Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		0.0
Audio		2.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Little Women 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown December 10, 2024

Gillian Armstrong's mid-90s adaptation of Little Women is a (mostly) faithful take on Louisa May Alcott's seemingly timeless 19th century tale of familial love and heartache, set against the backdrop of the Civil War. Far from the frontlines, the author's indelible girls come of age facing the very real turmoil of death, illness, pain and loss, yet cling to one another to survive, thrive and, most importantly, dream, calling upon the most quintessential qualities of family to weather the storms that rage all around. To her credit, Armstrong captures it all with deftly sweet, often sad, but never saccharine glimpses into the young women's lives, matching her obvious fondness for the material with an exceptional cast, excellent performances, and the makings of a clear '90s classic and all too watchable (and re-watchable) film that will continue to win over audiences for decades to come.

Little Women follows the lives of the four March sisters -- Meg (Trini Alvarado), Jo (Winona Ryder), Beth (Claire Danes) and Amy (Kirsten Dunst, followed later by Samantha Mathis) -- as they grow up in Concord, Massachusetts during the Civil War era. The film opens on a bittersweet Christmas in which the girls and their mother, Marmee (Susan Sarandon), try to celebrate despite the absence of their beloved father, who is away at war. The family soon meets Theodore Lawrence, aka "Laurie" (Christian Bale), the grandson of a wealthy neighbor (John Neville), resulting in an unlikely friendship between the girls and the Lawrence family. The story continues to watch the girls come of age over the years as their friendships strengthen and each young woman faces trials as they work to find their places in the world. Directed by Gillian Armstrong and adapted for the screen by Robin Swicord, the film also stars Gabriel Byrne, Eric Stoltz, Mary Wickes, Donal Logue, John Shaw, Florence Paterson, Sarah Strange, Janne Mortil and Rebecca Toolan.

Click here to read the rest of Martin Leibman's review of the 1994 adaptation of Little Women, which he says "captures the essence of Alcott's novel without altering the core that makes it a literary gem." Adding that the final film is "so fluent and enjoyable that it begs the question of why neither of Alcott's companion works, Jo's Boys and Little Men, [still] have yet to be brought to life on the big screen."

Little Women 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sony's 2160p native-sourced 4K video transfer can appear a touch too dark at times, but viewed in a properly dark home theater, particularly one with a precisely calibrated display, reveals one of the more striking and utterly filmic catalog presentations I've had the pleasure to review. Brightness and contrast are sometimes increased to satisfy modern audiences, but Little Women comes oh so close to appearing as if it's being projected on a screen at a local cineplex. Grain is consistently well-resolved and unobtrusive, Geoffrey Simpson's muted palette is given room to celebrate everything from mundane mahoganied hues to lush forest greens, skintones are lovely and perfectly saturated, and warmly lit interiors look natural and exude the beauty of hearth and home by fire and candlelight. Detail distinguishes itself as well, even going so far as to soundly best the already impressive 2016 and 2020 Blu-ray presentations (the former of which was sadly released on a 25GB BD-R disc at the time). Edges are clean and nicely defined, not to mention free of any halos or artificial nonsense. Fine textures are crisp and exacting, and blessed with a notable clarity when the sun is out. Black levels do introduce a bit of crush into the transfer, although it appears to be entirely optical rather than a shortcoming in the remaster or resulting encode. There also isn't any other issue to breathe word of, including blocking or banding, which are non-existent here. If anything, HDR addicts may wrongfully bemoan a lack of sizeable punch-up in color. Improvements are in play, whether all that obvious or not, but more notable boosts would begin to rob the image of its strong ties to the original negative and film, which isn't a gaudy affair by any means. All told, I can't imagine Anderson's adaptation of Little Women looking any better than it does here. Fans and newcomers alike should be more than pleased with the final product.

Little Women 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Oh dear. Unfortunately, Sony's disc is victim to an egregious error in regards to its DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. Both the front left and front right channels are completely dead; no sound emits from either one. Elsewhere, the rear speakers are active, but too much so. A quick trip to our ever-diligent forum reveals this is a widespread problem as well, with several members having already spent Thanksgiving messaging Sony in hopes of a replacement program. For now, the only fix appears to be going with the disc's lossless DTS-HD MA stereo track, which is solid enough to at least allow one to enjoy the video presentation... if you're willing to settle in the immediate in hopes of an eventual disc-replacement program. I suspect someone in the studio's quality control department is going to have a chilly Christmas this year.

Little Women 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All of the content from the 2016 and 2020 Blu-rays have been ported to Sony's new 4K release. Extras include:

• Audio Commentary with Director Gillian Armstrong

• Deleted Scenes (HD/SD, 2 minutes) - Two upscaled 1080i scenes are available with optional director's commentary: "Jo Teaches French to Kids" and "Marmee Comforts Beth."

• The Making of Little Women (HD/SD, 7 minutes) - An upscaled archive featurette.

• Costume & Production Design (HD/SD, 8 minutes): Another upscaled vintage featurette, this time focused on costuming, set design, locations, production sketches and more.

• Theatrical Trailer (HD, 2 minutes)

Little Women 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fans may continue to bicker over which adaptation is superior, Anderson's 1994 classic or Greta Gerwig's more recent film (I lean towards the latter), but there's no denying the beauty and allure of the story, characters, performances and writing of this version. Ryder leads a wonderful cast, each of whom lends wonderful heart and authenticity to the March family. Sony's 4K release would be excellent too, were it not for a terrible quality control oversight that has rendered the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track unlistenable. Hopefully a disc replacement program is coming soon. For now, buyer beware. The film's video presentation is terrific and can still be enjoyed if you're willing to go with the release's stereo track, but that requires a really big concession for a problem that's difficult to overlook and one that should have been caught very early in production.