8.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Captain of a tramp steamer and a maiden-lady can't stand each other on a trip down a river, However it does not take long before their dislike turns to love.
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, Robert Morley, Peter Bull (I), Theodore BikelDrama | 100% |
Romance | 59% |
War | 51% |
Period | 38% |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: LPCM 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region B (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Winner of Oscar Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, John Huston's "The African Queen" (1951) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors ITV Studios Home Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include the film's original theatrical trailer; audio commentary with cinematographer Jack Cardiff; outstanding in-depth look at the production history of the film; posters and lobby cards; and behind the scenes stills. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
Germans? Here?
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, John Huston's The African Queen arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors ITV Studios Home Entertainment.
The release is sourced from the same impressive 4K restoration of this beautiful Technicolor film which Paramount Pictures used for their Blu-ray release in the United States (see our review here). Detail and clarity are very impressive, both during close-ups and larger panoramic shots (see screencaptures #3 and 18), while color reproduction is solid. In fact, selected sequences look as impressive as some of the very best sequences from Jean Renoir's The River, another outstanding Technicolor film which was recently restored and is now available on Blu-ray in France. Furthermore, there are no traces of excessive denoising/degraining. Naturally, when projected the film has a wonderful and more importantly solid organic look. I specifically would like to mention the fact that the restoration has clearly stabilized the film as best as possible - there is no edge shimmer and problematic frame transitions. There are no sharpening corrections applied either. The only small issue I noticed with the presentation is an extremely light banding during a short sequence early into the film, but I was not distracted. Overall, however, this is a very impressive presentation that should please fans of the film. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: English LPCM 2.0. For the record, ITV DVD have provided optional English SDH subtitles for main feature.
Unlike the American release, this release gets a lossless audio track which I am confident film purists will be very pleased with. In addition to the dialog being crisp and stable, and without problematic distortions and excessive hiss, the overall dynamic amplitude is also quite good. Allan Gray's score, in particular, gets a strong boost, with the various brass and flute solos adding quite a bit of flavor to the film. Additionally, the sound of the river, the boat engine, the birds chirping, and the pouring rain are all quite prominent when they need to be. All in all, there are very obvious advantages with this lossless track.
The UK Blu-ray release of John Huston's The African Queen has two key advantages over the U.S. release - it comes with a good lossless audio track and a very strong audio commentary by the late Jack Cardiff. If you do not yet have this classic film in your libraries but have been wishing to get a copy, read our reviews for the two releases and see which one you like better. If you reside in a region-A territory, keep in mind that the UK Blu-ray release is Region-B "locked". HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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