7.8 | / 10 |
Users | 5.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Twenty-two characters struggle to find solace and meaning in contemporary Los Angeles.
Starring: Andie MacDowell, Bruce Davison, Julianne Moore, Matthew Modine, Anne ArcherDrama | 100% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Nominated for Oscar Award for Best Director, Robert Altman's "Short Cuts" (1993) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The special features on this release include original promotional materials; music demos; deleted and extended scenes; archival conversation between Robert Altman and Tim Robbins; documentary film about the life and work of Raymond Carver; and more. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by critic Michael Wilmington. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
The cop who liked clowns
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Robert Altman's Short Cuts arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:
"This new 4K digital transfer was scanned from the original Super 35mm negative on a Lasergraphics Director film scanner. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI Film's DRS, while Digital Vision Phoenix's was used for jitter, flicker, small dirt, grain, and noise management. The original 2.0 surround soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm magnetic track. The original 5.1 surround soundtrack was remastered from the 70mm six-track magnetic track. Clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle, were manually removed using Pro Tools HD and iZotope RX.
Scanning: MPI, Burbank.
Transfer supervisor: Walt Lloyd.
Colorist: Lee Kline."
The film has an excellent all-around solid organic appearance that is quite impressive. I think that viewers with large screens and projectors in particular will be especially pleased with the upgrades because there are entire sections of the film where depth is vastly improved (look for the outdoor footage). The high-quality scanning has also ensured that fluidity is substantially better. The Blu-ray release also offers substantial upgrades in terms of color reproduction. Indeed, there are the primaries look very healthy and there is an expanded range of nuances that are either suppressed or missing from the previous DVD release. There is visible light and very healthy layer of grain. Overall image stability is excellent. (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 are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.
I viewed the film with the 2.0 track and did some random comparisons with the 5.1 track. In terms of clarity and overall stability the 2.0 track never disappoints; the music is also very well balanced, never sticking out and/or creating anomalies. The dialog is easy to follow, but as it is almost always the case with Robert Altman's films there are short segments where occasionally external sounds and noises mix with it. There are no pops, audio dropouts, background hiss, or other age-related imperfections.
The 5.1 track does seem to open up the film a bit better in some areas, but I think that anyone expecting to hear a substantial difference in terms of dynamic movement will be disappointed.
Revisiting great films like Robert Altman's The Player and Short Cuts on Blu-ray this year has been a bitter sweet experience for me. I could not be happier that these films are fully remastered and look incredible in high-definition, but I have to say that viewing them again has been a painful reminder that Hollywood no longer has big, bold and honest directors that can challenge people with their work and make them see each other and the world they share from a different angle. Today Hollywood is in the business of producing 'safe' films that aim to shut off people's minds and instincts and sell them suspicious political myths as facts. It is so, so sad. Criterion's Blu-ray release of Short Cuts is sourced from a brand new 4K restoration and represents a tremendous upgrade in quality over previous home video releases. Fans of the film will be enormously pleased with it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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