7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 5.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.8 |
Carol White lives with her husband and son in suburban comfort until she collapses one day for no apparent reason. Her condition worsens in the weeks that follow as she suffers from coughing fits, exhaustion, and spontaneous nose bleeds, triggered by sources as disparate as car exhaust, cologne, and the sun. Failing to find any medical explanation for her maladies, her doctor refers her to a psychiatrist, who suggests that her physical ailments are psychosomatic—a theory echoed by her callous and increasingly frustrated husband.
Starring: Julianne Moore, Xander Berkeley, Dean Norris, Julie Burgess, Chauncey LeopardiDrama | 100% |
Period | 2% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Todd Haynes' "Safe" (1995) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; exclusive new conversation with the American director and actress Julianne Moore; exclusive new conversation with producer Christine Vachon; audio commentary with Todd Haynes, Julianne Moore and producer Christine Vachon; and more. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring Dennis Lim's essay "Nowhere to Hide". In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
"I've been under a lot of stress lately..."
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Todd Haynes' Safe arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:
"This new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a Scanity film scanner from the original 35mm camera negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were manually removed using MTI's DRS and Pixel Farm's PFClean, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for small dirt, grain, and noise management. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from a 35mm magnetic track. Clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD, AudioCube's integrated workstation, and iZotope RX3.
Transfer supervisor: Lee Kilne.
4K Scanning: Colorworks, Los Angeles.
Colorist: Joe Gawler/Harbor Post, New York."
It is very difficult not to be impressed by the massive improvements in detail, clarity and especially image depth the new 4K restoration of Safe has produced. Indeed, when comparing the old R1 DVD release with the new Blu-ray release the improvements in quality are striking -- daylight and nighttime footage, close-ups and panoramic shots look simply terrific (see screncaptures #9 and 17). Furthermore, there is an entirely new range of nuanced and very healthy colors and in many cases the improved color balance also contributes to the film's fantastic new appearance. Overall image stability is outstanding. Finally, there are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments. To sum it all up, this is an outstanding technical presentation of Safe which will undoubtedly remain the definitive presentation of the film on the home video market. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.
The audio is clean and stable. Overall dynamic intensity is rather limited, but this isn't surprising considering the fact that there are no elaborate audio effects. On the other hand, Ed Tomney's outstanding ambient score easily opens up different parts of the film (the lush electronic music actually reminds of the hugely atmospheric soundtrack Angelo Badalamenti created for David Lynch's Mulholland Drive). The dialog is stable and exceptionally easy to follow. There are no pops, cracks, distracting background hiss, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report in this review.
I suppose the best way to describe this remarkable film is to say that it is a strikingly accurate time capsule. It sees America on the verge of a massive transformation which would eventually change the way people communicate with each other and, more importantly, feel about each other. It is a very scary film as well, because all of its hidden prophetic observations have become part of our reality. Safe has been recently restored in 4K and looks magnificent on Blu-ray. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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