8.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
The story of Venezuelan revolutionary Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, who founded a worldwide terrorist organization and raided the 1975 OPEC meeting.
Starring: Edgar Ramírez, Alexander Scheer, Fadi Abi Samra, Lamia Ahmed, Karam GhosseinDrama | 100% |
Biography | 13% |
Crime | 13% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
English, French
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region A (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Screened at the Cannes Film Festival and winner of Best Foreign Language Film Award at the National Society of Film Critics Awards, Olivier Assayas' "Carlos" (2010) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Canadian distributors Mongrel Media. The supplemental features on the disc include two theatrical trailers; making-of featurette; interview with Edgar Ramírez; and an exclusive interview with director Olivier Assayas. In French, Russian, English, German, Spanish, Hungarian, and Arabic, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, a.k.a Carlos the Jackal
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Olivier Assayas' Carlos arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Canadian distributors Mongrel Media.
The basic characteristics of this transfer are quite similar to those of the transfer Optimum Home Entertainment used for their Blu-ray release of Carlos in the United Kingdom - yet they are not identical (I've tried to match a couple of screenshots so you could compare them on your own as well). The Optimum Home Entertainment transfer is a tiny bit darker; the yellows, browns, and blacks look better saturated. More importantly, however, it is also better compressed. Mongrel Media's decision to place the film's three-part version on a single 50GB has resulted in minor compression artifacts popping up during selected scenes. Admittedly, due to the film's quite unusual look most are rather easy to ignore, but a trained eye will notice their presence. Generally speaking, edge-enhancement and macroblocking are not an issue of concern. Traces of the former, however, are occasionally noticeable. Heavy aliasing and background flicker are also nowehere to be seen. Lastly, there are no serious stability issues. I also did not see any large damage marks, cuts, or stains. (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 are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English Dolby Digital 5.1 and French Dolby Digital 5.1 (please note that the audio is actually comprised of relatively large chunks of dialog spoken in a number of different languages, including Russian, English, German, Spanish, Hungarian, and Arabic). For the record, Mongrel Medial have provided optional English and French subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.
I must admit that it is rather disappointing that Mongrel Media did not do what Optimum Home Entertainment did for their Blu-ray release of Carlos -- have parts 1 & 2 of the film on a 50GB disc, and part 3 on a 25GB. Obviously, with the entire film on a single 50GB disc they could not include a loseless audio track.
The English Dolby Digital 5.1 track is not terribly disappointing, but it is clearly not as effective as the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The big shootouts in the OPEC headquarters in Vienna, for instance, are not as intense. The exotic soundtrack is also quite subdued. Still, the dialog is crisp, clean, and stable. Once again, however, the optional English subtitles appear only when English isn't spoken, which is something I must speculate will annoy plenty of people because many of the important characters in the film have very thick accents.
There is a rumor going around that Criterion will release Olivier Assayas' Carlos on Blu-ray later this year. Because nothing has been confirmed yet, I was hoping that this Blu-ray release, courtesy of Canadian distributors Mongrel Media, will turn out to be a solid alternative for people residing in Region-A territories (Optimum Home Entertainment's Blu-ray release of Carlos is Region-B "locked"). But I have mixed feelings about it. The film looks rather good, but Mongrel Media could not offer a loseless audio track because the entire film has been placed on a single 50GB disc. Therefore, I believe that the best I could do is recommend that you RENT IT.
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