7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Revolving around Truvy's Beauty Parlor in a small parish in modern-day Louisiana, Steel Magnolias is the story of a close-knit circle of friends whose lives come together there.
Starring: Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia DukakisRomance | 100% |
Comedy | 93% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Films featuring a predominantly female ensemble cast have had a fairly spotty history. There were a number of high profile such outings in the 1930s, including the original The Women, the paradigm of such distaff heavy efforts, and Stage Door, though the latter film has become indelibly linked with Katharine Hepburn’s famous line about calla lilies being in bloom again and is therefore more prone to be remembered as grist for the mill of impersonators than for any intrinsic worth. While there continued to be many gyno-centric films in the intervening decades, including everything from The Group to more recent outings like Waiting to Exhale or those two “sisterhood” films, Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, probably one of the most beloved films in this subgenre would be 1989’s tearjerker Steel Magnolias, a movie which brought together a cast of (then) all-stars and soon-to-be stars in a touching if often hackneyed look at a semi-modern take on Southern Belles. Based on a play by Robert Harling, which was itself a sort of female version of Barber Shop, with a bunch of women gossiping in a low rent beauty parlor, Steel Magnolias reunited director Herbert Ross with his Turning Point star Shirley MacLaine, and brought along Sally Field, Olympia Dukakis, Dolly Parton, Darryl Hannah and then relative newcomer Julia Roberts to boot. Sometimes unfairly (and even inexplicably) lumped in with a film which came two years later, Fried Green Tomatoes, Steel Magnolias is unabashedly old fashioned, even as it portends to shine a new light on the vaunted southern woman, a creature who according to the film title’s central metaphor is as fragrantly soft and alluring as a radiant flower but who also has the fortitude of molten metal to get her through life’s trials and tribulations.
Steel Magnolias is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Twilight Time with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. This continues Twilight Time's exceptional track record, especially with regard to the Columbia (in this case Tri-Star) catalog titles it has been licensing. While the film has a pretty standard 80's film stock look to it, the image is nicely crisp and very well detailed and the transfer benefits from the elements being in very good condition. Colors are beautifully saturated, though I personally found flesh tones occasionally on the ruddy side and the greens to be slightly florid. Director Herbert Ross and cinematographer John A. Alonzo capture a lot of the small town charm that is at the heart of the story, and the location photography here offers some nice depth of field with good contrast that captures the sun glinted pleasures of the American South. Midrange shots tend to offer some relative softness but the bulk of the film consists of a stable and very clean and clear looking image, and the film's many fans should be extremely well pleased with the results on display here.
Steel Magnolias' lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track may not be an immersive sonic showcase, but this very well wrought mix offers some beautifully nuanced aural pleasures that nicely recreate the small town ambience of the piece. Things actually get off to a pretty boisterous start as Drum is running around shooting at birds, offering some nice LFE in spurts. The chaotic plans for the wedding in M'Lynn's household are also nicely splayed through the surrounds, a tendency that continues in several group scenes, including a very nicely done Christmas party about halfway through the film. The rest of the mix depends largely on Georges Delerue's charming score for surround activity, and the sweeping string cues nicely underpin several key sequences. Fidelity is very strong and all dialogue is easily heard. This Twilight Time release does offer optional English SDH subtitles.
Steel Magnolias can't quite escape its stage bound roots and it also doesn't try very hard to rise above a typical setup and punchline format for a lot of its humor. But about halfway through this film, things start to change, and while some may fault the film for being overly melodramatic, there's no denying the immediacy of the relationships and how well the all star cast brings them to life, especially Sally Field, who brings her typical grit and vulnerability to her role. The film's "circle of life" structure may indeed be cliché ridden and hackneyed, but under Ross' assured direction, it's surprisingly moving. This isn't a great film but it's a very, very enjoyable one, one highlighted by some fantastic ensemble work by a very notable group of excellent female performers. This Twilight Time release offers great looking video and nice sounding audio, and unlike some other Twilight Time releases, this one comes with more than just an isolated score as a supplement. Recommended.
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