8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
In Mexico City, the lives of three strangers—a young man mixed up in the gritty underworld of dogfighting, a glamorous woman who seems to have it all, and a mysterious assassin who is desperate to reconnect with his estranged daughter—collide in a tragic twist of fate that forever alters their personal journeys.
Starring: Gael García Bernal, Goya Toledo, Emilio Echevarría, Vanessa Bauche, Álvaro GuerreroDrama | 100% |
Foreign | 80% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
Spanish: LPCM 2.0
2.0 is also 16-bit.
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region B (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Winner of the Critics Week Grand Prize for Best Film at the Cannes Film Festival, Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Amores Perros" a.k.a. "Love's a Bitch" (2000) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include deleted scenes with audio commentary by director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu; a standard behind the scenes featurette; the film's original theatrical trailer; and three music videos. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
One broken man
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Amores Perros arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment.
This high-definition transfer has been struck from a dated source. As a result, there are some inherited limitations. Generally speaking, fine object detail ranges from good to very good. The dog fights and the numerous close-ups of Chivo, for instance, look a lot better than they do on the R1 DVD release of Amores Perros; the pixelation and blockiness that plagued the DVD are also nowhere to be seen. Clarity and contrast are greatly improved. The color-scheme is also a lot more convincing; blues, reds, browns, grays, and blacks look substantially richer and better saturated. This being said, mild sharpening is occasionally easy to spot. Because of the manner in which the film was shot however - the majority of it was shot with a hand-held camera, and later on contrast was manipulated to make it look gritty - I was rarely bothered by it. Some minor noise corrections have been applied as well. However, there are no serious stability issues. I also did not see any purely transfer-specific anomalies to report in this review. To sum it all up, despite the fact that the high-definition transfer used for this Blu-ray release has been struck from a dated source, there are substantial image improvements, and I have absolutely no problem recommending that you seriously consider adding Amores Perros to your collection. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Spanish LPCM 2.0. For the record, Optimum Home Entertainment have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.
The Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is exceptionally strong, and as far as I am concerned a good enough reason to upgrade. The bass is potent and punchy, the rear channels very intelligently used, and the high-frequencies not overdone. There are key scenes in the film, such as the opening crash scenes, that sound quite incredible. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and easy to follow. There are no balance issues with Gustavo Santaolalla beautiful score either. The hip-hop tunes sound great as well. Lastly, I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, hissings, or audio dropouts to report in this review.
Trailer - the original theatrical trailer for the film. Music only, not subtitled. (3 min, PAL).
Deleted Scenes - a collection of deleted scenes with an audio commentary by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles. (17 min, PAL).
Behind the Scenes - a standard featurette with raw footage from the shooting of Amores Perros complimented by various comments from the cast and crew, etc. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles. (8 min, PAL).
Music Videos - three music videos. Two of them directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.
1. "Chico Groove" performed by Gustavo Santaolalla (4 min, PAL).
2. "Me Van A Matar" performed by Julieta Venegas (4 min, PAL).
3. "De Perros Amores" performed by Control Machete (4 min, PAL).
It was great to revisit Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Amores Perros. It is such a powerful, uncompromising, brilliant film. I cannot wait to see Biutiful. Despite a few minor issues, the Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment, looks good and sounds terrific. Consider an upgrade, folks. It is worth it! RECOMMENDED.
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