8.4 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.1 |
A filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's projectionist.
Starring: Antonella Attili, Enzo Cannavale, Isa Danieli, Leo Gullotta, Marco LeonardiDrama | 100% |
Foreign | 69% |
Period | 26% |
Melodrama | 15% |
Coming of age | 11% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.67:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
Italian: LPCM 2.0
Italian LPCM 2.0 (48kHz/16-bit).
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Winner of the Grand Prize of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival and Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, Giuseppe Tornatore's "Nuovo cinema Paradiso" a.k.a "Cinema Paradiso" (1988) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Arrow Films. The supplemental features on the disc include "A Bear and a Mouse in Paradise: A Documentary"; "The Kissing Sequence"; photo gallery; the film's original English-language theatrical trailer; and Ennio Morricone's full music score. In Italian, with imposed English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
The beginning
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Giuseppe Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Arrow Films. For the record, the Blu-ray disc contains only the film's international version (125 min).
This is a good but fairly inconsistent transfer. Generally speaking, during the daylight scenes fine object detail and clarity are pleasing; contrast levels fluctuate but are never problematic. Most of the nighttime scenes, however, are plagued by minor noise. Occasionally, mild edge-enhancement is also noticeable. During specific scenes, soft halo effects are also present. Additionally, random noise corrections have also been applied. Still, Cinema Paradiso has never looked as good as it does on this Blu-ray disc. First, the heavy macroblocking that is present on the R1 SDVD release, courtesy of Miramax, is missing. Second, the film's color scheme is a lot more satisfying on the Blu-ray; blacks, grays, blues and greens look much healthier. The reds, however, seem slightly boosted to me. Third, stability is greatly improved on the Blu-ray, though a few minor image fluctuations remain. Finally, I don't see as many tiny flecks and scratches on the Blu-ray as I see on the SDVD. All in all, there is most definitely room for improvement, but at the moment this is indeed the best presentation of Cinema Paradiso, and fans of the film should definitely consider adding it to their collections. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).
There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Italian LPCM 2.0. For the record, the English subtitles for the main feature are imposed (they cannot be turned off).
I prefer the Italian LPCM 2.0 track over the Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. I found the added surround activity on the Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track to be fairly ineffective and balance inconsistent. Ennio Morricone's wonderful score also sounds slightly tighter on the Italian LPCM 2.0 track; the progressions of the dynamics is more natural. On both tracks, however, the high-frequencies are not overly convincing; I noticed mild distortion during the clarinet solos. The dialog is clean, mostly stable and easy to follow on both tracks. There are no pops, cracks, or heavy hiss that I noticed.
Note: Some of the supplemental features on this Blu-ray disc are encoded in PAL. Therefore, if you reside in North America, or another region where PAL is not supported, you must have a Region-Free player capable of converting PAL to NTSC, or a TV set capable of receiving native PAL data, in order to view them.
A Bear and a Mouse in Paradise: A Documentary - in this wonderful documentary director Giuseppe Tornatore recalls how Cinema Paradiso came to exist, and talks about his love for cinema, his experience as a film projectionist, the film's reception at the Cannes Film Festival, etc. French actor Philippe Noiret also discusses the film, its characters and message. In Italian and French, with optional English subtitles. (28 min, PAL).
The Kissing Sequence - director Giuseppe Tornatore talks about the film's unforgettable finale. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (7 min, PAL).
Trailer - the original English-language theatrical trailer for the director's cut of the film (2 min, PAL).
Photo gallery - (1080p)
Full Ennio Morricone Score - (56 min).
Despite a few minor flaws with the presentation, in my opinion this release of Cinema Paradiso is still very much worth adding to one's collection. I do, however, prefer the director's cut of the film, and truly hope that sooner rather later we would get a proper release of it. RECOMMENDED.
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4K Restoration | Les quatre cents coups
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Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain
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Mitt liv som hund / Arrow Academy
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