8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.8 |
A professor agrees to a wager that he can transform unrefined Cockney flower girl and make her a proper lady.
Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Gladys CooperRomance | 100% |
Musical | 74% |
Drama | 40% |
Family | 39% |
Period | 39% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.20:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.20:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (96kHz, 16-bit)
German: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono (Spain)
French: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Italian: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
DD all 192 kbps
English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (2 BDs, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 5.0 |
CBS/Paramount have re-released 'My Fair Lady' to Blu-ray with a dazzling restored video transfer and a newly restored Dolby TrueHD 7.1 lossless soundtrack from the original elements, both by acclaimed Film Historian and Preservationist Robert A. Harris (Spartacus: Restored Edition), replacing the previous edition that suffered from a less-than-perfect picture quality and contained a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless soundtrack. This new release adds several new supplements and omits only the commentary track from the previous release.
Introducing us, fully restored!
What a difference a restoration makes. As far as "undesirable" transfers go, My Fair Lady's 2011 Blu-ray debut wasn't the worst in the world.
Hardly crumbling around the edges or destroyed by grossly excessive noise reduction, the image definitely showed room for improvement but made
for, at
worst, a watchable picture of a classic film. But the difference between "watchable" and "practically perfect" is striking. My Fair
Lady
has undergone a full restoration courtesy of Blu-ray.com member and Film Historian/Preservationist Robert A. Harris, whose recent work on Spartacus is nothing short of a treasure. That holds here, too. My
Fair Lady's restored 1080p transfer is a revelation. The 2.20:1-framed image (as opposed to the 2011 release's 2.39:1
framing)
reveals the movie like never before, yielding a picture so pristine that watching is practically like seeing the movie for the first time.
The transfer is
home to a gorgeously fine grain structure, a constant companion that's exacting in evenness across every frame and dazzling in its ability to
preserve
and convey that desirable pinpoint filmic texturing. The details underneath are terrific. The 65mm source photography has been restored in 4K from
an 8K
scan, resulting in a fastidious image that reveals every fine appointment throughout the film, whether in Higgins' warmly furnished home, the
dreary gray-dominant London streets, or the sunny bright racetrack. Clothing textures are meticulously presented and are substantially sharper and
more
refined than seen in the previous release. The transfer reveals practically
every stitch and seam and each costume's unique textures. There couldn't be a finer tribute to Cecil Beaton's Oscar-winning costumes. The
racetrack sequence is particularly special, even as there's not a lot of color variety. White, black, and gray dominate, but the variations in
contrasting shades of
white and gray are striking and, again, revealing of the costumes' finest textures that make the biggest difference in one's visual enjoyment of all
the
sequence has to offer. The transfer expectedly handles the
brightest costumes remarkably well. Primaries pop beautifully, with lavish pinks and purples amongst the highlights. The Henry Higgins
interiors are beautiful as well, yielding an inviting warmth that's substantially more nuanced and exacting in this release.
Even the bleak and dark London street sequences at the beginning look amazing. Overhead shots, for example, reveal the finest intimate
textures on the brick street, impressive considering the black and gray dominant colors and source lighting. It's in the open where the most
demanding viewers might find reason to pause. A slight "blooming" or "glow" appears on bright white shirts contrasted against black jackets and
satin collars. It was in these scenes that Mr. Harris encountered his biggest challenge. He told Blu-ray.com, "The single most difficult factor in both
films, was holding pure blacks and whites...from a faded element. Even more so is the bit of air above the pure black in tuxedoes, vs the black of
the satin collars...it's filtration, moving toward the look of pre-panchromatic film stock. In some ways, especially the way in which Mr. Hyde-White's
shirt 'glows,' it takes us back to Al Jolson's gloves in the Orthochromatic days of The Jazz Singer. Harry Stradling, the (My Fair Lady) DP, began
his career in the '20s, with orthochromatic stock,
and probably liked some of the attributes, which he continued to use via filtration."
Note that screenshots 1-30 have been selected to approximately match those found in the review of the 2011 release. Several additional
screenshots have been added at the end.
My Fair Lady also features a new soundtrack. The 96k Dolby TrueHD 7.1 lossless soundtrack comes sourced from the original full resolution presentation, heard for the first time here since the film's 1964 premiere. It's a glorious listen. The track pops from the first note forward, exploding into the stage with beautiful, full-range clarity that's not only a precision representation of the orchestral score but capable of singling out the finest points to each section and instrument for definition to die for. The back channels add quite a bit to the experience, helping to create a fuller and richer listen. The back channels carry a fair bit of information and volume but never feel needlessly enhanced. Instead, the sense of pure immersion is startlingly effective considering the effortless flow and feel that warmly envelops the listener. Lyrics are just as impressive, with strong vocal clarity throughout the range and a firm center placement that balances the music's side and rear-dominant placement. General dialogue is additionally well received, boasting impeccable definition from every character. A few heavier support elements are satisfying, whether light crowd din or rapid, heavy beats as horses race through the stage later in the film. The sense of weight and definition may not be as precise as what might be found in a newer, more precisely engineered track, but the effect is assuredly excellent. Listeners will note a light hissing underneath dialogue that was left intact rather than removed in the process. The real highlight here is, obviously, the clarity and definition with which the score is presented, but the entire track is nearly the revelation that is its video companion.
This Blu-ray release of My Fair Lady does not contain the audio commentary from the previous release but does retain the rest of the
supplements from the
previous
release (with a few notes on specific omissions included below) in addition to several new adds as noted. Please see the previous release's review,
linked above, for a few thoughts on the carryover supplements. Note that extras presented in 1080i/1080p
here
and 480i in the previous release are otherwise the same. All supplements appear on a dedicated second Blu-ray disc. A DVD copy of the film is also
included in the fold-open Neo-Pack packaging.
Sometimes just saying "wow" is enough, so wow. My Fair Lady's restoration is truly a thing of beauty. The picture quality is absolutely dazzling and the sound, too, is practically a revelation. There's just not enough superlatives to describe the experience. The previous release looked decent enough on its own but the difference between "decent enough" and "practically as perfect as the day it first screened in 1964" is a leap that precious few vintage releases have enjoyed. The sound is terrific, too, which can be easy to overlook given a picture quality that amazes with, literally, every new scene. The added supplements are a treat and the only disappointment with the release is that it doesn't contain a new commentary track with Restoration Artist Robert A. Harris discussing what must have been nothing short of a labor of love. Every Blu-ray owner needs to make this release a centerpiece of their collection. My Fair Lady earns my highest recommendation, and look for it to take a place of honor at the top of the year's best-of list.
1964
50th Anniversary Edition | Remastered
1964
BD is Bonus Features
1964
1956
1971
1944
2007
2001
50th Anniversary Edition
1961
Reissue
1972
+ Director's Cut on Blu-ray
1977
1954
1962
2012
2012
2005
70th Anniversary Edition
1952
50th Anniversary Edition
1965
2005
1951
2004
2009
2010