6.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A modern day Romeo & Juliet story is told in New York when an Italian boy and a Chinese girl become lovers, causing a tragic conflict between ethnic gangs.
Starring: James Russo, Richard Panebianco, Sari Chang, David Caruso, James HongCrime | 100% |
Drama | 92% |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS 2.0
French: DTS 2.0
French
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region B (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Abel Ferrara's "China Girl" (1987) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors Metropolitan. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer, gallery of stills from the film, and text-format notes about the film. In English, with optional French subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
To love or not to love...
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Abel Ferrara's China Girl arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors Metropolitan.
The high-definition transfer was obviously struck from a dated source, but its basics are actually quite strong. The overwhelming majority of the close-ups, for example, are well detailed and boasting pleasing depth. During the panoramic shots with the lush neon lights clarity is also good. More importantly, there are no traces of overzealous sharpening corrections. There are a few traces of light sharpening popping up here and there, but it is never overly distracting (I specifically looked for a good example - see screencapture #14). Color reproduction is also unproblematic. There are no serious banding and aliasing issues either. Lastly, there are no large damage marks, cuts, debris, or stains plaguing the high-definition transfer. All in all, though not spectacular, the presentation certainly represents a good upgrade over the only R2 DVD release of the film that I have seen. (Notre: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS 2.0 and French DTS 2.0. For the record, Metropolitan have provided optional French subtitles for the main feature.
A lossless audio track would have been preferable, but the English DTS 2.0 track is far from disappointing. The music during the long prologue where Tony meets Tye in the disco club and the two dance, for instance, sounds very good. The gunshots are also very crisp and clear. The dialog is stable, clear and easy to follow. Additionally, there are no problematic dynamic fluctuations or high-frequency distortions to report in this review. Once again, even though a lossless track would have been preferable, the DTS 2.0 track serves the film very well.
China Girl is an incredibly beautiful film directed by legendary maverick Abel Ferrara. Truly, no other director could see and film New York City quite like Mr. Ferrara does. It is such a shame that he is so underappreciated in America. The French Blu-ray release herein reviewed, courtesy of Metropolitan, could have been slightly more convincing, but I personally think that it is very much worth picking up. Let's just hope that eventually we will also see Blu-ray releases of New Rose Hotel and Mary somewhere around the world. RECOMMENDED.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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