7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 4.8 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A modern-day sheriff of a Texas border county investigates a murder dating from his father's time as sheriff that no one wants to talk about.
Starring: Chris Cooper, Kris Kristofferson, Matthew McConaughey, Stephen Mendillo, Elizabeth PeñaDrama | 100% |
Romance | Insignificant |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
4K Ultra HD
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
"John Sayles' "Lone Star" (1996) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include new program with John Sayles and filmmaker Gregory Nava; new program with cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh; and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles. Region-Free.
Criterion's release of Lone Star is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "looked".
The following text appears inside the leaflet that is provided with this release:
"Supervised by director John Sayles and director of photography Stuart Dryburgh, this new digital master was created from the 35mm original camera negative, which was scanned in 4K resolution. The original 2.0 track was remastered from the 3mm magnetic track. Pleasebe sure to enable Dolby Pro Logic decoding on your receiver to properly play the Dolby 2.0 surround soundtrack.
Mastering supervisor: Lee Kline.
Colorist: Joe Gawler, Harbor Picture Company, New York."
Please note that some of the screencaptures that appear with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc.
Screencaptures #1-30 are from the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #32-37 are from 4K Blu-ray.
I viewed the entire 4K makeover with Dolby Vision and did not test the HDR grade. However, I spent quite a bit of time comparing the native 4K presentation and the 1080p presentation on the Blu-ray.
In native 4K, Lone Star is quite incredible. In fact, the 4K makeover is so convincing that there isn't a single aspect of it that I would change if I could. For example, delineation, clarity, and depth are all tremendously impressive, so there are 'reference quality' visuals practically everywhere. Fluidity is fantastic too, so on a large screen these visuals look even more impressive. Color balance is outstanding. The primaries are very nicely saturated but never appear boosted, while the supporting nuances are pitch-perfect. Maintaining this balance is not easy either because the outdoor panoramic footage, the indoor footage, and the flashbacks have completely different qualities. The Dolby Vision grade handles darker areas very well, too. I compared several areas on the 1080p presentation, and I have to say that the native 4K presentation very clearly excels. The wider color gamut also makes some of the outdoor visuals appear noticeable lusher. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. The surface of the visuals is immaculate as well. All in all, there is no doubt in my mind that this combo pack will be the definitive home video release of Lone Star because the 4K makeover is flawless.
There is only one standard audio track on this release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.
While Lone Star does not have any material that can produce the type of dynamic intensity big-budget action films can impress with, its variety of dynamic nuances is rather remarkable. Indeed, organic sounds and noises, music, and the occasional gunshots all come together and create a unique ambience that is wonderfully reproduced by the lossless track. Also, this ambience is the glue that unites the material from the present and the flashbacks. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report in our review.
4K BLU-RAY DISC
In Lone Star, a skeleton with a badge reveals several interconnected secrets in a border county in Texas, which then become the key pieces in an ambitious cinematic mosaic that supposedly reveals a lot more about America's social fabric. Unfortunately, Lone Star is not as good as similar projects like Nashville and Traffic because it operates with a lot of dated stereotypes and cliches that produce some seriously artificial relationships. It is still worth seeing because of several strong individual performances, but I think that with a better screenplay it could have been a vastly superior film. Criterion's 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack introduces an outstanding new 4K restoration. RECOMMENDED.
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