8.6 | / 10 |
Users | 2.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 3.6 |
Just as stage legend Margo Channing feels her star is dimming, she takes on a protege named Eve Harrington, a young and ambitious ingenue. With the help of sharp-eyed theater critic Addison DeWitt, this dreamy-eyed kid spins a deceptively cunning web around Channing's inner-circle, including Margo's director boyfriend Bill Simpson, playwright Lloyd Richards and his wife Karen—until she reaches her goal, which is Margo's spotlight on Broadway.
Starring: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders (I), Celeste Holm, Gary MerrillDrama | 100% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Joseph L. Mankiewicz's "All About Eve" (1950) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include various archival cast and crew interviews; documentaries about the production of the film and the life and legacy of its creator; vintage radio adaptation; and a lot more. The release also arrives with a 440page illustrated booklet featuring writings on the film and technical credits. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, All About Eve arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the booklet that is provided with this Blu-ray release:
"This digital restoration was undertaken by Twentieth Century Fox. A 35mm composite fine-grain, on loan from the Museum of Modern Art, was scanned in 4K resolution and restored at Reliance MediWorks in Burbank, California. The original monaural soundtrack was restored from a raw capture of the optical track from the same 35mm composite fine-grain. A quarter-inch magnetic recording was used for the main- and end-title sequences. The raw captures were performed by DJ Audio in Burbank. The audio was then restored by by Audio Mechanics in Burbank."
I own the original release of All About Eve and did only a couple of quick comparisons with it. Predictably, the presentation there is identical. (The first release that Fox produced was also sourced from the 4K restoration).
I quite like the restoration. However, I also see areas where some digital adjustments were made to rebalance the image and some of them introduce flatness. If you project the film, they become rather easy to spot. On other hand, they are not at all distracting and overall the film still has a nice organic appearance. The grading is very good. A new 4K remaster without the above-mentioned adjustments, however, will likely expand some nuances that are now struggling in backgrounds. Image stability is excellent. There are no distracting debris, cuts, damage marks, warped or torn frames to report. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit). Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
The restored audio sounds very good. It is clean, sharp, and stable. Even when the volume it turned up a bit, the upper register remains solid. There are no audio dropouts, distortions, background hiss, or purely digital anomalies to report in our review. (Note to audio purists: The English Mono track that was included on Fox's release of All About Eve was lossy, not lossless).
BLU-RAY DISC ONE
Criterion's upcoming two-disc release of All About Eve is sourced from the 4K restoration that Twentieth Century Fox introduced in 2011. However, it has a wealth of bonus features, many exclusive, that will be of interest to fan of the film. On other other hand, this release does no have all of the bonus features from the first release, so if you decide to pick it up, do not give away your other release of the film. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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