6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Freddie Gale is a seedy jeweler who has sworn to kill the drunk driver who killed his little girl.
Starring: Jack Nicholson, David Morse, Anjelica Huston, Robin Wright, John SavageThriller | Insignificant |
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
English: LPCM 2.0
French: LPCM 2.0
French
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region B (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Nominated for the prestigious Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, Sean Penn's "The Crossing Guard" (1995) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Studio Canal. Unfortunately, there are no supplemental features offered with this release. In English, with optional French subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
Just let me smoke in peace
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Sean Penn's The Crossing Guard arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Studio Canal.
The high-definition transfer has been struck from a dated master, and most of the time it shows. For example, many areas, but especially darker ones, reveal softness, and there are some small but noticeable contrast fluctuations. A few tiny nicks and blemishes also pop up here and there. Fortunately, there are no traces of post-production sharpening. Naturally, even though the film does look dated, for the most part, it still has a fine appearance. I specifically wanted to mention this because the old R1 DVD release from Miramax was non-anamorphic -- I have not seen the new Echo Bridge DVD release and cannot comment on it -- and today it is virtually unwatchable. Lastly, there are no serious stability issues to report in this review. All in all, even though there is plenty of room for improvement, for the time being, given the film's history on the home video market, I consider this release a decent upgrade. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content),
There are three audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English LPCM 2.0, and French LPCM 2.0. For the record, Studio Canal have provided optional French subtitles for the main feature.
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track opens up the film in all the right places rather well, but anyone expecting a wide range of nuanced dynamics will likely be disappointed. Better depth and clarity are the two most notable improvements. The excellent soundtrack benefits the most. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and easy to follow. Additionally, there are no sync issues, distortions, or problematic audio dropouts to report in this review.
Unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray disc.
American critics were not kind to Sean Penn's The Crossing Guard, but I think that it is as good, if not better, than his directorial debut, The Indian Runner. It has a certain rawness and attitude that few contemporary American films with big stars in them have. Studio Canal's release definitely could have been better, but I still believe that it is very much worth picking up. Shop around and see if you could find it on sale. RECOMMENDED.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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