Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Death on the Nile Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 21, 2017

John Guillermin's "Death on the Nile" (1978) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal. The supplemental features on the disc include exclusive new video interviews with costume designer Anthony Powell, Angela Lansbury, and producer Richard Goodwin; archival making of featurette; and production stills. Also included with this release are five collectible cards with reproductions of original costume designs. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "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 approximately 1.89:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, John Guillermin's Death on the Nile arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal.

The previous release was sourced from a very average master that was almost certainly created during the DVD era. Also, there was digital work done on it that basically created different types of anomalies. This recent release is sourced from a brand new remaster that gives the film a vastly superior organic appearance. Indeed, depth is much improved, clarity is consistently pleasing, and there isn't even a whiff of questionable digital corrections. Similar to the remastered Murder on the Orient Express this film now has a superior color scheme -- the primaries are better saturated while the nuances are expanded and also look healthier. My one and only minor complaint pertains to the encoding, which should have been optimized for better grain exposure. There are no alarming anomalies, but there are a couple of sequences where it is pretty obvious that the grain should appear 'tighter'. All in all, this is still a very strong upgrade in quality that makes it far easier to enjoy the film. My score is 4.25.5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B 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 thought that the lossless track that was included on the previous release was really good. The lossless track on this release, however, was almost certainly remastered with the rest of the film because it feels like the audio is even cleaner and tighter. Dynamic intensity, however, appears to be the same. The big bonus is the inclusion of optional English SDH subtitles, as such were not included on the previous release.

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

• Stills Gallery One - a collection of original behind-the-scenes production stills. (2 min).

• Stills Gallery Two - a collection of original costume drawings/designs. (2 min).

• Making of - this archival featurette contains raw footage from the shooting of Death of the Nile as well as clips from archival interviews with director John Guillermin and cast members. In English, not subtitled. (23 min).

• Interviews - presented here are three exclusive new video interviews in which the interviewees recall their contributions to Death on the Nile and discuss John Guillermin's vision for it as well as working methods. In English, not subtitled.
  
  1. Costume designer Anthony Powell (21 min).
  2. Angela Lansbury (7 min).
  3. Producer Richard Goodwin (12 min).

• Collectible Cards - five collectible cards with reproductions of original costume designs that were used in the film.

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. This recent release is sourced from a brand new remaster that gives the film a very solid organic appearance. The technical presentation could have been a bit better, but this is an all-around better release than the old one from 2014. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.