6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.2 |
A New York art dealer meets an attractive, yet mysterious broker who takes her on an erotic journey that pushes the limits of how far she will go.
Starring: Mickey Rourke, Kim Basinger, Margaret Whitton, David Margulies, Christine BaranskiDrama | 100% |
Romance | 93% |
Erotic | 81% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 2.0
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono
English SDH, French, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
I can't figure this guy out. You know, sometimes... sometimes it's so easy. I mean, it might be the tie they wear or the books they read... or don't read. But you know what will end it. So you just file it away and you wait. And that sort of makes it bearable. But with this guy...
"They broke every rule," reads the original movie poster for 9½ Weeks. "A man. A woman. An attraction that became an obsession," reads another. "You'll never look at love the same way again," still another. But for all its titillation, boundary bashing and runaway home video success, the film that launched a thousand flaccid late-night cable knock-offs loses itself in its own steamy erotica. It doesn't take a doctorate in Film & Cinema Studies to unravel the mystery of its cult status, or how it could fail so miserably at the box office yet take the rental market by storm. But today, director Adrian Lyne's turbulent drama is -- perhaps as much as it's ever been -- an infuriating blend of artistic elegance and self-indulgent silliness; enigmatic passion and blunt-force erotica; raw psychological intrigue and gaudy, gratuitous distraction. Somewhere in the dark, deviant midst of it all is a film begging, just begging, to be taken seriously. If only Lyne obliged more often than he does.
"How did you know? How did you know I'd respond to you the way I have?"
For all the criticism and complaints Warner's 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer is about to stir up, it is as faithful and filmic an image as anyone could ask for. Grain arrives as if it were a torrential downpour, shadows swallow the city whole, natural light floods John's apartment, and a soft, diffuse haze settles in over almost every scene. Casual viewers will shift uncomfortably; videophiles will breathe a sigh of relief. But it's all in keeping with Lyne's aesthetic and the film's original presentation, regardless of how erratic fine detail may be. There isn't any egregious noise reduction to speak of, no heavy-handed edge enhancement to gripe about (despite the fact that mild edge halos appear throughout), and no actual issues of note. Colors range from muted grays to fearless reds and smoky blues, skintones are by and large convincing, and black levels are deep and satisfying. The real question, of course, is whether a more extensive restoration could have cleaned up some of the outlying eyesores that persist. Although the Blu-ray presentation represents a substantial upgrade from its previously released DVD counterparts, contrast tends to fluctuate a bit from frame to frame (wildly on a few occasions), grain becomes unwieldy at times, and delineation is all over the place. How much each one could be addressed isn't entirely clear, though (without scrubbing Peter Biziou's original photography within an inch of its life, that is), and the film looks about as good as it presumably could without the sort of overhaul Warner grants its timeless classics (which 9½ Weeks is not).
Warner's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is more than serviceable, but it's also a bit too cold and detached, holding the listener at a distance rather than drawing them in, body and soul. Dialogue, while a touch thin in some interior spaces (Elizabeth's gallery and offices are repeat offenders), is clear and intelligible, and low-end output is solid, lending everything from rainstorms to passing cars to surges of Jack Nitzsche's decidedly '80s score welcome force. The LFE channel doesn't exhibit much finesse -- strength trumps grace -- but this is easily the best 9½ Weeks has sounded. The rear speakers are infuriatingly subdued, though; so much so that it seems as if entire scenes are being presented with a stereo mix. (A commendable lossless stereo mix, mind you, but a stereo mix all the same.) That's not to say that there isn't a soundfield to be had, just that it's often flat, inconsistent and uninvolving. Otherwise, I suspect fans will be pleased with the results.
The film's theatrical trailer is included. No more, no less.
Prepare to be swept away... somewhere. Just don't be surprised if you're ready to leave long before you learn how John and Elizabeth's relationship burns out. 9½ Weeks is two intertwined films: a smart, emotionally fascinating erotic drama starring Mickey Rourke and a silly, emotionally taxing bit of '80s erotica starring a then-fledgling Kim Basinger. It wants to be a serious film, yearns to be a serious film, but it can't help itself, succumbing to pitfalls littered with the corpses of dozens of similar and similarly divisive genre pics. Warner's Blu-ray release is a sleeker, sexier vixen than the film itself, even if its faithful, hyper-grainy presentation will disappoint many a casual viewer. It doesn't offer a shred of supplemental material (other than a theatrical trailer), but its filmic video transfer and decent DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track should entice curious cinephiles and satisfy longtime fans.
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