5.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Based on the 1967 best-selling suspense novel by Ira Levin, this new adaptation of "Rosemary's Baby" centers on a young married couple who escapes New York and moves to Paris with hopes of leaving their sad past behind. After a series of unfortunate events, Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse are presented with an offer they can't refuse—an apartment at the most prestigious address in the city. Problem is, it comes with a haunted past and an immeasurable price.
Starring: Zoe Saldańa, Patrick J. Adams, Jason Isaacs, Carole Bouquet, Christina ColeHorror | 100% |
Supernatural | 26% |
Mystery | 7% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Zoe Saldana, in an Electronic Press Kit interview included on this new Blu-ray, manages to keep a completely straight face when she insists that this Rosemary’s Baby is not a remake of Rosemary's Baby. Some cynics may aver that this constitutes some of the most bravura acting Ms. Saldana accomplishes with regard to anything related to this largely lamentable—remake. There’s no dearth of critical agita about the creative laziness that often seems to envelop show business, whether that be cookie cutter albums from “major artists”, feature films that seem to have trundled off a nearby assembly line, or, yes, television miniseries that traffic in the tried (trite?) and true, and so it’s probably pointless to spend much time gnashing one’s teeth over this incredibly wrongheaded attempt to “modernize” one of the classics of both horror literature and horror filmmaking. Why? will be the salient question most viewers (at least those old enough to remember Ira Levin’s original novel and the shockingly brilliant Roman Polanski film adaptation) will be asking themselves. What indeed is the point of this pointless exercise? Is some brilliant twentysomething pitching a new Gone with the Wind miniseries? How about a post-modern Citizen Kane? (Let’s not give Baz Luhrmann any ideas.)
Rosemary's Baby is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. According to the IMDb, Rosemary's Baby was shot with the newer Sony PMW-F55, Sony's "answer" to other native HD capture units like the Red system. While I haven't been able to track down whether Holland and cinematographer Michel Amathieu used the PMW-F55's ability to capture in 4K, 2K or HD, the results here are often extraordinarily sharp and well detailed. This Sony system has generated lots of positive reviews for the range of colors and light conditions it can deal with, and Rosemary's Baby, for all its dramatic ineptitude, is often a visual feast, especially once things get to Paris. Colors are natural and nicely saturated, and fine detail remains commendable even in darker midrange shots. Contrast is also consistent. There are some very minor issues with relative softness due to the hyperkinetic camera movements, but this is a rather striking looking presentation from a purely visual standpoint. No problematic artifacts were in evidence throughout the presentation.
Rosemary's Baby's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is competent, but never very spooky or overly immersive. I must admit I'm almost angry at the boneheaded decisions composer Antoni Lazarkiewicz made in scoring this film. Lazarkiewicz may have been chosen by the producers in much the same manner as Holland, for the original film's composer, Christopher Komeda (as his name was transliterated back then) was, like Lazarkiewicz (and Holland and Polanski), Polish. Unfortunately, Lazarkiewicz's music comes off as just plain hackneyed when compared to the elegant creepiness of Komeda's work. Like Komeda, Lazarkiewicz crafts a lullaby in the standard 3/4 as a main theme, but he adds a snare drum, making the whole thing sound like some kind of get to know you dance at a retirement home. All of this said, the music is one of the few elements that regularly visits the surround channels. Occasional foley effects populate the side and rear channels, but mostly this track veers toward the front and center, where dialogue is admittedly rendered very cleanly and clearly.
The iconic tagline of Polanski's classic film version of Levin's classic novel read "Pray for Rosemary's baby." My hunch is not even prayer could have helped this sad excuse for a miniseries. The scenic values of Paris at least partially compensate for one of the more boneheaded attempts to revisit a property that should have been left resolutely alone. Technical merits here are very strong for those who are interested in purchasing.
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