7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.1 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.2 |
In a re-telling of one of our most beloved tales, a resourceful young woman must overcome the schemes of her evil stepmother to be with the one she loves - the Prince of France - who has fallen for her beauty and intelligence. With the ingenuity of Leonardo Di Vinci and the strength of love, the young woman realizes that the Cinderella story can come true.
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Anjelica Huston, Dougray Scott, Patrick Godfrey, Megan DoddsComedy | 100% |
Romance | 92% |
Period | 4% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0
BDInfo
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Ever After—writer/director Andy Tennant’s retelling of the Cinderella story—was greeted upon its 1998 release with heaps of critical praise, mostly for its costume romance lushness, the buoyantly charismatic performance of its then-23-year-old star Drew Barrymore, and its vaguely feminist, the princess can save herself message. The question now, some 13 years later, is how well does the film hold up to scrutiny? Was all that acclaim just hot air from the Hollywood hype machine, or does Ever After have real lasting merit as a revisionist, girl-power fairy tale? I may get hate mail from legions of women who were, say, between 8 and 18 when the film debuted, but I’m going to have to argue the former. Ever After is cute, a little pious, and fine for a feel-good evening in—it’s perhaps the ultimate pre-teen slumber party movie—but it’s not nearly the you go girl game changer that some writers made it out to be. It’s more of a cotton candy film—fun, fluffy, and by the time you’re finished with it, teeth-achingly sweet.
"Just breathe..."
Ever After arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that looks—to me—like it was prepared from an old master intended for DVD. Don't get me wrong, this is definitely a high definition disc, it just shows DVD-like attributes, including some fairly strong edge enhancement, occasionally noticeable compression artifacts, and colors that seem slightly oversaturated at times. Clarity is adequate—revealing detail in the period costuming and the actors' faces—but you can tell that some effort has been made to sharpen the image after it was transferred, resulting in mild haloing on certain hard outlines. Likewise, color seems boosted at times—making skin tones overly ruddy—but not to the point of distraction. On the plus side, black levels are sufficiently deep and the grain structure of the 35mm image is left largely intact, although there are some specks on the print. I get the sense that the film could definitely look better with a proper, more up-to-date transfer.
I have no substantial complaints, however, about Ever After's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, which carries the film's limited sonic requirements well. There are really only a few action-intensive scenes—horse chases, brief scuffles and what-have-you—and these are presented in a mostly front-heavy fashion, with few cross-channel movements of any kind. Occasionally, though, you will hear some effects panned into the rear speakers, like the sound of wind, tweeting birds, or pouring rain. The surround channels are mostly used for George Fenton's orchestral score, which sounds just fine here. The effects, the ambience sound, and the music all come together in a balanced mix with plenty of punch and clarity, and dialogue is clean and expressive throughout.
Alas, the lone bonus feature on the disc is a standard definition theatrical trailer, running just shy of two minutes.
Ever After may not be an everlasting classic, but it's still much-beloved by followers of the fairytale princess genre. 20th Century Fox has gone the bare-bones route with this disc, though—with an old-looking transfer and no supplements to speak of—so fans may want to carefully consider whether they really need to upgrade from the DVD.
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