Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Little Women Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 15, 2017

Classic, beloved literature has often made the transition to film, but it has not always made that transition well.  Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women is one of the classic works that's enjoyed several film adaptations through the years (in addition to various stage and television performances), and Director Gillian Armstrong's (Oscar and Lucinda) is an adaptation that's amongst the very best. While it's not a perfect recreation of the book (few, if any, film adaptations are, for any number of legitimate and, all too often, illegitimate, reasons), its various alterations aren't likely to dismay readers of the source, as has been the case with other, and far lesser, films. Armstrong's Little Women, adapted for the screen by Robin Swicord, captures the essence of Alcott’s novel without altering the core that makes it a literary gem, the end product so fluent and enjoyable that it begs the question of why neither of Alcott’s companion works, Jo’s Boys and Little Men, have yet to be brought to life on the big screen.

Little Women follows the lives of the four March sisters -- Meg (Trini Alvarado), Jo (Winona Ryder), Beth (Claire Danes), and Amy (Kirsten Dunst [young] and Samantha Mathis [adult]) -- as they grow up in Concord, Massachusetts during the Civil War era. The film opens with a bittersweet Christmas scene in which the girls and their mother Marmee (Susan Sarandon) are trying to celebrate without their beloved father who is away at war.  The family soon meets Theodore Lawrence, a.k.a. "Laurie" (Christian Bale), the grandson of their wealthy neighbor (John Neville), resulting in an unlikely friendship between the girls and the Lawrence family.  The story continues to follow the girls for several years as their friendships strengthen with age and each character faces trials in an effort to find their places in the world.

As each girl struggles with the small daily trials of their lives -- poverty, impressing friends, shyness, and yearning for things that were, then, not yet widely available to women, like a college education -- the audience is drawn into the time period and its idiosyncrasies. They're also effortlessly drawn to the characters. Like any coming-of-age story, there's a certain amount of teenage angst portrayed -- in this case girls wonder about boys and their prospects for falling in love and occasionally, and bitterly, fight with one another -- but it's not overdone or oversimplified and instead adds depth to the characters, life to the period, and charm to the film. While the plot may feel mechanical at its most crude level, the film recreates the era extraordinarily well and offers viewers a new look at history, telling its story through the eyes of regular people who exist around the periphery of the history-changing events but experience and understand them with an intimacy that almost seems lost today, even with all of the modern technological and knowledge proliferation. The film effortlessly and almost enchantingly recreates the girls' daily lives during their era of history that's not usually explored beyond the war. As the film progresses, the audience becomes enthralled by the girls' stories and the challenges they face as they grow towards adulthood. Swicord and Armstrong furhter manage to develop the story without an excess of overt social commentary, allowing the story and characters to blossom in their own time and discover what's right or wrong with their era, organically and on their own terms.

The film is well staged and engagingly photographed, creating an intimacy towards characters and their stories without needless flair or production interferences preventing the audience's absorption into the material. Set design and costuming are magnificently rich and grounded, bringing the era to life and enhancing any number of key dramatic and comical moments from the story (a scene involving a curling iron and the loss of some hair being a fine example). The film's writing is sharp and understanding of the story and the source. It uses foreshadowing to help viewers anticipate and prepare for future turns without prematurely divulging key moments that newcomers to the story -- those who have not read the source novel -- would find invasive and/or to the film's detriment. While all of the actors portray their characters well, Winona Ryder stands out as Jo. Her Oscar-nominated performance captures the spirit the character embodies in the book and brings her courage and angst to life in the film. 

Little Women Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Little Women may not have earned more than a BD-R burn as part of Sony's controversial "Choice Collection" line, but there's no room for complaint with the studio's transfer. The 1080p presentation is gorgeous, right up there with Talladega Nights and Jerry Maguire as amongst the finest film-sourced Blu-ray transfers the studio has released to market. It's not clear what the source for the Blu-ray is, but it looks like it's from a meticulous 4K master, and a gorgeous one at that. The movie was shot on film and the Blu-ray retains a fine and attractive grain structure. Details are resplendent. Facial close-ups are intimately revealing. Period clothing -- knitted sweaters, lacy nightgowns, fine suits on the men -- reveal stitch work and fabric textures with ease. Environments are gorgeously defined, whether snowy backdrops or warm and green springtime and summer backdrops. Warmer interiors around the home show terrific fine-point texturing on everything from woods to worn piano keys. Colors are beautiful, presenting with a handsome neutrality that springs to life in the delivery of rich natural greens, solidifies old and warm interior woods, and dazzles on appropriately bright colors of clothing, flowers, or other accents. Black levels are naturally rich and pleasant. Flesh tones appear natural. The image shows no signs of print wear or encode fumbles. Despite the labeling and relative cheapness of the release around the edges, it soars where it counts and delivers fans a pristine 1080p image that's unequivocally the best the movie has ever looked for home consumption.

Little Women Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Little Women's soundtrack isn't by its nature particularly dynamic or vibrant, but Sony's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless presentation handles its mostly meager, straightforward needs without a hitch. Music plays with commendable balance against dialogue, dipping a bit as necessary and soaring when given the opportunity. It largely stays along the front end, with any surround activity more a trickle than anything else, a small support element that's barely noticeable, if at all, against the thriving front side. Clarity is excellent, too, with strong distinction to elements throughout the range. Minor ambient effects are pleasing, including assembled crowd din around the 41-minute mark. A bit of thunder rolls along the distant background at about the 87-miute mark, and there's a very good positive thunder crack and accompanying rainfall in the film's final minutes that offers a tangible overhead sensation even without the added benefit of an Atmos configuration. Dialogue is well prioritized and clear, enjoying a grounded and realistic front-center positioning. Again, and like the video, Sony's technical presentation leaves little, if anything, to be desired for the material in question.

Little Women Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Little Women's "Choice Collection" Blu-ray release comes housed in a Blu-ray case thicker than standard, even as it's just a single-disc release. It does contain a couple of special features, outlined below. No "top menu" is included. Subtitle options and special features must be accessed in-film via a very crude "pop-up" menu. Note that the back of the box promises more supplements than actually exist on the disc. The deleted scenes do not offer optional audio commentary as the listing states and there is no "Historical Timeline" to be found on the disc, either.

• Making of "Little Women" (480i, 6:51): A vintage piece that features cast and crew exploring the core story and characters, cast and performances, shooting locations, and more.
• Deleted Scenes (480i): Jo Teaches French to Kids (0:51) and Marmee Comforts Beth (0:50).

Little Women Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Little Women is a fine little film. Beyond its stunning attention to period detail and sense of authenticity, the film is further beautifully acted, costumed, scored, and photographed. It's a pleasure and one of the defining films of how well classic literature can translate to the cinematic medium. Sony's "Choice Collection" release is admittedly rough around the edges. A needlessly oversized case, a packaging supplements list that misrepresents what actually appears on the disc, an uninspired in-film menu system, and lazy disc artwork are the drawbacks. But the release excels where it counts, boasting gorgeous 1080p picture and excellent lossless sound. Spiff it up around the edges and it's nearly as good as anything Sony has released. Highly recommended.