Erin Brockovich (Import) Blu-ray - Reviews and Reaction Thread

[lgans316]

http://avplay.avforums.com/index.php...diareview=9274

Picture - 7/10

Erin Brockovich arrives in the UK on Blu ray after being HD DVD only stateside. It is presented in its theatrically correct ratio in a 1080P transfer.

The film is not one that is ever going to truly impress on HD. The film is eight years old, and features some very conservative outdoor and indoor shots. There are very few night scenes to truly test the transfer quality, but what is here is rendered very well.

Soderburgh is renowned for his rather stylistic approach, and although he reigns himself in rather on this film, he still presents a very interesting palette to the viewer. The outdoor scenes, for example, are shot through with a really interesting orange tint and this is rendered really well by the transfer. The unusual filter used may well mean that the image lacks the 3D “Pop” we are used to expecting but the level of detail in the image is certainly great.

In addition to this, despite the age of the film, the stock the film is mastered from is perfect. There are no blemishes or artefacts to be seen and the image is clean and pristine. Grain does occasionally appear but this seems to be very inconsistent. In some scenes it is quite prevalent but in others it is nonexistent. I suspect this is down to the way Soderburgh shoots the film, rather than any problem with the transfer.

Sound : 3/10

Erin Brockovich is presented with a Dolby TrueHD sound mix, but it is a very disappointing track indeed. Admittedly the film is very dialogue driven, but surely that doesn’t mean that the rears should be ignored completely? Atmosphere could be added with ambient effects surely?

Sadly not. Everything is front orientated, from the dialogue, to the music – everything is in the front of the sound field. Admittedly the dialogue is always clear and concise, but there is actually very little frontal separation here. Indeed I would go so far as to say this is the worst TrueHD soundtrack I have heard so far. Luckily, this doesn’t affect the film too much – but it is disappointing.

I may buy the Japanese version that's getting released next week. Will try to post my impressions.