Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

A Star Is Born Blu-ray Movie Review

Champagne supernova.

A movie so nice, they remade it thrice... and it's almost a remake itself if you count What Price Hollywood, which basically features the same story and came out five years earlier. Nevertheless, William A. Wellman's 1937 classic is typically credited as the starting point for this timeless tale of ambition, romance, success, depression, and other Hollywood staples. Janet Gaynor stars as hopeful small-town girl Esther Victoria Blodgett, whose drastic departure for Tinseltown eventually lands her in the arms of Norman Maine (Fredric March), a big-time star with a serious drinking problem that leads to his own meteoric downfall. The film's transitional dynamic, strong performances, and meta storytelling still hold up perfectly well for modern audiences, even if some of the name-checking doesn't.

Kino's disc looked good for its time (especially considering earlier public domain releases), but Warner Archive's new Blu-ray represents a quantum leap forward in picture quality: sourced from a recent 4K scan of the original nitrate Technicolor negatives, it feels like an entirely different film in comparison. Ignore the silvery cover art: this one's absolutely bursting with color, along with a lossless mono mix and a few period-specific extras to boot.

A Star Is Born Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Warner Archive once again works their magic with this "Restored Edition" of A Star is Born, which as mentioned before far outpaces the respectable Kino Blu-ray in all departments. Its sterling 1080p transfer is sourced from a new 4K scan of the film's original nitrate color negatives, an undertaking not thought possible until recent years. The result of this scan, combined with the studio's reliably careful cleanup efforts, produces a full and very rich image that, when seen alongside the Kino disc, really does make it look like a new film. It's obvious that a lot of care went in to this release: it has a velvety soft appearance and features a rich amount of natural film grain, along with excellent color reproduction that expertly showcases A Star is Born's Technicolor processing in a way that feels entirely organic.

From the stunning garden scene (above) to a poolside photo shoot and a memorable day at the races (screenshot #24), outdoor sequences fare as well expected -- we knew those would look good. But apartment and studio interiors, and even dim arenas like the rough-and-tumble boxing match (screenshot #16) are well-balanced and impressive in their own right with strong detail that reaches far into the backgrounds. Even a handful of relatively dark opening scenes, from the low-lit interiors of Esther's family home to her nighttime departure by train, are perfectly readable with very strong black levels and shadow detail that don't fall prey to black crush, banding, or posterization. Likewise, no related compression artifacts were spotted along the way and the film runs at a very high bit rate on this expertly encoded dual-layer disc. Overall, it's yet another top-tier effort from Warner Archive that will absolutely thrill long-time fans of A Star is Born with its incredibly dense, rich, and film-like highlights. If not for Warner Archive's unparalleled restoration work on another March title, The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, this disc might have stood out even more. You know you're doing well when a Blu-ray this great-looking gets the silver medal.

NOTE: Although there are no exact frame matches between this review and the screenshots from Kino Blu-ray, many are taken from similar scenes so you can get a general ideal of the differences. Either way, it's not even close -- the beautiful restoration work done here makes Warner Archive's disc worth the price of admission alone.

A Star Is Born Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Although not as attention-grabbing, Warner Archive's restoration efforts extend to the audio as well... so while Kino's LPCM mono track and this DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio split mono mix sound identical on paper (save for their default number of channels, which can always be re-jiggered with a few button clicks on your receiver's remote), this version comes out ahead in overall clarity, balance, and dynamic range. A Star is Born still shows its age at times -- such as the main theme, which sounds especially strained on the high end during one particularly harsh stretch -- but damage is largely kept in check, leaving a mostly pure and certainly listenable end result in its wake. No major drop-outs or sync issues were heard along the way, rounding out a straightforward but equally purist-friendly audio presentation.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only, but not the extras.

A Star Is Born Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with dull (and kind of deceptive) cover artwork that undercuts the film's vivid Technicolor roots. No inserts are included, but we do get a nice collection of era-specific extras.

• Classic WB Cartoon: "A Star is Hatched" (8:08) - This 1938 Merrie Melodies short, directed by Friz Freleng, obviously doesn't feature heavy drinking or suicide; instead, it follows Emily the chicken en route from Hickville to Hollywood (she walks). There's not much in the way of story here... just a few era-specific visual gags and celebrity impressions before she returns home and smacks her young chick for wanting to follow in her footsteps. It's nothing special but it is nicely restored and clean as a whistle, with crisp lossless audio to match.

• Classic WB Shorts - Three vintage 1937 black-and-white shorts originally presented as pre-show or related entertainment around the time of A Star is Born's theatrical run. All look to be upscaled from older Warner Bros. DVD releases but are in watchable condition and include lossless mono audio tracks.

• Music and Dance: Mal Hallett & His Orchestra (9:23)
• Comedy: "Taking the Count" (21:40) - featuring Joe Palooka.
• Specialties: "Alibi Mark" (13:20)

• Lux Radio Theater Broadcasts - Two condensed radio adaptations of A Star is Born with different leads, the second of which features none other than Judy Garland a full 12 years before the first remake.

• Janet Gaynor and Robert Montgomery (60:38) - Originally broadcast on September 13, 1937.
• Judy Garland and Walter Pidgeon (58:27) - Originally broadcast on December 28, 1942.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:49) - This vintage promotional piece can also be seen here.

A Star Is Born Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

William A. Wellman's A Star is Born may have taken its cues from What Price Hollywood, but it's still a timeless and enduring classic that's been perpetually remade like clockwork. That's another way of saying that anyone only familiar with other versions should feel right at home, as the dueling rise-and-fall momentum of its two main characters makes for plenty of potent, effective human drama. Add in great Technicolor cinematography and a strong original score by Max Steiner and you've got a pretty durable little slice of 1930s cinema. Warner Archive's Blu-ray gives the film its proper due with a truly definitive edition that runs laps around Kino's 2012 Blu-ray in all departments, even the bonus features. Whether you're a die-hard fan or new to the party, this certainly earns a hearty Recommended.