8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
When a man in mid-life crisis befriends a young woman, her venal fiancé persuades her to con him out of some of the fortune she thinks he has.
Starring: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea, Margaret Lindsay, Rosalind IvanFilm-Noir | 100% |
Drama | 63% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Fritz Lang's "Scarlet Street" (1945) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new audio commentary by critic Imogen Sara Smith and archival audio commentary by critic David Kalat. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Scarlet Street arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.
The release introduces a 4K makeover of Scarlet Street that can also be viewed in native 4K on this 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. I viewed the entire 4K makeover in native 4K, but also spent quite a bit of time with the 1080p presentation while comparing it to the original 1980p presentation from the first release.
If you have a 4K system, my advice is to acquire the combo pack because in native 4K the film has an all-around better balanced and more convincing appearance. While not dramatic, the difference in quality is very easy to appreciate because the 4K makeover is not a proper 4K restoration. What does this mean? It has some bigger than usual density fluctuations and age-related imperfections that impact delineation, clarity, and depth. There are some inconsistencies that are introduced in the grayscale as well. No, this does not mean that the 1080p presentation of the 4K makeover is disappointing, but some areas do look a little better in native 4K. What does a direct comparison with the previous 1080p presentation reveal? Well, the two 1080p presentations look very, very similar. To be honest, I could not see any meaningful improvements in the density levels of the two. I did see some discrepancies in the grayscales of the two, but given various inherited source limitations, I think that they are largely insignificant. Grain exposure is more appealing in native 4K, but in 1080p it fluctuates as much as it does on the previous release. Image stability is good. All in all, I think that some additional cosmetic work could have been done to make the 4K master more attractive. (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 release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
I viewed the entire film in native 4K and then spent time testing the 1080p presentation. The comments below are from our review of the 4K Blu-ray release.
The dialog is easy to follow. However, in several areas the audio has noticeable unevenness that is not inherited. It is not distracting, but there is definitely room for various meaningful stabilization enhancements. Dynamic intensity is quite modest, which is to be expected from a film that was shot in the 1940s. There are no audio dropouts, distortions, or other similar encoding anomalies to report.
It is perhaps a bit unfair to profile Fritz Lang's Scarlet Street only as a film noir because its final fifteen or so minutes transition into a territory that many characters from the great German expressionist films liked to visit. I think that this is entirely by design because it is where Lang felt at home, too. While I like Scarlet Street a lot as it is, I have often wondered whether spending more time there would have made it a superior film. Should you upgrade if you already have Kino Lorber's original release of Scarlet Street? If you have a 4K system, you should get the 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack because in native 4K the film looks quite good. It looks good in 1080p, too. However, the film is not properly restored, so I think that the previous presentation still holds up very well. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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Warner Archive Collection
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Warner Archive Collection
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Warner Archive Collection
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Warner Archive Collection
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4K Restoration
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Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
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