Angels
& Demons
(2009)/Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon (2000)/The
Da Vinci Code (2006/all
Sony 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray Sets)/The
Hills Have Eyes (1977/MVD
Visual/Arrow Limited Edition Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: A-/B+/A- Picture: B+/B/B/B Sound: A- &
B+/B+ & B/B+ & B/B- Extras: B-/C/B-/B+ Films:
C+/C/C+/B
Next
up are four classic thrillers in remarkably upgraded editions that
make all predecessors obsolete, loaded with extras and with playback
performance (audio and image) that will stun even the biggest fans of
the following...
I
will cover these slightly out of order, but know we have covered all
for films before. Ron
Howard's The
Da Vinci Code
(2006) is the huge hit film off of the huge hot book we've reviewed a
few times, including my coverage of an old DVD set a while ago
here...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4565/The+Da+Vinci+Code
I
give author Dan Brown for thinking up all of this fictional symbolism
and the Howard/Hanks team have turned it all into a sort of
intellectual Indiana Jones, but one can only take so much of it if
one is not a fan. Still, you can see how an international
blockbuster would rightly (sequel on the way or not) become an early
4K back catalog title as deluxe as possible, consisting of 3 discs!
Howard's
Angels
& Demons
(2009)
was no major improvement overall, but it was still a worthy sequel
(though the book was actually a prequel) despite the mixed critical
and commercial responses. I reviewed it here...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12823/Amazing+Spider-Man+(2012)/Angels+&+Demons
It
is at least consistent within the logic of its own world, something
they try to continue in the third film in the series, Inferno
(2016), now reviewed on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray here...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/14713/Inferno+(2016/Sony+4K+Ultra+HD+Blu-ray+w/Blu
Ang
Lee's Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon
(2000)
was the huge-if-overrated hit that pulled off for many the
contradiction of the 'classy' kung-fu film, but I was no fan despite
a likable cast who in retrospect sold the film better than they got
credit for...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8828/Crouching+Tiger+Hidden+Dragon/Curse+Of+The+G
I
was never happy with the many transfers of this film before, like it
or not, so I can now show friends this version and explain more
clearly why I am not a fan (ha) as Lee always makes the oddest
errors, mistakes and missteps of any major director today. Still,
now you can see what all were really intending.
Extras
with all three Sony 4K releases include Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy
for PC, PC portable and other cyber iTunes capable devices, while the
Blu-rays add extras from their previous incarnations. Code
repeats older extras on a second Blu-ray disc with The
first day on the Set with Ron Howard,
Director Ron Howard introducing the film & the excitement of
beginning production at the Louvre in Paris, the following ten
featurettes: ''The Da Vinci Code'' author Dan Brown, A
Portrait of Langdon,
Who is
Sophie Neveu?,
Unusual
Suspects,
Magical
Places,
Close-up
on Mona Lisa,
The
Filmmaking Experience Part 1
- Includes a DVD exclusive look at filming the last and revealing
scene, The
Filmmaking Experience Part 2,
The
Codes of "The Da Vinci Code"
and The
Music of "The Da Vinci Code".
A third Blu-ray adds a new Teaser, new Trailer, Extended Cut Scenes
in longer versions than seen in the longer final cut, an Audio
Commentary track and new look at Inferno,
the third film in this series as now linked above.
Angels
repeats its seven making-of featurettes (Rome
Was Not Built In A Day,
Writing
Angels & Demons,
Characters
In Search Of The True Story,
CERN:
Pushing The Frontiers Of Knowledge,
Handling
Props,
Angels
& Demons: The Full Story
and This Is An Ambigram), Theatrical Trailers and a look at Inferno
as well. Tiger
repeats a commentary by Lee & Co-writer James Schamus, Unleashing
The Dragon
making-of featurette and on-camera Yeoh interview, then adds a new
Lee intro, Music Video, Theatrical Trailer, six never-before-released
Deleted Scenes and a new retrospective look at the film by Lee,
Schamus and Editor Tim Squyres.
Last
but absolutely not least is a true horror classic, Wes
Craven's The
Hills Have Eyes
(1977), a original masterwork of terror that is one of the rare
classics that spawned a worthy, memorable remake. However, the
original is still king, my favorite film here and we reviewed an
earlier Blu-ray release here...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11167/Bad+Dreams/Visiting+Hours+(Shout!+Factory+DV
What
strikes me again watching this film is how casual it is, building
suspense in indirect ways that work and match the laidback attitude
of the time. It can be a time capsule, yet the terror and fighting
is as relevant and as effective as ever. Even after it has a remake,
a sequel and the sequel has a remake, it is easy to say this film is
still
a bit underrated and deserves more credit than it gets. That I why
this new set is such an event in restoring and preserving the film.
Extras
in this solid slipcase packaging include a highly quality paper
foldout poster and high quality printed 40-page booklet on the film
including informative text, illustrations and two essays. There is a
reversible cover for the clear Blu-ray case, which contains six
postcard-sized poster cards (double sided too), while the Blu-ray
repeats the
feature length audio commentary by Craven and Producer Peter Locke,
Looking
Back At The Hills Have Eyes
featurette, theatrical trailers, TV spots, an alternate ending now
retransferred in HD and a Behind The Scenes Image Gallery. New
extras include two new feature
length audio commentary tracks (one by actors Michael Berryman, Janus
Blythe, Susan Lainer & Martin Speer, the other with film scholar
Mikel J. Koven) and two new Behind The Scenes/Making Of featurettes:
an on-camera Martin Speer interview dubbed Family
Business
and The
Desert Sessions,
an informative interview with composer Don Peake.
The
2160p HEVC/H.265, HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced 2.35 X 1 Ultra
High Definition images from Da
Vinci,
Angels
and Tiger
all have demo moments, were all shot in the Super 35mm film format
and all outdo their 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition standard
Blu-ray image transfers that are far superior to all previous
releases of the film on home video of any kind, but Angels
has a slight edge in 4K being the newest of the three. Tiger
needed the upgrade the most and Da
Vinci
benefits the most from the upgrade versus its 1080p version and from
the fancy film stocks (like Kodak Expression film) only it used. Da
Vinci
and Angels
are both lensed by Howard's most successful pairing with a Director
of Photography, Salvatore Totino, A.S.C., who will be back on the
all-digital Inferno
shoot. Rarely if at all do the 35mm materials show
their age, so cheers to Sony's amazing work on all three throughout.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Eyes
is also as impressive more than you would expect, a huge upgrade from
the older Blu-ray that had color, detail and depth issues. This
time, quality 35mm copies from the original (and lost (for now?))
16mm camera materials have been scanned at 4K and the results will
shock many. You can occasionally see the age of the materials used,
but we also get the full color range of the film, highly improved
depth, highly improved detail and more image in all four corners of
the frame. Being one of the most important 16mm feature films ever
made, up there with the original Texas
Chain Saw Massacre
(improved even over the older photochemical restoration, reviewed
elsewhere on this site), Ganja
& Hess
(restored with the same kind of materials this was) and The
Harder They Come
(which has an odd new HD upgrade where they messed it up), it is
highly welcome and will reenforce 16mm film as a great format, great
professional format and an underrated one. All this makes the terror
and suspense more vivid too, so even non-fans beed to see this one.
As
for sound, Da
Vinci,
Angels
and Tiger
all offer upgraded Dolby
Atmos 11.1 lossless mixes (with Dolby
TrueHD 7.1 mixdowns for those without Atmos in their home theater
system) that bring out the best in all the soundtracks presented.
The older Tiger
Blu-ray we covered had a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix that was disappointing,
so later Blu-rays offered a slightly better DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix, but this new Atmos mix finally
opens up the original theatrical sound as well as it ever will be.
Not bad for a 5.1 movie.
Da
Vinci
is very well mixed and presented in Atmos, but Angels
in Atmos is the sonic champ on this list with the most detail, depth,
articulation and range. Da
Vinci
offers a DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on its 1080p
Blu-ray that continues to be impressive for what it is, but it cannot
totally compete with the Atmos. Angels
is lossless Dolby formats all the way, with its 1080p Blu-ray
offering Dolby
TrueHD 7.1. Its all enough to get you to buy a new receiver if you
don't have Atmos or DTS: X.
As
for Eyes,
the older Blu-ray offered a DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 6.1 lossless mix that was slightly better than the
same old disc's
PCM 2.0 Mono, but
the new PCM 2.0 Mono upgrade by Arrow (et al) far outperforms both
older tracks with very clean and clear playback for its age and low
budget. I have never heard the film (or many films of its kind and
type from its era) sound so good. This is the kind of work you
expect from Criterion or a major studio, but this is what Arrow keeps
delivering. Just as impressive in its own way and now the only way
to really experience this film.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
