6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 1.5 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
Set in a New England prep school on the day after Pearl Harbor, five close friends must choose whether to stay in school or go to war. Their decisions shock themselves and each other as they must grow up faster than they ever imagined.
Starring: Balthazar Getty, Jason London, Brian Krause, Wil Wheaton, Chris Young (I)Drama | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.32:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.33:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 0.5 | |
Audio | 2.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
Mill Creek has released the 1991 Drama film 'December' to Blu-ray. At time of writing the film is only available from Mill Creek as part of a two film, one disc bundle with 'Toy Soldiers.'
Talk about living in infamy. December joins the ranks of the "worst of the worst" on Blu-ray, surpassing even bottom scraping transfers like
The Freshman and Like Father Like Son as one of the all-time examples of gross video
mismanagement.
Here is a transfer that is absolutely riddled with compression issues. Macroblocking is severe, as in every single shot is defined by the horrid digital
squares that render the image not on the verge of breakup, but already there. There is absolutely no remnant of the inherent film stability. It's been
replaced by a very digitized, chunky, and ugly series of blocks that leave characters and backgrounds alike more defined by the awful compression
than anything else. There is no single factor that is more prominent in the movie than the macroblocking. It's everywhere, leaving nothing free from
its grasp.
Worse, jagged edges are commonplace, detail is low, and clarity is next to nonexistent. By every measure the image looks like worse than a DVD. It
never takes advantage of the 1080p resolution. Faces are absent of any kind of definable detailing. Clothes are likewise flat, and the overwhelming
compression renders such "luxuries" for this transfer null and void, anyway. Seriously, there's zero texture on the red sweaters the students wear.
They are just a shape of blocky color, even in close-up. Viewers might spot a hint -- a hint -- of very basic texturing on a white muscle shirt
or the odd facial close-up lucky enough to momentarily see a minor reduction in the mess, but that's really grasping at straws for something
nice to say about this.
Colors are a mess, too. Almost the entire movie has the same red-push look to it. The red sweaters and the brown walls are about the only colors of
note on
display. There's no tonal nuance or accuracy. The school sweaters are just a mass of poorly defined and dull red. The brown walls show no life, and
even the scattered examples of color -- books on shelves, a map on the wall -- offer zero opportunity for more than tonal identification. There's not
even a smidgen of life here. It's extraordinary how lifeless the whole thing is. Add poor blacks, pasty skin tones, flat whites, and some occasional
print wear and this just might be the single worst Blu-ray on the market. It's historically bad.
Note that the film is presented in a 4x3 aspect ratio which results in vertical "black bars" on either side of the 1.78:1 HD display.
December's DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack at least achieves a baseline competency. With the video quality so horrendously poor one might not be surprised to find a track that is as sour on the ears as the visuals are to the eyes. But here Mill Creek's presentation at least handles essentials well enough which, frankly, are all that is required. The film's sound design is extremely simple. It offers a misleading hint as the film opens with a surprisingly aggressive array of amplified sound collage during a Pearl Harbor montage. But after all of that activity is a very straightforward listen of little more than basic dialogue, which is clear and front-center imaged. There's really not much more at work in this one. Music finds acceptable spacing and adequate clarity.
No supplements are included.
December plays like a stage production photographed for the screen. It's confined and visually basic. Its focus is entirely on the characters and their responses to tragedy and the prospects of war. The film will certainly speak to anyone who may have experienced similar conversations in the decades to follow, notably on 9/11. The movie is well worth watching, imperfect and not particularly "cinematic" as it may be, but the Blu-ray is an unmitigated disaster. The picture quality is historically poor. Truly, it's one of the worst, if not the worst, this reviewer has encountered. The audio is nothing special but neither is the film's sound design. No extras are included. Skip it; even casual audiences will notice how awful it looks.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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