Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Murder on the Orient Express Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 19, 2014

Sidney Lumet's "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal. There are no supplemental features on this Blu-ray release. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Something's fishy here....

Note: Murder on the Orient Express is part of StudioCanal's upcoming The Poirot Collection Blu-ray box set.

Sidney Lumet’s Murder on the Orient Express is a prime example that a great cast is not enough to deliver a great film. A good one is a possibility, but the stars would have to be ego-free and willing to remain silent for a long period of time.

The film opens with a couple of flashbacks that highlight important facts about a famous case: the kidnapping and killing of Daisy Armstrong, the daughter of a wealthy American couple. The facts are delivered in the form of quick newspaper headlines. The action then moves to Istanbul, where the famous Orient Express is prepped for a long journey. While final deliveries are made, various colorful characters board the train. Amongst them is the famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Albert Finney).

Soon after the Orient Express leaves Istanbul, the wealthy businessman Ratchett (Richard Widmark) is found dead in his berth. Detective Poirot immediately steps up and quickly discovers that Ratchett is in fact an alias and that the dead man was responsible for the kidnapping of Daisy Armstrong. Encouraged by his close friend Bianchi (Martin Balsam), director of the Orient Express, who wants the murderer identified before the train reaches the next stop in Yugoslavia so that he can avoid embarrassment, Detective Poirot begins questioning the wealthy passengers.

Director Lumet’s take on Agatha Christie’s famous novel has an appropriate exotic flavor, but the film’s big stars quickly create the impression that they are having a rather difficult time coexisting in front of the camera. One reason why is the fact that there are so many of them that managing their time in a way that allows the viewer to remain interested in everything they do is virtually impossible. As a result, it often feels quite awkward to see the likes of Sean Connery and Jacqueline Bisset simply passing by or quietly observing the rest of the stars as they share important information with the Belgian detective. Another reason is the uneven characterizations. There are various sequences throughout the film where the humor is a lot more important than the suspense, but not all of the stars seem to agree. One of these stars is the great Ingrid Bergman, who won an Oscar for her performance, whose body language and facial expressions consistently demand a much more serious atmosphere.

Finney’s Poirot is a rather unusual character as well. At times, he has a commanding presence, but elsewhere he looks like an irritable old man who simply wants to be alone with his thoughts. Also, the man has a fake accent and frequently mumbles while he reveals to the viewer what his supposedly brilliant mind is telling him. He can be very entertaining at times, but it is not easy to fully embrace him as Christie’s famous character.

Arguably the most convincing characterizations belong to Lauren Bacall's Mrs. Hubbard, Anthony Perkins' McQueen (played with a very familiar intensity), and Vanessa Redgrave' Mary Debenham.

Murder on the Orient Express was lensed by the great cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth, who won Oscar Awards for his contributions to Bob Fosse’s Cabaret and Roman Polanski’s Tess. The use of warm colors and soft lighting is most appropriate for the sense of nostalgia that permeates the film.

The excellent orchestral score was created by British composer Richard Rodney Bennett (John Schlesinger’s Billy Liar, Ken Russell’s Billion Dollar Brain).

Murder on the Orient Express Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Sidney Lumet's Murder on the Orient Express arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal.

Despite the fact that the high-definition transfer has been struck from a dated source, the film looks quite good. Generally speaking, most close-ups boast pleasing depth, though some extremely light noise is occasionally visible. The footage from the train station in Istanbul and the footage from inside the train, a good portion of which is quite dark, also impresses with good clarity. Contrast and sharpness levels are stable. Colors are also stable, but color saturation could be better. (As it is, the film still looks very good because no attempts have been made to unnecessarily boost the blacks or the variety of prominent soft browns). Furthermore, there are no traces of compromising degraining corrections. Some extremely light noise, however, is mixed with the grain. Also, there are no problematic sharpening corrections. Unsurprisingly, even though the film looks slightly dated, it still has strong organic qualities. Lastly, there are no serious stability issues to report in this review. The high-definition transfer is also free of large debris, cuts, damage marks, stains, and warps. All in all, even though there is some room for improvement, this is a mostly decent presentation of Murder on the Orient Express that should please its fans. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Murder on the Orient Express Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. For the record, StudioCanal have not provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The lossless track is very good. The audio has plenty of depth and clarity is very good. Richard Rodney Bennett's dramatic orchestras score benefits the most as the music is very prominent during a number of important sequences. The dialog is also well balanced with the music, clean, and stable. The lack of optional English subtitles, however, is disappointing because this is a film that definitely needs them. Many of the main protagonists, including Albert Finney's Hercule Poirot, speak with heavy accents that could make the dialog rather difficult to follow.

Murder on the Orient Express Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no supplemental features on this Blu-ray release.

Murder on the Orient Express Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I've always thought of Sidney Lumet's Murder on the Orient Express as a nice nostalgic film, not as an accurate adaptation of Agatha Christie's famous novel. It takes some getting used to, but it has a lovely atmosphere that makes it easy to overlook various obvious inconsistencies. The film is included in StudioCanal's upcoming The Poirot Collection three-disc box set and looks quite good in high-definition. My only complaint is that the release does not have optional English SDH subtitles. RECOMMENDED.