7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Set in Hollywood during the transition from silent films to talkies, focusing on a mixture of historical & fictional characters.
Starring: Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Jean Smart, Jovan AdepoDrama | 100% |
Period | 41% |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish=Latinoamérica
English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Cantonese, Danish, Finnish, Korean, Norwegian, Swedish, Thai
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Writer/Director Damien Chazelle (Whiplash, La La Land) turns the camera on Hollywood and the moviemaking landscape, and turns back time by about a century, for Babylon, a film of shameless excess, loose characters, and a looser structure that chronicles both the transition from silent to sound film era and the path of various people on both sides of the camera as they navigate the changing workspace and the evolving lifestyles and life events that define them both on camera and off of it. The film is bloated and struggles to hold direction and find purpose, but it nevertheless proves to be a somewhat engaging blend of true-life chronicling and fictional characterization. The film is not for audiences unprepared for its visual and aural excesses, but those prepared to indulge in everything Hollywood in the 1920s had to offer should find the picture a satisfying venture of sight and, indeed, sound.
The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc.
Babylon's 2160p/Doby Vision UHD release offers a fair upgrade from the Blu-ray, at times only subtly superior and at others more obviously superior.
Simply from watching the film, the boost in resolution and color refinement are obvious in most places as the picture reveals firmer textures and deeper
and richer colors. The picture appears more organically filmic as well, with the grain remaining light but certainly, here, a touch more robust and
accurate. Certainly, in some of the darker scenes, especially in the first act where warm lights and shadowy corners define the look of the party, the
UHD's superiority is more incremental, offering a more satisfying filmic texture and more resolute details as well as better black level balance, shadow
depth, and contrast in the warm areas. Brighter scenes capture a bit more clarity to intricate, extremely fine detail, such as fine facial hair (even on
female faces) and fabric definition. Watch the lengthy sequence where the movies are being shot outdoors in the ~40-minute range. The UHD offers a
clearly superior sense of filmic stability, obviously shaper detail, enhanced clarity corner to corner, and superior colors, albeit mostly earthy and very
sun washed. A steady seconds-long shot of a dead body at the 40:44 mark offers an excellent example and point of comparison for the UHD's
excellence, capturing the clothing and terrain details with wonderful clarity beyond the Blu-ray's limits, while the vivid red blood offers superior punch
and grading accuracy on the UHD. There is no question that the UHD takes the image up a notch and offers audiences the best presentation of the film
in 2023.
The Dolby Atmos soundtrack is an exceptional example of modern audio engineering, even as the film takes place about 100 years ago. The sense of sheer scale in the opening sequence is nearly unrivaled for the orgy of audio that pours into the listening area. Between the raucous partygoers and the intense blasts of the era big band music, the sense of immersion is real, and the clarity and surround content are a match. Add in the wonderful subwoofer balance and altogether these elements make the sequence hard to beat for distinction and definition. The track holds to a balance between extreme audio aggression and intimate balance throughout. Listeners will be repeatedly awestruck by the engineering at work to sort everything out while also mixing it all together to audio perfection. Whether effects, atmosphere, or action, the track delivers in perfect working order. Dialogue is always clear and center positioned for the duration as well.
This UHD release of Babylon contains all of its extras on a second Blu-ray disc; the feature film discs (both Blu-ray and UHD) contain only the
film. No DVD copy is
included, but Paramount has bundled in a digital copy code.
Many film aficionados are going to have a good time with Babylon, flaws and all. The film's excesses stretch throughout, and while the core narrative is coherently linear, the larger purpose beyond painting a vivid picture of lust-for-life extremes seems scattered. The UHD is quite good, with solid video and excellent audio in addition to an entire bonus disc's worth of supplements, even if they are on a second disc for feature film spacing purposes, not breadth and length of supplemental content. Fans will love this package.
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Extended Director's Cut
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1997
2nd Corrected BD Pressing UPC Sticker 715515270113
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