7.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.3 |
A story of two French lovers, Zorg and Betty, who fall into a deeply erotic and all-encompassing relationship.
Starring: Jean-Hugues Anglade, Béatrice Dalle, Gérard Darmon, Consuelo de Haviland, Clémentine CélariéForeign | 100% |
Drama | 84% |
Romance | 23% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080i
Aspect ratio: 1.67:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
French: Dolby Digital 2.0
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
French director Jean-Jacques Beineix's "37°2 le matin" a.k.a "Betty Blue" (1986) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Cinema Libre. The only supplemental feature on the disc is an interview with director Jean-Jacques Beineix conducted by Tim Rhys of MovieMaker Magazine. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
Lovers in Paris
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080i transfer, Jean-Jacques Beineix's Betty Blue arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Cinema Libre.
Cinema Libre's Blu-ray release of the theatrical version of Betty Blue is something of a mixed bag. Detail, clarity, and especially contrast levels are indeed pleasing, but there is some sort of filtering - and I am not referring to traditional DNR - that has been applied to the interlaced transfer to offset motion-judder. As a result, the image has that very unique plastic, extremely smooth look that can be observed when one turns on the TrueMotion filter on many high-end HDTVs. Additionally, when the camera zooms there is obvious trailing that is quite distracting. All of this is indeed very disappointing as the interlaced transfer has clearly been struck from a brand new master. (I own the director's cut of Betty Blue, which Australian distributors Madman released on SDVD quite some time ago, and detail, clarity, and color reproduction are indeed superior on the Blu-ray release, but the film simply does not look like film). This being said, edge-enhancement is not a serious issue of concern. There are no serious stability issues to report in this review either. All in all, this is a puzzling and somewhat disappointing Blu-ray release. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).
There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: French Dolby Digital 2.0. For the record, Cinema Libre have provided optional (yellow) French subtitles for the main feature.
I was really hoping that this Blu-ray release would come with a solid loseless audio track as Betty Blue has an exceptionally beautiful, truly legendary soundtrack that would have greatly benefited from it. Unfortunately, Cinema Libre have provided only a modest lossy audio track. While far from disappointing, the French Dolby Digital 2.0 track is quite underwhelming -- the dynamics are fairly modest, while the bass is rarely active. The dialog, however, is crisp, clean, and very easy to follow. The English translation is good.
Jean-Jacques Beineix directed two of the most influential 80s French films: Diva and 37°2 le matin a.k.a Betty Blue. The latter, a film I adore, has now arrived on Blu-ray courtesy of Cinema Libre. Unfortunately, I have mixed feelings about this release - and most definitely not because this isn't the longer director's cut of the film, which I like a lot more than the theatrical version. I was simply not impressed with the technical presentation. The best I could do is recommend that you RENT IT.
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