7.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.6 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
When a friendly, successful suburban teacher and father is prescribed cortisone for a painful, possibly fatal affliction, he grows dangerously addicted to the experimental drug, resulting in his transformation into a psychotic and ultimately violent household despot.
Starring: James Mason (I), Barbara Rush, Walter Matthau, Robert F. Simon, Christopher OlsenDrama | 100% |
Melodrama | 6% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.55:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.55:1
English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Nominated for Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, Nicholas Ray's "Bigger Than Life" (1956) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an exclusive audio commentary with film critic Geoff Andrew; video featurette with award-winning novelist Jonathan Lethem; video interview with Susan Ray, Nicholas Ray's widow, and the editor of "I Was Interrupted: Nicholas Ray on Making Movies"; "Profile of Nicholas Ray" - a half-hour 1977 TV interview with Nicholas Ray, hosted by critic Cliff Jahr; and trailer. The disc also contains a 24-page illustrated booklet containing B. Kite's essay "Somewhere in Suburbia." With optional English subtitles. Region-A "locked".
One happy suburban wife
Presented in its ori9ginal aspect ratio of 2.55:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Nicholas Ray's Bigger Than Life arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears in the booklet provided with the Blu-ray disc:
"For this new high-definition digital transfer, the original 35mm camera negative was scanned at 4K resolution on an Oxberry 6400 Liquid Gate scanner and color graded and restored at 2K resolution. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were manually removed using the DaVinci Revival system and Pixel Farm's PFClean system. Arri's Relativity system was used for light grain reduction."
This is yet another solid, extremely competent high-definition transfer courtesy of Criterion. Fine object detail is excellent, clarity pleasing and contrast handled with utmost precision. The suggestive shadows, for example, that you would see during the second half of the film, after James Mason's character becomes violent, look terrific. The color-scheme is also very convincing - blues, greens, grays, blacks and whites look rich yet natural. Additionally, as stated in the quote above, light grain reduction has been performed, but there is still a pleasing amount of film grain that has been preserved. Edge-enhancement and macroblocking are never a serious issue of concern; neither is digital noise. On the contrary, even during the indoor scenes, where the lighting is minimal, the image quality is very impressive. Furthermore, I did not detect any stability issues while viewing the film to report in this review. I also did not spot any disturbing cuts, warps, splices, scratches, or stains. To sum it all up, this Blu-ray release of Nicholas Ray's Bigger Than Life represents a solid upgrade over all previous releases of the film, which is why I strongly recommend that you consider adding it to your film library. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: English LPCM 1.0. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.
I don't have any major reservations with the English LPCM 1.0 track. The dialog is clear, clean and easy to follow. I did not detect any balance issues with David Raksin's music score either. I did notice, however, a number of improvements in terms of stability when I compared the a few scenes with the BFI SDVD release. Finally, pops, cracks, or excessive hissing do not plague the English LPCM 1.0 track.
Profile of Nicholas Ray - a half-hour 1977 TV interview with Nicholas Ray, hosted by critic Cliff Jahr, provides a revealing look at the director's thematic interests, his love of actors, and his unique perspective on cinema. I strongly encourage you to find the time to see the interview as there are some fascinating comments by Ray addressing his work with James Dean on Rebel Without a Cause, as well as some surprising revelations about his relationship with Warner Brothers. In English, not subtitled. (29 min, 1080i).
Jonathan Lethem - a video featurette with award-winning novelist Jonathan Lethem (Chronic City), who talks about Bigger Than Life, one of his favorite films. Lethem's deconstruction of the film is excellent, and particularly his comments addressing the film's complex dual structure - protagonist vs. American middle class. In English, not subtitled. (28 min, 1080p).
Susan Ray - a video interview with Susan Ray, Nicholas Ray's widow, and the editor of I Was Interrupted: Nicholas Ray on Making Movies. Here, Mrs. Ray talks about her husband's passion for cinema and his work on Bigger Than Life. In English, not subtitled. (22 min, 1080p).
Commentary - an audio commentary with film critic Geoff Andrew, author of The Films of Nicholas Ray, recorded exclusively for the Criterion Collection in 2009. Andrew offers a strong, very informative dissection of Bigger Than Life as well as Ray's career as a film maker. I also thought that this was a very honest commentary, one that does not simply glamorize Ray, the film, and its cast.
Trailer - a trailer for Bigger Than Life. (3 min, 1080p).
Booklet - a 24-page illustrated booklet containing B. Kite's essay "Somewhere in Suburbia" (the author is a writer and video maker living in Brooklyn. His essays have appeared in such publications as Cinema Scope, The Believer, Trafic, and the The Village Voice, as well as in Michael Atkinson's Exile Cinema anthology and the Masters of Cinema DVD booklets for Muriel and Tokyo Sonata).
Arguably director Nicholas Ray's best film, Bigger Than Life arrives on Blu-ray with a striking transfer that should meet the quality expectations of even the most demanding amongst film aficionados. The supplemental features included on the disc are also very strong. I particularly enjoyed Cliff Jahr's conversation with director Ray and Jonathan Lethem's intelligent analysis. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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