7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.6 | |
Reviewer | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.7 |
After the shocking suicide of their friend, a group of thirtysomethings reunite for his funeral and end up spending the weekend together, reminiscing about their shared past as children of the sixties and confronting the uncertainty of their lives as adults of the eighties.
Starring: Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin KlineDrama | 100% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (1 BD, 2 DVDs)
DVD copy
Region A (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.5 | |
Overall | 5.0 |
Nominated for three Oscar Awards, Lawrence Kasdan's "The Big Chill" (1983) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; deleted scenes; exclusive new interview with director Lawrence Kasdan; Laurent Bouzereau's documentary film "The Big Chill: A Reunion"; and Q&A session with cast and crew members. The release also arrives with a 22-page illustrated booklet featuring: Lena Dunham's essay "These Are Your Parents" and Harlan Jacobson's "Surviving". In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
"They are either married or gay. And if they are not gay, they've just broken up with the most wonderful woman in the world or with a bitch who looks exactly like me."
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Lawrence Kasdan's The Big Chill arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray release:
"This new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a wetgate Oxberry film scanner from the 35mm original camera negative at Cineric in New York City; the color correction was done at Colorworks in Culver City, California, and the restoration at MTI Film in Los Angeles. The entire process was supervised by director of photography John Bailey, and the final result was approved by director Lawrence Kasdan.
The original monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the original 35mm magnetic tracks. For the alternate 5.1 surround presentation, stereo music masters were used in tandem with elements from the 3-track dialogue, music, and effects stems. The full soundtrack was then remastered and remixed at Chace Audio in Burbank, California, under the supervision of Lawrence Kasdan. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD, AudioCube's integrated workstation, and iZotope RX 3.
Transfer supervisors: John Bailey, Grover Crisp.
Colorist: John Dunn/Colorworks, Culver City, CA."
The technical presentation is outstanding. The film has a wonderfully balanced and very smooth (not digitally smoothed) look that makes it exceptionally easy to appreciate John Bailey's cinematography. Detail is fantastic -- virtually all close-ups boast wonderful depth and clarity while the larger panoramic shots impress with excellent fluidity. Color reproduction is equally satisfying. There is a wide range of nuanced and very healthy colors that support the film's period atmosphere. There are absolutely no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening corrections. Also, because of the high-quality scanning, from start to finish grain is evenly and beautifully resolved. Finally, there are no debris, damage marks, cuts, or stains to report in this review. To sum it all up, this is a fantastic presentation of The Big Chill that should remain the film's definitive presentation on Blu-ray. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.
I viewed the film with the original Mono track and was very pleased with it. Depth and clarity are excellent and the music is wonderfully balanced. The dialog is consistently crisp, stable, and very easy to follow. There are no pops, crackle, hiss, audio dropouts, or distortions to report in this review.
I tested select sequences with the 5.1 track and in some areas separation is obviously different. Depth is also improved, but clarity is identical to that of the Mono track. I prefer the Mono track, but you should experiment with both tracks and see which one you like better.
Criterion's new Blu-ray release of Lawrence Kasdan's The Big Chill, one of the best American films from the early '80s, is a thing of beauty. In fact, I like it so much that even though it is only August, I can guarantee that it will appear on my Top 10 list at the end of the year. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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