7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The life story of legendary R&B singer, Aretha Franklin.
Starring: Jennifer Hudson, Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Tituss Burgess, Audra McDonaldMusic | 100% |
Biography | 17% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, French, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The music star biopic is certainly not a new genre, but it is the newest hot commodity on the cinema scene. Of recent vintage are films exploring the lives, times, and musical careers of stars like Elton John, Freddie Mercury, and James Brown. The genre does date back a bit farther if one wants to consider films like The Doors and Amadeus. It has yet to feel like oversaturation, largely because the stories are so good, even if many of them tread the same ground of rise to stardom, fall from grace, and redemption. That is the path that the genre's latest, Respect, follows, but it does so in, dare say, a respectful manner as it keeps its focal character, the legendary Aretha Franklin, drawn to her spiritual roots even when the weight of a multimillion dollar career burdens her soul.
Respect arrives on Blu-ray with a fundamentally sound 1080p transfer. The picture features mildly desaturated colors, giving it something of a vintage appearance that reinforces its era setting. The picture is in fine shape, efficient and filmic and hitting all the right notes, as it were, in terms of its color and contrast within its natural parameters. While there's no absolute vividness and punch and pop to speak of, the grounded palette is beautifully presented for the array of clothing hues and other critical location and support elements. Black levels additionally hold solid, white balance appears spot-on, and skin tones are natural. Fine detail is very strong as well, revealing precision accuracy on faces, hair, clothes, and other objects. Like the color is not so expressive as to dazzle, detail is not so complex as to wow longtime format fans but it appears very faithful to the source and certainly well within spec for a new release Blu-ray. The picture exhibits little, if any, source and encode issues. This is a solid, well-rounded Blu-ray from Universal.
Respect sings on Blu-ray with a terrific Dolby Atmos soundtrack. While discrete height channel usage is not one of the track's priorities, the top end does finely compliment the entire soundtrack to bring life to bustling church services, lively concerts, and other high audio impact moments where clarity never wanes and spacing is seamless. Musical performances are obviously the highlight. Vocals are crisp, instrumentals play with balanced power, and bass is terrific; it's never shy about making an impact in any given scene. Ambient effects are well integrated. Dialogue certainly drives most of the experience and it presents with the usual excellence in all of the noteworthy areas: placement, detail, and prioritization.
This Blu-ray release of Respect contains five featurettes. A DVD copy of the film and a Movies Anywhere digital copy code are included with
purchase. This release ships with an embossed slipcover.
First-time director Liesl Tommy keeps things moving and even as the film approaches 2.5 hours in length it plays much faster. This is a quality film about a fascinating figure. It's well played, well made, and a pleasure certainly for Franklin's legion of fans but also for those who may know nothing about the star beyond her name the title song. Universal's Blu-ray is excellent, featuring solid video, excellent Atmos audio, and a few extras. Recommended.
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