7.9 | / 10 |
Users | 3.9 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Self-centred car exporter Charlie Babbitt attends his estranged father's funeral to collect his inheritance. To his surprise, he discovers the money is going to Raymond, the autistic brother he never knew he had. Charlie 'kidnaps' Raymond in an effort to claim some of his inheritance but, as he grows closer to his brother, he realizes there may be more to life than money.
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golino, Gerald R. Molen, Jack MurdockDrama | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: DTS 5.1
German: DTS 5.1
Italian: DTS 5.1
Russian: DTS 5.1
Spanish: DTS 5.1
Czech: Dolby Digital 5.1
Polish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Hungarian: Dolby Digital 2.0
Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 2.0
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0
Info obtained from disc. Japanese DD 2.0 only available on Japanese menus.
English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovenian, Swedish, Thai, Turkish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Hollywood doesn’t always handle mental disability with the nuance that the subject requires—this was parodied with semi-offensive brilliance in Tropic Thunder’s “never go full retard” scene—but occasionally a movie gets it right, treating the sensitive topic with humor and compassion. One of the better examples is Rain Man, the 1988 drama that took home four Academy Awards—Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Actor in a leading role—but perhaps more importantly, spread awareness of autism, a largely misunderstood disorder that had never received much public attention. (Although, it should be said, the film also led to the major misconception that all autistics are high-functioning savants, which is definitely not the case.) Revisiting Rain Man this week, after not having seen it since the mid-1990s, I was struck by three things: 1.) Tom Cruise plays one of the great yuppie bastards of the 80s, 2.) Dustin Hoffman definitely deserved his Best Actor Oscar, and 3.) the film really shouldn’t work but does somehow.
Raymond memorizing the phone book to up to "G."
Although it's certainly a noticeable upgrade from the DVD, Rain Man's 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer seems to be sourced from an old master, as it exhibits two issues that you don't expect to see on most contemporary releases. For one, edge enhancement is often noticeable in the form of sometimes black, sometimes whitish ringing around certain outlines. Many scenes also appear to have been given a pass through a noise reduction filter, which has the effect of softening fine textures. I want to emphasize, though, that neither of these traits are major distractions. (The image never even remotely comes close to the waxy, shiny, plasticine extremes of, say, the Predator re-release.) You do get a feeling, however, that the picture could look better with a fresh re-master. On the plus side, simply putting the film on Blu-ray yields appreciable improvements over any standard definition release. The sense of clarity is better refined—even if light DNR and edge enhancement occasionally play tug of war with the picture quality— and although skin tones can veer towards the salmon-ish, color is otherwise strong and striking, especially when Charlie and Raymond arrive at the neon extravaganza that is Las Vegas. Finally, aside from some scattered noisiness, compression concerns are kept to a minimum. I have mixed feelings; the image here is definitely acceptable, but I honestly expected better for such a high-profile catalog title.
I have no reservations at all, on the other hand, about the film's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, which handles all the aural essentials easily. Of course, the most notable aspect of the mix is Hans Zimmer's score, his first gig as a composer for a Hollywood film. The music is heavy on Peruvian flute and other unexpected ethnic sounds—it's definitely dated now—but it sounds great, with clarity throughout the dynamic range and plenty of low- end oomph when needed. The rear channels are not especially active—you'll hear some quiet ambience and acoustic effects, like reverb in the hangar where Charlie operates his grey-market business—but there's a suitable sense of atmosphere, and dialogue throughout is clean and easy to understand. Do note that along with the standard English SDH subtitles, the disc comes fully loaded with several dub and additional subtitle tracks.
There have been many imitators—I Am Sam, Radio, The Other Sister—but there's only one Rain Man, a fine film about two surprisingly similar characters who each have an inability to communicate and connect with others. I wish the film had gotten the reissue treatment it deserves—new features, a newly re-mastered transfer, etc.—but this is still a great release to add to your Blu-ray collection. Recommended!
25th Anniversary Edition | Remastered
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