Curse Of The Golden Flower (aka Man
cheng jin dai huang jin jia/2006/Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: C Film: C+
Not that
long ago, we looked at the ambitious, interesting Zhang Yimou film Curse Of The Golden Flower (aka Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia/2006)
and it is not bad, but nothing we have not seen before on DVD. Though the film was not great, I thought is
was good looking and lavish, which was something the DVD’s limited definition
could not handle. Now the Blu-ray
edition (with the same two extras) is out and the improvements are
welcome. You can read the original
review at:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5197/Curse+Of+The+Golden+Flower+(aka
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image is more like it in capturing Director of
Photography Xiaoding (Jet Li’s Hero
and House Of The Flying Daggers) Zhao’s
camera work, though there are some minor image issues I had that made me wonder
if it was the transferor nature of the Super 35mm shoot. Otherwise, this is a real pleasure to watch
and is very color rich. Like the standard
DVD, this Blu-ray edition has the same Dolby Digital 5.1 mix that had good uses
of music and surrounds throughout, but made me wish for DTS. Instead, Sony has included a PCM 16/48 5.1
that is far better than the Dolby and in combination with the visual
improvements makes this one of Sony’s best Blu-ray releases to date.
- Nicholas Sheffo
