Apt Pupil Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Apt Pupil Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 18, 2019

Bryan Singer's "Apt Pupil" (1998) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Australian label Umbrella Entertainment. The supplemental feaires on the disc include an original theatrical trailer for the film; vintage TV spots; and archival making of featurette. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

In the United States, Bryan Singer's film Apt Pupil first appeared on Blu-ray via local distributors Image Entertainment, but this release is now out of print. For an in-depth analysis of the film, please see my colleague Casey Broadwater's review here.

Apt Pupil Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Bryan Singer's Apt Pupil arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Umbrella Entertainment.

I am not thriller with the remaster that was used to produce the release. There are certain parts of it where it could look deceivingly good, especially if viewed on a smaller screen, but it actually has some sort of a blanket sharpening that gives it a very distracting digital appearance. The darker/indoor footage can hide the sharpening, but natural light immediately makes it obvious (see screencaptures #15 and 16). Additionally, there is a bit smearing in areas where there is also mild black crush, so quite predictably there are plenty of nuances that are lost. The color grading is very good, but some highlights could be rebalanced and improved. Image stability is excellent. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Apt Pupil Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.

The lossless audio is clean, stable, and nicely balanced, which tells me that it was remastered some time ago. However, the old U.S. release of Apt Pupil from Image Entertainment had a lossless 5.1 track and the film actually does have footage that would benefit from it. I don't know why it was not included on this release.

Apt Pupil Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original theatrical trailer for Apt Pupil. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• TV Spots - vintage TV Spots for Apt Pupil. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Featurette - a vintage behind-the-scenes featurette with raw footage from the shooting of the film and short clips from interviews with cast and crew members. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

Apt Pupil Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The North American release of Apt Pupil that Image Entertainment produced back in 2011 appears to be out of print now, so this Australian release could have been a good substitute. However, I am not thrilled with the remaster that was used for it -- it has some sort of sharpening that makes various parts of the film look quite harsh. On a smaller screen the effect may not be too obvious, but anyone with a larger screen, or projector, will easily spot it.