7.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Outdoor fanatic takes his friends on a canoeing trip they'll never forget, into the American back-country.
Starring: Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox, Ed RameyDrama | 100% |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital Mono
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0
German: Dolby Digital Mono
Italian: Dolby Digital Mono
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono (Spain)
Japanese: Dolby Digital Mono
Japanese track is hidden. DD 2.0/1.0 all 192 kbps.
English SDH, French, German SDH, Italian SDH, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Unlike the 20th Anniversary Edition Unforgiven DigiBook, the 40th Anniversary Edition Deliverance DigiBook involves more than a simple repackaging. It not only includes a newly produced, thirty-minute high definition retrospective with Jon Voight, Ned Beatty, Burt Reynolds and Ronny Cox, it delivers the real upgrade fans have been clamoring for since Warner's 2007 Blu-ray release: a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. Together, the new lossless mix and the actors' must-see retrospective make Deliverance's latest incarnation a tempting one. Twenty-five dollars tempting? That depends on how much of an audiophile you are and, to a lesser extent, how much the cast's look-back, engrossing as it may be, is worth to you. For me, the two easily justify purchasing director John Boorman's Oscar-nominated classic all over again. For you? Perhaps some convincing is in order...
The 40th Anniversary Edition release of Deliverance features a fine video transfer; it's just the same 1080p/VC-1 encode that first appeared on Warner's 2007 Blu-ray release. Not that much of an upgrade was required. Boorman's film is soft and muggy, extremely so at times, and detail is dependent on everything from the film's natural lighting to its budgetary constraints, shooting conditions and off-the-beaten path production. That said, the high definition presentation handily bests its DVD counterparts, and many a scene boasts well-resolved closeups, pleasing fine textures, and natural edges free of ringing. Anything less is a product of the source and shouldn't be attributed to deficiencies in the encode or master. The same goes for other apparent issues. Black levels are sometimes muted, noise spikes here and there, and a few scenes are riddled with eyesores. (Ed's climb at 1:09:50 is especially problematic, with all manner of unsightly anomalies. However, each one traces back to the fact that Boorman filmed the scene during the day and used the limited techniques available to him in 1972 to make it look as if Ed were scaling the rocks at night.) Grain is largely natural and unobtrusive, though, contrast is fairly consistent, colors are restrained but lifelike, skintones are properly saturated, and very little disappoints. Could the image be improved? Perhaps, given a full overhaul. But I'm happy with Deliverance as is, intrinsic flaws and all.
The real draw to Warner's 40th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray release is its DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. The rear speakers are more assertive, more arresting even, than in most catalog remixes but never at the expense of the film's original sound design. The chorus of the forest -- the chirping, croaking and rustling -- join the rhythms of the river -- the rushing, surging and roaring -- to create an enveloping, unexpectedly immersive soundfield that defies forty years of age. It not only revitalizes Deliverance, it makes it that much more thrilling, harrowing and, eventually, unsettling. LFE output isn't as impressive, particularly when Ed and his friends are canoeing downstream, even if it lends a bit of welcome weight to several scenes. Dialogue is clear and intelligible throughout, though, with hardly a lost line to complain about. Yes, both voices and effects sometimes have a thin, tinny tone common to films of the era. But it isn't a distraction or shortcoming so much as it is an inherent quirk cinephiles will shrug off within minutes (if it takes that long). Simply put, Deliverance has never sounded better.
Should you add the 40th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray release of Deliverance to your wish list or shopping cart? In a word: absolutely. In a few more words: especially if it isn't already a part of your collection. As if the inclusion of an excellent DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track weren't enough to whet your appetite, Warner tosses in a terrific retrospective roundtable with Boorman's four leading men. Some may complain that there isn't a new video transfer to be found but, I have to say, the 2007 encode doesn't leave much room for improvement; certainly not enough to warrant any long-lasting complaints. Deliverance remains a powerful, character-driven drama, and this latest release only makes it that much more immersive.
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Tom à la ferme / English packaging / Version française
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