7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.6 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
At a time when crimes of passion result in celebrity headlines, nightclub sensation Velma Kelly and spotlight-seeking Roxie Hart both find themselves sharing space on Chicago's famed Murderess Row! They also share Billy Flynn, the town's slickest lawyer with a talent for turning notorious defendants into local legends. But in Chicago there's only room for one legend!
Starring: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, John C. ReillyMusical | 100% |
Comedy | 97% |
Period | 56% |
Drama | 23% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (96kHz, 16-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
7.1: 96kHz, 16-bit
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The venerable adage goes "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", which may be a pertinent issue to raise with Lionsgate's perhaps
surprising decision to remaster and re-release Chicago, a Blu-ray which in its original incarnation got fairly
uniformly positive reactions (including by yours truly here at Blu-ray.com). Well, another adage goes "nothing ventured,
nothing gained", and perhaps Lionsgate is hoping that those who didn't purchase the film the first time around will
spring for it now, while the allure of a new bonus documentary may make previous purchasers consider double dipping.
We'll address the technical merits and new supplementary material of this release below, but first I'm including my
thoughts on the show and film from my first review.
For those of you who were lucky enough to catch a Bob Fosse staged show on Broadway, you’ll know what I mean
when I say, both unashamedly and unabashedly, that the master showman’s touch could literally change your life. I
was a kid when I visited family in New York City and through one of my Uncles’ connections was able to get front row
tickets for Pippin, a show that was then playing to standing room only audiences. With an incredible cast
including John Rubinstein, Jill Clayburgh, Ben Vereen, and The Beverly Hillbillies’ own “Granny,” Irene Ryan,
Pippin was one of the first major Broadway musicals to utilize television advertising to cement its box office
appeal. Why the show took a while to really catch fire is anyone’s guess, but I can tell you as a youngster sitting in the
audience that night, at my first ever Broadway musical (as opposed to touring or bus and truck productions), I was
awestruck by the genius Fosse employed throughout the staging. From the first moment, where the entire proscenium
was aglow with blacklit gloved hands, through two hours of unbelievably brilliant choreography and stagecraft, I simply
could not believe my eyes. Fosse ultimately became something of a born again wunderkind that year, with
Pippin winning him two Tony Awards, his film version of Cabaret netting him an Oscar, and his television
special Liza With a Z handing him an Emmy, a rare example of an artist managing a triple crown of major awards
in little more than a year. (I should add that my wife and I took our own sons to the current revival of Pippin
when we were in New York City last summer, a show that's co-produced by a friend of mine, and while it was
phenomenally entertaining, in my not so humble opinion, it didn't hold a candle to the staging of the original.)
Though Fosse worked on a couple of special theatrical presentations after Pippin, his next “real” musical was
1975’s Chicago, a show that actually opened to better reviews than Pippin had, and which went on to a
substantial, multi-year run, but which in one of those strange vagaries of history, got somewhat buried under the
onslaught of a little show (and critical darling) called A Chorus Line. Though Chicago’s original Broadway
iteration had the incredible talents of Jerry Orbach, Gwen Verdon (the ex-Mrs. Fosse, of course) and Chita Rivera, and
featured a marvelous pastiche laden score by the great John Kander and Fred Ebb (of Cabaret fame), it
seemed fated to reside in that strange netherworld of fairly successful shows which nonetheless never rise to the level
of an unforgettable classic. That was the case, anyway, until over two decades after the original version
opened, when in 1996 a new, stripped down production opened to rave reviews and pretty much unanimous audience
acclaim. That production, incredibly, is still running today (with different stars, obviously), having gotten well past the
7,000 performance mark. Finally Hollywood stood up and took notice of the property in real terms (it had been bandied
about from studio to studio for years, including with Fosse himself attached to direct). But there really hadn’t been a
successful film musical in years, and no one knew how to translate Chicago’s unabashed theatricality to film (the
show is told as a succession of vaudeville “acts” in its original Broadway version). Attempt after attempt to make the
property filmically viable ended in failure, until finally director Rob Marshall hit upon the idea which enabled the project to
both stay true to its roots and also exploit the medium of cinema.
Chicago: Diamond Edition is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. There's been some PR hype surrounding this release, as the new master was prepared in Dolby Vision, a relatively recent proprietary technique that is said to significantly boost detail and contrast. What the PR hype isn't telling you (at least, unless you read the "fine print") is that while the master was prepared in Dolby Vision, compatible playing and viewing equipment (not currently available) is needed to fully enjoy the results. This situation is perhaps analogous to watching a Blu-ray on an old cathode ray television only capable of 480 resolution and lo-fi audio. Somewhere in there is HD content, but you're sure not seeing or hearing it. Be that as it may, there are indeed noticeable differences between the previous Blu-ray and this one. Detail is improved, if not markedly, at least noticeably. Part of this is due to the increased contrast, which is most noticeable in the darker scenes. One thing that some people found problematic with the first release was what some viewed as "excessive" grain, ignoring the fact that evidently Marshall and his DP Dion Beebe "pushed" the film in many of the darker or filtered segments, something that will automatically increase evident grain. Those who felt the first version was somehow "too" grainy will probably have the same issue with this release, and perhaps even more so, as grain structure is perhaps even more evident in the pushed sequences than before. Colors are beautifully saturated and accurate looking. It's hard to imagine Chicago looking any better—at least until Dolby Vision compatible discs, players and televisions come along.
I personally found the LPCM 5.1 mix on the previous Blu-ray of Chicago to be reference quality, but there's little question that the new Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mix ups the ante at least marginally with regard to rear channel separation and action (maybe it's time to borrow an idea from Nigel in This is Spinal Tap and turn our rating systems up to 5.5). This new 7.1 mix tends to slightly open up both the orchestral and massed ensemble singing the most, though some of the other foley effects, including panning effects and even discrete channelization, are more viscerally present in this new iteration. As before, everything is crytal clear, without a hint of distortion or any other problems.
Quite a few of the supplements which graced the first Blu-ray release of Chicago have been dropped for this release (two of them, the deleted "Class" scene and the "From Stage to Screen" featurette, are at least on the included DVD in this combo pack. For a complete list of the supplements on the first release, consult our Chicago Blu-ray review .
- And All That Jazz (480i; 6:07)
- When You're Good to Mama (480i; 3:33)
- Cell Block Tango (480i; 8:02)
- We Both Reached for the Gun (480i; 6:37)
- Mister Cellophane (480i; 4:00)
- All I Care About (480i; 4:43)
- All I Care About with Richard Gere (480i; 3:30)
- Nowadays with Renee Zellweger (480i; 2:08)
- And All That Jazz with Catherine Zeta-Jones (480i; 3:03)
- I Can't Do It Alone Rehearsal (480i; 3:46)
- Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag Rehearsal (480i; 3:31)
- We Both Reached for the Gun Rehearsal (480i; 3:58)
- Cell Block Tango Rehearsal (480i; 3:12)
As I mentioned in our review of the first Blu-ray release of Chicago, the film's "mind's eye" gambit may rub theatrical purists the wrong way. But taken on its own terms, Chicago still delivers a fair amount of the original's "razzle dazzle", even if it's missing some of Fosse's patented acerbic point of view. This new Blu-ray has beautiful video and audio, though double dippers should be aware that not all of the bonus material has made it to this version. On the whole, though, Chicago: Diamond Edition comes Highly recommended.
2005
Director's Extended Edition
2006
2-Disc Shake and Shimmy Edition
2007
2007
2010
1968
1967
2012-2013
1964
Sing-Along Edition
2018
70th Anniversary Edition
1952
Fox Studio Classics
1969
10th Anniversary Edition
2008
1954
2004
1955
1953
1953
1982
Warner Archive Collection
1949