Death on the Nile Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Death on the Nile Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 4, 2020

John Guillermin's "Death on the Nile" (1978) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage interviews as well as an exclusive new audio commentary by by critics Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell, and Nathaniel Thomson. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Monsieur Poirot

In the film’s prologue, the wealthy heiress Linnet Ridgeway (Lois Chiles, Broadcast News) meets her good friend Jacqueline de Bellefort (Mia Farrow, Rosemary's Baby) and promptly steals her fiance, Simon Doyle (Simon MacCorkindale, The Riddle of the Sands). Before they marry, the lovers choose Egypt as their honeymoon destination.

On board of the paddle steamer S.S. Karnak, however, someone kills the wealthy heiress. Luckily, the famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov, Lola Montes) happens to be there together with his good friend Colonel Race (David Niven, The Guns of Navarone). Armed with patience, the two begin searching for the killer.

The tone and atmosphere of John Guillermin’s Death on the Nile seem a lot more appropriate for a classic film about the extravagant Belgian detective. There is still plenty of the exotic flavor that is present in Sidney Lumet's Murder on the Orient Express, but the murder case is approached with a degree of seriousness that makes the different characters look a lot more credible.

While Poirot and his friend speculate about the identity of the killer, the murder case is examined from a variety of different angles and the viewer is led to believe that everyone on board of SS Karnak had a good reason to want the wealthy heiress dead. However, when Poirot begins studying these reasons, the viewer is forced to reevaluate various conflicts that are introduced earlier in the film. In other words, the ‘logical explanations’ are frequently adjusted as more and more information becomes available.

The case is solved without the pomposity from Murder on the Orient Express. Here Poirot’s reconstruction of the events leading to the murder is shorter and better balanced, making it easier to believe that he is a real human being. Only the seemingly mandatory fake French/Belgian accent remains quite distracting.

The supporting cast is very good. The legendary Bette Davis is the somewhat annoying Mrs. Van Schuyler, Maggie Smith is Miss Bowers, Jane Birkin plays the rather unusually elegant and madly in love maid Louise Bourget, the beautiful Olivia Hussey is Rosalie Otterbourne, Jon Finch is the anarchist Mr. Ferguson, Andrew Pennington is an American lawyer on a mission, Jack Warden is the German doctor Ludwig Bessner, and Angela Lansbury is the slightly mysterious novelist Mrs. Salome Otterbourne.

Death on the Nile was lensed by the legendary cinematographer Jack Cardiff (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s The Red Shoes, John Huston’s The African Queen). There are many notably beautiful panoramic sequences throughout the film, but the long sequence where Linnet and Simon climb the pyramid looks truly extraordinary. The terrific costumes seen in the film were designed by Anthony Powell (Roman Polanski’s Tess, Franklin J. Schaffner’s Papillon), who won an Oscar Award for his work in 1979.

The film’s lush soundtrack was created by the great Italian composer Nino Rota (Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather, Federico Fellini’s Amarcord).

Death on the Nile Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.89:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Death of the Nile arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from the same 2K master that StudioCanal prepared and used to produce this Region-B release of Death on the Nile in 2017. I like this master quite a lot and think that there is only one particular area that could have been managed slightly better. Before I address it, I would like to quickly mention that the original cinematography introduces some minor fluctuations in terms of clarity and depth that strengthen the film's period atmosphere -- the light 'haziness' is a byproduct of it -- so if some visuals do not appear as sharp as you feel they ought to be this isn't a flaw of the master, it is a stylistic 'limitation'. This being said, the color grading could have been a tad more careful to avoid some of the light crush that pops up during indoor footage. The effect isn't distracting and my guess is that most viewers will not even spot it, but it is there and it is something that easily could have been avoided. You can see an obvious example in screencapture #14. The rest looks really good. I have an even older release of the film that was sourced from an older master and on this release the improvements in quality are pretty substantial. Depth in particular is handled much better and this is one of the main reasons why the entire film has such a pleasing organic appearance. Fluidity is also superior, so now that you can upscale to 4K this a strength of the master that makes a big difference. Image stability is excellent. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Death on the Nile Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I mentioned in our review of the Region-B release of Death of the Nile that the lossless track, which was most certainly redone, was very solid. The audio on this release sounds terrific as well, which should not be surprising because it has the exact same technical characteristics. For the record, there are no encoding anomalies to report in our review.

Death on the Nile Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - vintage U.S. trailer for Death on the Nile. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 480/60i).

• Teaser Trailer - this is not a teaser trailer. It is a highlight from Death on the Nile. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• Making of - this archival program features raw footage from the shooting of Death on the Nile as well as clips from interviews with various cast and crew members. In English, not subtitled. (24 min, 480/60i).

• Interview with Jane Birkin - in this archival interview, conducted by a Spanish TV reporter, Jane Birkin quickly addresses her involvement with Death on the Nile. In English, not subtitled. (5 min, 480/60i).

• Interview with Peter Ustinov - in this archival interview, Peter Ustinov discusses his contribution to Death of the Nile and his famous character, Monsieur Poirot. In Spanish and English, with printed English subtitles where necessary. (9 min, 480/60i).

• Commentary - an exclusive new audio commentary recorded by critics Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell, and Nathaniel Thomson.

• Cover - reversible cover with vintage poster art.

• Additional Trailers - additional trailers for the following titles from Kino Lorber's catalog:
  
  1. Evil Under the Sun
  2. The Mirror Crack'd
  3. Witness for the Prosecution
  4. Endless Night
  5. Ordeal by Innocence
  6. Ten Little Indians

Death on the Nile Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I find John Guillermin's Death on the Nile to be better balanced than Sidney Lumet's Murder on the Orient Express. Both films have the appropriate exotic flavor, but Peter Ustinov's Hercule Poirot is far more convincing and as a result the supporting cast also looks better. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from a recent 2K master that was prepared by StudioCanal. It also has a few quite good vintage interviews that are not found on the Region-B release, as well as an exclusive new audio commentary. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.