by this Blu-ray transfer's prowess.

Source

My copy should be waiting for me in my mailbox when I get home tonight. Will be watching it tonight and reporting back.