8.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.1 |
A homeless tramp befriends a lovely blind flower seller and convinces her he is a millionaire while he secretly labors to pay for the restoration of her sight.
Starring: Charles Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Florence Lee, Harry Myers, Al Ernest GarciaDrama | 100% |
Romance | 33% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.2:1
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Music: LPCM 2.0
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region B (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Charlie Chaplin's "City Lights" (1931) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Park Circus. The supplemental features on the disc include an introduction by Chaplin biographer David Robinson; outtake; documentary featuring filmmaker Peter Lord; raw footage from Winston Churchill's visit to the set of "City Lights"; and photo gallery. Region-B "locked".
The girl of his dreams
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Charlie Chaplin's City Lights arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Park Circus.
There are obvious improvements in detail, contrast, clarity and color reproduction, and the bigger your screen is, the easier it will be for you to see them. As it was the case with Park Circus' Blu-ray release of The Kid, however, there are certain limitations with the presentation that I have to speculate are inherited. Tiny flecks and even small scratches for instance occasionally pop up here and there. Various small color pulsations are present as well. During the final 20 minutes, I also noticed various warps, which, again, I believe are inherited. What is not inherited are the random noise corrections that have been performed. Still, light grain is noticeable throughout the entire film, but it appears in all sorts of different variations. (Note: 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: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0. Obviously, the film contains English intertitles.
Both the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and the LPCM 2.0 track sound very good. I lean towards the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, however, as it is indeed quite well mixed and with a clearly stronger dynamic amplitude. The winds in particular are wonderfully reproduced. Regardless, I encourage you to experiment with both tracks.
Note: All of the supplemental features are placed on a separate SDVD. They are encoded in PAL.
City Lights is my favorite Chaplin film. It is hilarious, sad, beautiful and thought-provoking. It is a film I watch at least once a year. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of British distributors Park Circus, looks and sounds good. Admittedly, there is a little bit of room for improvement in the video department, but I am certainly pleased with the presentation. Indeed, this is the best City Lights has ever looked. RECOMMENDED.
Charlie Chaplin
1925
1936
Charlie Chaplin
1957
Charlie Chaplin
1923
Charlie Chaplin: The Collection
1952
1921
1940
1928
Charlie Chaplin
1947
A Song of Two Humans / Masters of Cinema
1927
The Woody Allen Collection
1977
Masters of Cinema
1971
Arrow Academy
1941
Digitally Restored
1943
De rouille et d'os
2012
Masters of Cinema
1928
2012
1990
Charlie Chaplin
1959
1960