Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

Hugo 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 2, 2023

As downright shocking and maybe even heretical as it may sound, and with an admission that both articles and actual awards with the very word I'm about to use have been written about and/or bestowed upon him, for some reason Martin Scorsese is arguably not regularly thought of as a "visionary" director, at least in the same way that someone like, say, James Cameron might be. In that regard it's rather interesting that in his commentary track included on this release Jon Spira actually quotes Cameron as having told Scorsese that out of the "third wave" of 3D offerings which Spira avers includes Avatar 3D and Gravity 3D along with the film currently under discussion, that Hugo was his favorite. And Hugo most definitely is a visionary phantasmagoria that is a testament to just how versatile Scorsese is, something that may be underappreciated due to certain similarities in themes and even presentational styles in some of his other work. Hugo was a rather daring departure from what some probably considered the "Scorsese norm" of something a bit closer to realism, but that may be one reason why it's such an incredibly engaging and viscerally involving piece. Arrow is revisiting the film, which has had some previous 1080 releases in both 2D and 3D, offering this nice package which includes two 1080 discs, one with the feature in both 2D and 3D, and another with bonus features.

Hugo is a very special film for me personally because quite by accident I stumbled across the gorgeous original hard cover edition of The Adventure of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (a guy whose surname virtually screams "visionary"), and took it home to my then quite young second son, who instantly fell in love with it and spent the next day or two devouring it. The book, which verged on graphic novel territory, was inherently brilliant, but its connection to film history courtesy of focal character Georges Méliès (Ben Kingsley) seemed to augur an unavoidable film adaptation. That said, who would have instantly thought of Martin Scorsese as the guy who would make it happen? I certainly wouldn't have, and in fact didn't, which made this ultimate production all the more amazingly wonderful for me.

For those unacquainted with the film, Martin Liebman's Hugo Blu-ray review of Paramount's own Blu-ray release provides more plot information. Those particularly interested in the 3D presentation may want to read Marty's Hugo 3D Blu-ray review as well.

Hugo 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Hugo is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with AVC (2D) and MVD (3D) encoded 1080p transfers in 1.78:1. Arrow sent their 4K release for purposes of this review, and I'm assuming that their 1080 release has the same insert booklet, which contains only some fairly generic information on the transfer:

Hugo is presented in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio with DTS-HD MA 7.1 and 2.0 stereo aduio. The film is presented on UHD in 4K (2160p) in HDR10 and Dolby Vision, while the film is presented on Blu-ray in high definition (1080p) in both 3D and 2D versions. All feature masters were supplied by Paramount.

My thoughts on the "practically perfect in every way" 2D presentation basically echo Marty's, and so I refer those interested to visit his 2D review for some thoughts on that presentation. Where this release seems to differ, at least for me, is in the 3D presentation, where I encountered only some intermittent and passing crosstalk issues, anomalies which according to Marty's 3D review and some of the member reviews of the Paramount release suggest were pretty prevalent on that disc. I tend to be very sensitive to misaligned 3D imaging and/or crosstalk, and in fact at times it can almost feel like I'm getting a knife to one of my eyes, and I experienced nothing even close to that level of discomfort watching the 3D presentation. I did notice what I would call relatively minor crosstalk that tended to crop up during things like lateral pans with some clear dimensional imaging at play, but otherwise I found this to be a stellar 3D presentation. As Marty mentions in his 3D review, there are both "pop out" effects, like the wonderfully evocative snowflakes in the opening, and a lot of "deep into the frame" effects, some of the more noticeable being the labyrinth of gears in the clockwork where Hugo hides. The 3D imaging is often rather subtle as these things go, but there are certainly moments where it's obvious that Scorsese and his team are going for the gusto, so to speak, with some really rather cool "in your face" effects. The above verbiage from Arrow suggest to me that this may be exactly the same 3D presentation as was on the Paramount release, and it's entirely possible that other viewers will have a more uncomfortable viewing experience than I personally did.

Hugo 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Hugo features a wonderfully immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track that appears to be virtually interchangeable with the one on the Paramount disc, at least according to the description Marty offers in his review of that release. As Marty mentions, surround activity is noticeable from the get go with the train sounds and then the gear cog noises wafting around the listener, and that same attention to detail pervades this really intricately designed track. I'm almost loathe to admit this, but I'm not a total fan of Howard Shore's music for this film (mea culpa, mea maxima culpa), but it sounds wonderfully whimsical and full bodied throughout. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Hugo 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Arrow sent their 4K release for purposes of this review, and I am frankly assuming that their 1080 release duplicates the contents of the two 1080 discs included in their 4K release.

Disc One offers the main feature in either 2D or 3D, along with:

• Audio Commentary by Jon Spira


• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:18)

Disc Two

• Interviews

  Brian Selznick (HD; 54: 49) is a great newly produced interview with the novel's author.

  
  

  Robert Richardson (HD; 40:02) features director of photography Robert Richardson in another newly produced interview.

  
  

  Howard Shore (HD; 13:49) offers the composer in another newly produced interview. Some of what he describes sounds very similar to Powell and Pressburger's "composed film", which was a formative inspiration for Scorsese, as Scorsese himself has described.

• Ian Christie on Hugo (HD; 23:12) is a wonderful "up close and personal" assessment of the film by Christie, who was on set during filming.


• Secret Machines: Hugo and Film Preservation (HD; 18:17) is a visual essay by filmmaker and critic Scout Tafoya.


• Creating New Worlds (HD; 37:43) offers film journalist Julien Dupuy discussing the life of Georges Méliès. Subtitled in English.


• Papa Georges Made Movies (HD; 10:05) features film historian Pamela Hutchinson and the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum.


• Méliès at the Time of Hugo (HD; 7:43) is another visual essay, this one by commentator Jon Spira who helped bring the legendary filmmaker's autobiography to the public. Spira discusses what was actually happening in Méliès' life during the period depicted in the film.


• Shoot the Moon - The Making of Hugo (HD; 19:48) is an archival piece.


• The Cinemagician: Georges Méliès (HD; 15:40) is an archival look at Méliès.


• The Mechanical Man at the Heart of Hugo (HD; 12:45) is an archival piece focusing on the film's automaton.


• Big Effects, Small Scale (HD; 5:54) is an archival piece looking at some of the visual effects.


• Sacha Baron Cohen: Role of a Lifetime (HD; 3:33) is an archival piece focusing on Cohen.


• Image Gallery (HD)

Additionally, the keepcase houses a folded mini poster and Arrow's typically nicely appointed insert booklet, including an essay by Farran Smith Nehme.

Hugo 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As is discussed in some of the supplements on this disc, and as even I mention above, Hugo was in many ways an "unexpected" offering from Martin Scorsese, and that perhaps makes it even more of a treat. Arrow provides an impressive release with solid technical merits and some outstanding supplements. Highly recommended.