7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The true story of a group of U.S. soldiers, and their battle-scarred sergeant who takes his problems out on a new squad member during the war in Vietnam.
Starring: Michael J. Fox, Sean Penn, Don Harvey, John C. Reilly, John LeguizamoWar | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS 5.1
German: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: DTS 5.1
German: DTS 5.1
English: DTS 2.0
German: DTS 2.0
German, English
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Brian De Palma's "Casualties of War" (1989) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Swiss label Explosive Media. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; archival featurettes with director Brian De Palma and Michael J. Fox; deleted scenes; and more. In English or German, with optional English SDH and German subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
Different soldiers
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Brian De Palma's Casualties of War arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Explosive Media.
The two disc-set contains the Extended Version of the film as well as the original Theatrical Cut. The first 19 screencaptures in the review are from the Extended Version, while the remaining 4 are from the Theatrical Cut.
The release is sourced from Sony's 2K remaster of Casualties of War, which is the healthiest presentation of the film that I have seen to date. However, it is not immaculate. For example, there is some very light sharpening that sneaks in, and where it is most noticeable it looks somewhat similar to the one present on Sony's 4K restoration of The Remains of the Day. The grading also supports some stronger than usual blacks, which trained eyes will quickly link to some of the black crush that occasionally sneaks in as well (see screencapture #11). There is also room for some minor encoding optimizations, but you do not have to worry about compression artifacts affecting your viewing experience. The good news is that density levels are very strong and even on a very large screen the entire film holds up really well. The range of primary colors and nuances is also very convincing. Image stability is outstanding. There are no large distracting debris, cuts, damage marks, stains, warped or torn frames to report. However, some tiny white specks can be spotted. Both discs are Region-Free. My score is 4.25/5.00.
Both versions of the film come with English DTS 5.1 tracks. German DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS 5.1 tracks are included as well. There are optional English SDH and German subtitles for each version. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.
A lossless English track would have been preferable, but the DTS 5.1 track is actually very strong. My guess is that if eventually a U.S. release materializes the best way to offer some noticeable improvements in terms of depth and dynamic activity would be to offer a newly created Atmos track. Otherwise, I think that most people will likely not hear a substantial difference between a DTS 5.1 track and a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. (You can actually experiment with the German DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track to get a rough idea of what the difference might be). There are no audio dropouts or digital distortions to report.
BLU-RAY DISC ONE - THEATRICAL VERSION
There are some striking visuals in Casualties of War, but I find the manner in which Brian De Palma builds the drama and especially Michael J. Fox's performance quite underwhelming. They give the film a melodramatic quality that I think irreversibly damages its realism. I much prefer the manner in which Francis Ford Coppola recreated the brutal grinder that the Vietnam War was in his classic Apocalypse Now. This recent release from Siwss label Explosive Media contains the shorter Theatrical Version and the longer Extended Cut of the film, and offers the best presentations of each on the market. It also comes with a nice selection of archival bonus features and is Region-Free. RECOMMENDED.
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