6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.8 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
When a murder occurs on a train he's travelling on, celebrated detective Hercule Poirot is recruited to solve the case.
Starring: Tom Bateman (III), Kenneth Branagh, Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi DenchMystery | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Czech: Dolby Digital 5.1
Hindi: Dolby Digital 5.1
Urdu: Dolby Digital 5.1
Hungarian: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
Polish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Turkish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1
BDInfo
English SDH, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Korean, Malay, Mandarin (Simplified), Polish, Romanian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
There’s a perhaps inherent problem in adaptations of mysteries as iconic as some of Agatha Christie’s are — any mystery lover worth his or her salt is going to know the solution going in, especially if any given property has already been adapted at least once. That’s proved to be both boon and bane for various large and small screen transfers of some of Christie’s best known properties. I just recently reviewed one of many adaptations of what is arguably Christie’s best known work (and inarguably one of her best selling), Ten Little Indians (a review which had a mystery of its own — it actually enigmatically disappeared for a few days, no joke, rather like Agatha herself, in fact), and discussed some of the many versions of that tale that have made it through to both television and cinema, and some of the changes that have been attendant with those variant versions. Interestingly, the big “reveal” at the end of most versions of Ten Little Indians is not part of Christie’s original novelistic formulation, though the kinda sorta happy ending of several of these adaptations was in fact crafted by Christie for her own stage adaptation of the story. There’s something a bit trickier at play with regard to Murder on the Orient Express, since there’s really no way to successfully alter the ingenious plotting in the same way that Ten Little Indians in at least one adaptive guise was able to get back to the original (extremely dark) formulation of Christie’s climax as originally written (even if other elements in this very same adaptation strayed pretty seriously from Christie canon). And that’s at least part of the rub with regard to this handsome new 2017 iteration of what arguably might be Christie’s second best known mystery, Murder on the Orient Express, a film which is almost unavoidably going to invite comparisons to at least the celebrated 1974 film, if not the David Suchet Poirot: Murder on the Orient Express, a version which did indeed attempt to inject at least a little new content into the proceedings, mostly with regard to a (needless, in my not so humble opinion) subtext involving Poirot’s incipient religiosity and how that played into his reaction as to what really happened aboard the luxurious train.
Murder on the Orient Express is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. This is quite simply a ravishing and flawless transfer of a spectacularly gorgeous film, one shot on 65mm and finished at a 4K DI. What a thrilling viewing experience this, despite some patently artificial looking CGI tweaking at various moments (the IMDb lists some digital capture for this film as well, and I'm curious if perhaps some of this was for things like establishing shots or scenes of the train making its journey, two elements which can look a little artificial at times). Branagh and cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos, in the unenviable position of automatically being compared to the 1974's Academy Award nominated cinematography by the legendary Geoffrey Unsworth, offer a film which is in my estimation arguably much more scenic and generally gorgeously detailed than the 1974 version. The palette is deeply burnished in a number of different tones, including everything from the kind of ochre and dusty yellows of the opening Jerusalem scenes, to several deep blue moments at nightfall to a sort of richly warm brown ambience throughout the train. Despite some less than optimal lighting conditions in interior scenes at times, detail levels are continually impressive, and however variably graded and/or lit, the palette looks really beautifully vivid throughout. Fine detail is also great looking, offering precise views of the detailed stitching on costumes or even the appointments of the very, very deluxe Orient Express. This certainly rates as one of the most consistently gorgeous Blu-rays I've reviewed recently, and helps to elevate the viewing experience immensely. In fact, I'd go so far as to say for those who don't know the story and haven't seen previous versions, the sheer beauty of this film and its presentation in high definition could well make this the version to see.
While perhaps working at a somewhat more subliminal level than the visuals, Murder on the Orient Express' DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 is similarly excellent, with a broad array of effects permeating the side and rear channels, and a really interesting use of LFE to suggest the hum of the train as it makes its way across the vast expanses. Even within the cloistered environment of the train itself, the sound design is expertly rendered, with clinks of glasses in the dining car or some of the muffled dialogue Poirot overhears offered in discrete channelization that is extremely effective. This edition of the tale gets out and about more than the 1974 version, and as such there's also regular placement of ambient environmental sounds. I have to confess I'm not as fond of Patrick Doyle's score as I am of Richard Rodney Bennett's for the earlier film version, but the music swells through the surrounds winningly throughout the presentation. Dialogue is cleanly presented, though I had to occasionally turn on subtitles to decipher Branagh's affected accent as Poirot.
My hunch is if you've seen (and especially if you loved) the 1974 version of Murder on the Orient Express, you're simply going to go into inevitable "comparison mode" no matter what the blandishments of this extremely handsome and generally well cast outing may be. If you haven't seen a previous version of Murder on the Orient Express, you're probably going to think the film is a good deal more captivating than I may have indicated here. One way or the other, this disc offers superior technical merits and for those and some enjoyable supplements, Murder on the Orient Express comes Recommended.
50th Anniversary Edition
1974
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1978
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Sherlock Holmes
1946
2014
Masterpiece Mystery
2019
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1963
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Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1967