7.9 | / 10 |
Users | 4.7 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.7 |
When a shipwreck leaves young Alec and the black stallion, a wild Arabian, stranded on a desolate island, the two share a frightening adventure of survival that forges a lasting bond of friendship between them. Upon their rescue, Alec and the magnificent horse continue their adventures when they join forces with ex-jockey and horse trainer Henry Dailey.
Starring: Kelly Reno, Mickey Rooney, Teri Garr, Clarence Muse, Hoyt AxtonSport | 100% |
Coming of age | 96% |
Family | 57% |
Adventure | 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 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Carroll Ballard's "The Black Stallion" (1979) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; five short films by Carroll Ballard; new video interview with cinematographer Caleb Deschanel; new video interview with still photographer Mary Ellen Mark; and more. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring Michael Sragow's essay "Nirvana on Horseback" and technical credits. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Black
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Carroll Ballard's The Black Stallion arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:
"Supervised by director of photography Caleb Deschanel, this new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a Scanity film scanner from the 35mm original camera negative; the film was then restored in 2K resolution. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for small dirt, grain, noise management, flicker, and jitter.
The original 2.0 surround soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the 35mm original Dolby A magnetic tracks. Clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD, AudioCube's integrated workstation, and iZotope RX 4. Please be sure to enable Dolby Pro Logic decoding on your receiver to properly play the Dolby 2.0 surround soundtrack.
Transfer supervisors: Caleb Deschanel, Lee Kline.
Colorist: Dave Cole/Modern VideoFilm, Los Angeles."
The improvements in detail and especially image depth can be seen throughout the entire film. Not only are edges better defined -- the light halo effects present on MGM's release are completely eliminated -- but overall fluidity is dramatically improved as well (compare screencapture #4 and screencapture #9 from our review of the previous release). During the darker footage shadow definition is also a lot more convincing. Contrast levels remain stable. The high-quality scanning has also ensured that grain is extremely well distributed and resolved (you can see how tight and even the grain is in close-ups and wider panoramic shots if you compare screencaptures #4 and 10). There are absolutely no traces of problematic sharpening adjustments. Colors are stable and natural. I only wish that the reds were slightly better saturated in a couple of sequences (see screencapture #19), but the overall balance is very good. Image stability is outstanding. Lastly, there are no serious encoding anomalies to report in this review. All in all, this is a very good restoration of The Black Stallion, which will likely remain the film's definitive presentation on the home video market. My score is 4.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free Blu-ray player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. (Please see the Dolby Pro Logic note in the video section of our review).
The audio has greatly benefited from the recent remastering. Depth and clarity are so good that at times it literally feels like one is placed right in the middle of the action. There are also various nuanced sounds and noises that should raise some eyebrows amongst viewers who appreciate great mixing (listen to Black's breathing during the race and the individual solos in Carmine Coppola's exotic soundtrack). The dialog is crystal clear, crisp, stable, and exceptionally easy to follow. There are no pops, cracks, distracting background hiss, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report in our review.
Carroll Ballard's The Black Stallion will be admired and revisited for as long as films are made. People frequently exaggerate when they describe films they like, but I assure you that those who have praised this film during the years have not -- it truly is stunningly beautiful. Criterion's new 4K restoration is wonderful and most likely will remain the definitive presentation of the film on the home video market. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
1937
SDR
1931
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1980
2014
1991
2016
1962
2011
1953
2012
Warner Archive Collection
1944
Limited Edition to 3000
1983
Warner Archive Collection
1940
1965
1964
1993
2011
2007
1966
55th Anniversary Edition
1960