6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Fake faith healer Jonas Nightingale is stranded in a small town in Kansas where he finds he can't fool all of the people all of the time.
Starring: Steve Martin, Debra Winger, Lolita Davidovich, Liam Neeson, Lukas HaasComedy | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 2.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
What is true faith? Is it faith in "someone" or Someone? That is the question central to Leap of Faith, a 1992 Comedy/Drama directed by Richard Pearce (No Mercy) about a fraudster who poses as a revivalist and faith healer who has found great success in separating people from their money through supposed works of Jesus happening through his mouth and hands. The film follows the elaborate scheme but also gazes into the true power of faith, a power that exists beyond the song and dance and pyrotechnics for a true "both sides of the coin" sort of, admittedly very imperfect, look at the natural, sinful nature of man and the holy and divine workings at work in the world today.
Leap of Faith arrives on Blu-ray with a passably solid 1080p transfer. The image is no great shakes, certainly, lagging behind and usually just barely scraping by as "good." It's not noise reduced to an extreme, but the image is clearly lacking that thriving filmic and faithful excellence that this format is capable of producing. It's in need – maybe not in dire or desperate need, but nevertheless in need – of a proper remaster. Details are fine but ultimately fairly underwhelming, whether faces, clothes, or the downtrodden details around Rustwater. Colors lack serious boldness but offer decent enough foundational accuracy. Black levels waver between mild crush and mild paleness. White balance is but OK, and the same can be said of skin tones. A few pops and speckles are in play, and the transfer shows some sporadic signs of mild edge enhancement, too This is clearly an older master. The film looks decent enough, but it is far from the ideal.
Paramount releases Leap of Faith to Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation offers some good, basic directional effects, including some cues of rumbling trucks and busses rushing by in the opening moments, but such are fairly few and far between, a shame when things get rowdy under the revival tent later in the film. In these critical and would-be sonically engaging scenes, there is some mild surround work, but boy oh boy is the track ever flat and dull in the aggregate. Listen around the 31-minute mark when Jonas first arrives on stage. The music, the crowd, the whole thing is just very bland and sonically boring when it should be springing to life and dropping the listener in the midst of the mayhem. Sadly, such holds for the duration. Most everything is hushed at reference volume. It's not at all aggressive. Dialogue is clear enough but very shallow and lacking in convincing realism.
This Blu-ray release of Leap of Faith includes no supplemental content. The main menu screen offers a static image with no accompanying audio and only options for "Play Movie" and to toggle subtitles on and off. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.
It doesn't take a leap of faith to get into Leap of Faith. It's a solid movie with an underlying depth to it that is at once both critical of the sort of conniving side of religion while also looking more deeply at faith itself. Steve Martin is wonderful in the lead because, well, he's Steve Martin and the role is tailor-made for his talents. A terrific supporting cast rounds out a good little film. Paramount's Blu-ray is unfortunately featureless with decent, but at times dubious, video and audio. Hopefully the film receives a remastered UHD release somewhere down the line. Until then, warts and all, this is the best the film has ever been presented for home video, so fans should not hesitate to buy.
1999
1988
2009
1986
2023
1988
2012
1994
1986
Retro VHS Collection
1990
1983
1995
2006
1955
1982
1977
1987
1976
1996
1981