8.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.1 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.1 |
Three friends volunteer to serve in Vietnam, they fail to foresee the horrors that will encapsulate their future lives.
Starring: Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Christopher Walken, Meryl StreepDrama | 100% |
War | 29% |
Melodrama | 19% |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
German: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Turkish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
BD-Live
Region B, A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Winner of five Oscar Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Michael Cimino's "The Deer Hunter" (1978) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of UK-based distributors Optimum Home Entertainment. Amongst the supplemental features on the disc are: an audio commentary with director Michael Cimino; "Vietnam War: Unknown Images", a France 3-INA Etreprise documentary; an interview with cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond; theatrical trailer and more. The disc arrives with a fully illustrated 20-page booklet containing an essay by film critic Ryan Gilbey. With optional English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish, Turkish and Japanese subtitles. Region-A/B "locked".
One shot is what it's all about!
Presented in am aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with VC-1 and granted a 1080p transfer, Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of UK-based distributors Optimum Home Entertainment.
As it was the case with the transfer for Optimum Home Entertainment's release of Luis Buñuel's Belle de jour, a film that was also released as part of the Studio Canal Collection, the transfer for The Deer Hunter is most definitely not flawless, but it is the best one that I have seen. Michael Cimino's award-winning film looks quite fresh here; detail is very pleasing and clarity surprisingly good. With a few minor exceptions, that occur mostly during the second half of the film where there is plenty of raw footage showing the chaos at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, contrast levels are also excellent. The film's color scheme is convincing. Reds, blues, greens, browns, blacks and whites look natural. Mild sharpening is noticeable during selected sequences, but it is never overly distracting. On a positive side, macroblocking is most definitely not an issue of concern. Additionally, the film's grain structure is mostly kept intact. There are, however, a few minor stability issues that I noticed. For example, when Michael returns from Vietnam and goes back to Linda's house there is mild shimmering around the edges. I did not see any disturbing scratches, debris, cuts, or warps to report in the review. To sum it all up, there is definitely some room for improvement with the current transfer, but I have absolutely no problem recommending Optimum Home Entertainment's Blu-ray release to you. Simply put, The Deer Hunter has never looked this good before. (Note: This disc is coded for Regions A and B. Therefore, in order to access its content, you must have a native Region-A, native Region-B, or Region-Free player. For the record, the main menu could be set in one of the following languages: English (Australian territories), Danish, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish, English (UK territories), and Japanese).
There are six audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. I opted for the English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track and later on did a few random comparisons with the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track for the purpose of this review.
There are no serious technical issues to report with the English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track. Obviously, it has not been meticulously restored - for example, if you turn the volume up a lot, you should easily hear mild hissing - but it allows one to follow the dialog without a problem. Also, there are no serious issues to report with Stanley Myers' wonderful music score.
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, however, is problematic - it is incorrectly pitched. The easiest way to hear how drastic the difference is between the English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track and the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is if you switched between the two during the opening credits where there is a wonderful guitar solo - on the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, the pitch is higher by nearly a half tone. Most of you should be able to notice the alteration even when there is no music at all - Christopher Walken's voice, for example, sounds very strange. The good news, of course, is that if you select the English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track, you won't have to worry about any of these pitch-related issues.
Finally, Optimum Home Entertainment have provided optional English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish, Turkish and Japanese subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.
Note: All of the supplemental features on this Blu-ray disc are encoded in 480/60i. Therefore, they are perfectly playable on Region-A PS3s and SAs.
Presentation by Mickey Rourke - the American quickly addresses the film's message as well as its impact on his life. (3 min).
Vietnam War: Unknown Images - a France 3-INA Etreprise production showing unseen or censored images from the Vietnam War found in the U.S. Army archives. Please note that some of the footage is extremely disturbing. In French, with English subtitles. (48 min).
Realising the Deer Hunter - a very informative interview with director Michael Cimino in which he discusses the message of his film, how the film could not be made in the U.S. at the time, the filming locations, etc. (24 min).
Shooting The Deer Hunter - cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond discusses the many obstacles he and the technical crew had to overcome while shooting the film. (16 min).
Playing the Deer Hunter - John Savage talks about his father, who went to Vietnam, and how what he told him about the war helped him out with the character he played in the film. The actor also discusses the political controversy surrounding the film as well as some of the more challenging scenes from it. (16 min).
Commentary - this is the same audio commentary by director Michael Cimino that was made available in the UK quite some time ago via the local DVD release of The Deer Hunter. The commentary is incredibly informative. Director Cimino explains why his film was funded by a UK company, why the film could not have been made in the U.S., what it meant to those who were involved with its production, how the political controversy that surrounded the film affected him and the actors, etc.
Trailer - (3 min).
BD Functionality -
Booklet - a 20-page illustrated booklet containing an essay by film critic Ryan Gilbey.
Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter is the latest addition to the Studio Canal Collection. Despite a few minor flaws in the audio and video departments, this Blu-ray disc is very easy to recommend. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
1978
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1978
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1978
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1978
1978
1978
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1979
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1957
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1987
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2009
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1967
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1957
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1993
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1964
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1983
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1977
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1978