7.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.2 |
A young U.S. citizen is arrested in Turkey for smuggling hashish and then is sentenced to unreasonable time in a hellish Turkish prison, where he begins to self-destruct, until he musters the courage to plan his escape.
Starring: Brad Davis (I), Randy Quaid, Bo Hopkins, John Hurt, Irene MiracleDrama | 100% |
Biography | 35% |
Crime | 25% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono (192 kbps)
French: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Portuguese: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
BD-Live
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Forgive me. Please.
A powerful Drama that speaks of man's ability to endure even the most physically agonizing and
emotionally draining experiences, Midnight Express tells the true tale of Billy Hayes (Brad
Davis), an American incarcerated in a harsh, unforgiving prison in Istanbul, Turkey. One of the best
films of 1978 and the recipient of several Oscar nominations (including Best Picture) and two wins,
Midnight Express represents a level of fine filmmaking rarely seen anymore in an era of
special effects, generic scripts, and crowd-pleasing humor that more often than not denigrate
rather than elevate a script, a performance, an entire film. A film that allows its story to speak for
itself and remain the central focus of the entire two-hour experience, Midnight Express is
both supported and defined by an intensely frightening atmosphere, wonderful characterization, a
dazzlingly simple yet thoughtful and thought-provoking script, and an Oscar-winning score
courtesy of Giorgio Moroder (Scarface).
Billy Hayes pleads with the court.
Midnight Express arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p, 1.85:1-framed transfer. The Blu-ray delivers a solid picture quality that never jumps off the screen with crystal-clear images and vibrant colors, but it is representative of and faithful to its source. A few artifacts are visible here and there, but such anomalies are the exception to the rule. The print is generally blemish-free, and it contains a moderately high amount of film grain that offers to the picture a film-like appearance. Midnight Express is a drab, lifeless movie, reflective of the setting and tone of the drama. Colors are drab and dim, details can appear a bit hazy, and neither sharpness nor depth are all that spectacular. Fine details are often adequately reproduced, primarily in the form of grimy prison walls and rusted iron bars. Flesh tones look fine in context, but blacks occasionally drown out detail or, at other times, look too bright, for instance a sequence in chapter 11. While Midnight Express doesn't look like The International, it does look as intended and this Blu-ray edition offers a fine transfer in context.
This Blu-ray release of Midnight Express features both lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and lossy Dolby Digital mono soundtracks. The Lossless track improves upon the mono offering by delivering increased clarity and resolution, but the additional channels don't necessarily mean an abundance of extra sonic activity. The lossless track remains centered straight up the middle with little information sent to the adjoining speakers. Ambient sound effects, for example the hustle and bustle of the Turkish airport at the beginning of the film, features all of the environmental effects up front and playing mostly through the center speaker. Music often plays with little in the way of volume at reference levels, a chase scene in chapter 3 playing as a rather cut-and-dry experience that delivers the sound but doesn't do all that much with it. Dialogue is reproduced efficiently throughout. Like the picture quality, Midnight Express' lossless soundtrack impresses in context. It doesn't create a phony atmosphere or otherwise add to the original track. It's mostly a clearer, more precise rendition of the mono track, just the way it should be.
Midnight Express rolls onto Blu-ray with a fine selection of bonus materials, headlined by
a
commentary track with Director Alan Parker. A solid track that's delivered rather dryly, Parker
speaks on the expected range of topics, including the origins of the project and his involvement,
the
Academy-Award winning score (the first electronic score to win the Oscar), shooting techniques
and
locations, the film's themes and the importance of story rather than specific location, the actors,
changes in the script and how the ending differs from the true story, addressing some of
the
criticism laid on the film, and plenty more. Parker delivers a fine commentary track that's worthy
of
the quality of the film. The Producers (1080i, 25:54) features Producers Peter Guber,
David Puttnam, and Alan Marshall speaking on a broad range of topics about how the film came
together, including their initial involvement with the idea and script, the assemblage of the cast
and crew, the process of screening the completed film and a particularly humorous gaffe, the
film's legacy, and more.
The Production (1080i, 24:28) features more interviews, this time with Director Alan
Parker; Producers David Puttnam, Peter Guber, and Alan Marshall; Billy Hayes; Writer Oliver
Stone; and Actor John Hurt. They discuss Stone's screenplay; the cast, their performances, and
signing an untested actor into the leading role; the shooting locations; the work of the entire
crew; and the challenges of the shoot and the story. The Finished Film (1080i, 23:48)
once again features Director Parker, Actor Hurt, Producers Marshall and Guber, and Writer Stone.
In this piece, they further discuss the acting, the look of the film, the soundtrack and score, the
editing process, the film's themes, regrets, and the controversies that surround the film. The
Making of 'Midnight Express' (480p, 7:27) is a vintage piece that looks briefly at the story,
the politics surrounding it, and contains plenty of clips from the film and interviews with Billy
Hayes, Williams Hayes, Sr.,
Producer Guber.
This disc also includes a photo gallery (1080i, 12:40), 1080p trailers for The Da Vinci Code,
A River Runs Through
It, Casino Royale, Damages: Season
One, Obsessed, and Not Easily Broken,
and BD-Live (Blu-ray profile 2.0) functionality. The digibook contains the
aforementioned essay, Anatomy of
a Film: The Making of Midnight Express, with full color photographs.
Superbly crafted and emotionally involving, Midnight Express often defeats the moral quagmire as presented in the film and the controversial aspects of its script through sheer moviemaking brilliance. Managing to turn a drug-smuggling character into a sympathetic figure due to his disdainful treatment in a hellish foreign prison and taking liberties with a true story for dramatic and artistic license (a common practice among historically-based motion pictures though perhaps not with such a gritty look, feel, and effect as portrayed here), Midnight Express certainly deserves the accolades bestowed upon it by the Academy, though the subject matter and controversial depiction thereof makes it a rather unique film in the annals of cinema. No matter one's take on this representation of Billy Hayes' story, there is no denying the artistic merits Midnight Express brings to the table, its superb technical achievements reason alone to watch. Sony's Blu-ray release of Midnight Express befits the film. Delivering a true-to-the-source 1080p transfer, a lossless soundtrack that improves upon, but doesn't redefine, the original mix, and plenty of bonus materials, this "digibook" release comes highly recommended.
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