6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 3.8 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A young, handsome man works on the yacht of a Parisian tycoon who happens to be away at the moment. Two nautical layabouts convince the man to take them out looking for the sunken treasure.
Starring: Joanne Dru, Mark Stevens, Robert Strauss, Claude Ivry, Véra ValmontAdventure | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 MVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
None
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Blu-ray 3D
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
September Storm has made its way to Blu-ray 3D thanks to the generosity of fans who contributed to 3-D Film Archive's successful Kickstarter campaign, which raised enough money to restore the film for another beautiful 3D presentation. While the film isn't particularly memorable, it's a success story in film preservation and fans' commitment to ensure it lives on in perpetuity, and with a fantastic Blu-ray 3D presentation at that. Those who contributed can find their names on the Archive's website, while the more generous donors have earned credits on the Blu-ray.
September Storm.
Note: the 2D image was reviewed on an LG OLED65C7P while the 3D content was reviewed on a Sony XBR65Z9D.
Obviously, 2D is the less ideal way to watch September Storm, generally pleasing as its technical prowess may be. This is a good filmic image,
maintaining a
modest grain structure throughout. Textural efficiency is rather high. Well defined skin and clothes, woods around the boat, rocky land masses, and
other large-scale basics present with a generally strong level of intimate definition and clarity. The image boasts good coloring as well, though some
faded shots and particularly faded black levels are apparent. Blacks do tighten up at times, notably during a nighttime outdoor stage performance at
the
22-miunute mark (which lasts several minutes), or on the nighttime, stormy seas halfway through the film. Blue water finds enough intensity to please.
Natural greens, bright yellow oxygen tanks, and other assorted clothing and support colors usually present with quality depth and vibrance. A few
errant
remnants of age and wear, including a few pops and static vertical lines, appear throughout, but September Storm is largely free of any debris
presented in scene-destroying excess.
Before diving into the 3D review, a bit of context from the film's Kickstarter page: Both the left
eye and right eye film elements will need to be
digitally scanned, frame
by frame. We will need to assess the level of damage to these existing elements, and determine how to best fix the images. This will require a
stereoscopic re-alignment pass, left and right color restoration and matching, and clean-up of scratches and other damages to the film surface. This is
very challenging post-production work.
The 3D image is very strong and the restoration efforts well worth the money and time investment. The opening titles don't really appear to burst out
of the screen, as one might expect of them, presenting rather flatly, but there is a good sense of
depth to the background bubbly water. The film begins with fine, essential depth. Seaside vistas appear to stretch on with some significance,
particularly when there is a land mass in the distance to gauge perspective, such as during a shot at the three-minute mark. Another such shot, with
the distant land mass much closer, may be seen at the 1:14:41 mark for another example of perspective, here with the added benefit of a boat
situated lengthwise form the viewer for additional screen stretching goodness. Many shots out at sea,
even without the benefit of that land mass perspective, appear to stretch on for miles. Underwater shots, of
which there are many, reveal a fine level of screen-stretching depth, with small bubbles and other little elements appearing to float beyond the
screen's front panel limits. There are some cool one-off or irregular effects in the film, too. Tubes and tanks used for scuba diving are notably shapely,
but
there's an unmistakable feel for how they interconnect, how they pieces lay and situate about and around as the user wears them. Check out a
xylophone
at the 13:53 mark. It's a remarkable 3D shot, taken at a slight angle form one end, allowing the elongated instrument to really stretch far into the
back. That same sequence inside a club shows, with great care and attention to detail, the space between tables and mingling individuals. As the action
shifts to an island in chapter seven, there's new opportunity for the image to showcase fine spacing amongst characters, tree branches, rocky
formations. and other natural delights around the locale.
Not every shot is an exercise in dynamic 3D, though such are few and far between when there isn't some superior sense of raw depth on display,
whether along lengthy vistas or just various ropes and rails or other little details on the ship's deck. In 3D, the image appears very crisp. It's a textural
delight, efficient and highly detailed. Colors are rich and true, though some underwater shots appear a little more washed out than ideal. On the flip
side, the storm at night in chapter six delivers perfectly deep and accurate blacks. The image
appears meticulously clean in 3D as well, and there was no significant crosstalk evident on the review Z9D displayely. This is a fine 3D restoration in
total.
It's not as dynamic as The Maze, but it's an enjoyable watch that expands the movie's scope,
not only
dimensionally but also considering its structural ebbs and flows, too.
September Storm's DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack lacks the fluidity, grace, and clarity of superior listens, but it's effective at the baseline in delivering a competent presentation that supports the movie well enough. Dialogue does well in its efforts to push towards the center. Music, contrarily, efforts to push to the sides, though it doesn't find as much success as the dialogue's push to the middle; it's often more stuck towards the center and cramped. Essential big-energy sound effects, such as raging waters and gusty winds as the storm hits halfway through the movie, unsurprisingly lack crispness and firm definition (not to mention immersive width) but the essential ebbs and flows are fine. There's a mild hiss noticeable underneath much of the track.
September Storm contains several extras, including a newly discovered short film. The pair of short films in particular are a treasure. Both are available
in 2D and 3D. They couldn't be any more different -- color claymation film about aliens and space travel and black-and-white 1950s dance number --
but are wonderful 3D bonuses that make this release well worth buying, much more so than the film, which is only really worthwhile for its 3D picture.
September Storm may be a relatively weak film, a curiosity more than anything else, but it does at least play rather well in 3D as its vistas become tangible places, as the viewer suddenly feels a part of the four-person treasure hunt. The restoration has yielded a solid 2D image, a fantastic 3D presentation, and an effective, albeit very essential, two-channel soundtrack. A nice little burst of bonus features are also included, highlighted by a pair of vintage 3D shorts. Recommended for the amazing 3D work on the film and certainly for the pair of wonderful 3D short bonuses.
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1991
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1983
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