7.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
During World War II, British soldier Jack Celliers is captured by Japanese forces and held in a prison camp by the honor-bound Capt. Yanoi. Yanoi and gruff Sgt. Hara become intrigued with Celliers' open defiance in the face of their staunchly old-world ideas about cowardice and shame. Meanwhile, a translator, Lt. Col. John Lawrence, attempts to find common ground between British and Japanese beliefs.
Starring: David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryûichi Sakamoto, Takeshi Kitano, Jack ThompsonDrama | 100% |
War | 13% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English, English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region B (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Nominated for Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Japanese director Nagisa Oshima's "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" (1983) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include the film's original theatrical trailer; video interviews with producer Jeremy Thomas and actor and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto; behind the scenes featurette; and an excerpt from the documentary Scenes by the Sea: The Life & Cinema of "Beat" Takeshi Kitano. In English and Japanese, with optional English and English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
Will they shoot?
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Nagisa Oshima's Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment.
The high-definition transfer Optimum Home Entertainment have used for their Blu-ray release of Marry Christmas Mr. Lawrence is not identical to the one Criterion used for their Blu-ray release. The Criterion high-definition transfer is slightly cropped to 1.78:1, while the Optimum Home Entertainment high-definition transfer preserves the film's original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The two releases also have different color-schemes, though the discrepancies are extremely small. Criterion's release favors slightly stronger reds and browns (see screencaptures #2 and 19), while Optimum Home Entertainment's release favors lighter browns and greens. It is difficult to tell which is more accurate, but I lean towards the overall better balanced color-scheme on this Region-B release.
Detail is excellent, clarity pleasing, and contrast levels consistent. I have tried matching a couple of different screencaptures from the Criterion release so that you could get an idea how the two releases compare, but I'd recommend that you do not draw any definitive conclusions based solely on the screencaptures. Finally, I did not see any traces of excessive noise reduction or problematic sharpening. Naturally, a layer of light grain, matching the one from the Criterion release, is present throughout the entire film. For the record, I did not see any large cuts, warps, damage marks, or debris to report in this review. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with portions of Japanese). For the record, Optimum Home Entertainment have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. (On the Criterion release, the English subtitles appear only when Japanese is spoken. On this release, there are English subtitles strictly for the Japanese dialog, as well as English SDH subtitles for the English dialog).
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track adds depth and opens up Ryuichi Sakamoto's score slightly better, but I prefer the English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track. I believe that overall it serves the film better because it does not boost the dynamic amplitude to a point where balance could become problematic. Still, you should experiment with both tracks and see which one you like better. For the record, the dialog is crisp, clean, and stable, but not always easy to follow as some of the Japanese characters have rather thick accents.
Fans of Nagisa Oshima's classic film Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence who could not take advantage of Criterion's very good Region-A release will be pleased with this new Region-B release produced by Optimum Home Entertainment and Studio Canal. The film looks great and the important supplemental features from the Criterion release have been ported. Buy with confidence, folks. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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