6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
This landmark cult classic sets a benchmark for the bizarre that has never been equaled. Divine stars as Babs Johnson, "The Filthiest Person Alive." When fellow degenerate Mink Stole covets her title, down-and-dirty competition ensues including "The Egg Lady," incest, chicken sex and the infamous dog-shit-eating grin.
Starring: Divine, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole, Edith MasseyHorror | 100% |
Surreal | 41% |
Dark humor | 39% |
Other | 9% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.67:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.33:1, 1.85:1
English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 0.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
John Waters' "Pink Flamingos" (1972) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include new program with John Waters and Jim Jarmusch; two archival audio commentaries; new featurette about the shooting locations in the Baltimore area; outtakes; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Pink Flamingos arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the leaflet that is provided with this Blu-ray release:
"Pink Flamingos is presented in director John Waters' preferred aspect ratio of 1.66:1. Unlike original elements for some of Waters' other early films -- which were stored in a state-of-the-art, climate controlled vault at Warner Bros. -- the 16mm Ektachrome positive scanned for this release was kept in his attic for the past five decades, and it is the same film Waters originally hot-spliced and edited to make the movie. It was scanned at 4K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director film scanner at Metropolis Post in New York.
The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from the 16mm magnetic track and the twenty-fifth-anniversary-edition soundtrack.
Transfer supervisor: John Waters.
Colorist: Lee Kline/Criterion Post, New York."
I don't have any previous home video releases of Pink Flamingos in my library, so I don't have another source of reference that I could have used in our review. Also, I have never viewed the film theatrically.
My impression is that Pink Flamingos looks very healthy, so despite its apparently very difficult preservation history the visuals do not reveal any significant deterioration. However, you need to keep in mind that because of the manner in which it was shot there are still plenty of native fluctuations that affect delineation, clarity, and depth. Color balance is stable, but I think that the current grade emphasizes cyan quite a bit and gives the entire film a pretty consistent cold neon-esque modern appearance. Only towards the end some of the outdoor footage temporarily creates the impression that select primaries become better balanced. Unfortunately, in this particular area I also observed a few very unusual posterization-like effects that quickly popped up and disappeared on my screen. The most obvious ones can be seen on Divine's red dress in screencaptures # 21 and 23, but trained eyes will spot them elsewhere as well. The dynamic range of the visuals does fluctuate a bit, but the unevenness appears to be inherited. Image stability is very good. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
The quality of the audio is quite difficult to judge because there are so many fluctuations that it is pretty much impossible to tell what was intended, what was captured by the recording equipment, and how eventually everything was transferred to the final audio mix. So, I should underscore that the dialog is very easy to follow, but balance and dynamic contrasts, if you can call them that, are all over the place. No, these are not the type of distracting dynamic spikes and drops that you would encounter on some old, badly damaged by time, and unrestored films. What I am trying to make clear is that the audio was cheaply recorded and in this particular film it is pretty uneven. There are no audio dropouts or other encoding anomalies to report.
Bad films are needed because they make it easier to recognize and cherish the truly great films. But there is a sea of difference between bad films and horrendous amateurish projects like John Waters' Pink Flamingos. I am sorry, but this is the naked truth. Pink Flamingos is the cinematic equivalent of that giant white canvas with a single black dot on it that someone has declared a masterpiece. If you give it a chance, it will make a fool of you, and in the most repulsive way possible, too. However, Pink Flamingos is Waters' masterpiece because as odd as it may sound it perfectly sums up the nature of his 'craft'. Criterion's Blu-ray release is sourced from a new and very healthy 4K master, which was supervised by Waters, but I think that it could have been graded better.
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