7.7 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.7 |
Two officers in Napoleon's army violently confront each other in a series of duels. The duels begin as a reaction to a minor incident and escalate into a consuming passion that rules the lives of both men for a period of 30 years. Based on Joseph Conrad's story.
Starring: Keith Carradine, Harvey Keitel, Albert Finney, Edward Fox, Cristina RainesWar | 100% |
Period | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Ridley Scott's directorial debut "The Duellists" (1977) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout Factory. The supplemental features on the disc include a video interview with actor Keith Carradine; audio commentary and isolated score by composer Howard Blake; audio commentary by Ridley Scott; and a video interview with director Kevin Reynolds and Ridley Scott. In English, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
I am not afraid of him
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Ridley Scott's The Duellists arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout Factory.
I like the presentation quite a lot. Despite the fact that the high-definition transfer has been struck from an older master, there are no traces of excessive degraining. Problematic sharpening corrections have not been applied either. Needless to say, the film has a consistently pleasing organic look. Detail is very good both during close-ups and larger panoramic shots. Despite the unique use of light - which changes the contrast and color tonality of the film as the action moves from one location to another - clarity is also very good. Colors look warm and natural, though more than likely a new scan and consequently high-definition transfer would probably introduce some noticeable corrections. Occasionally, some minor flecks pop up here and there but never become distracting. Compression is good and there are no serious stability issues to report in this review. To sum it all up, even though there is some room for improvement the Blu-ray release represents a very fine upgrade in quality over the R1 DVD release of The Duellists which Paramount Pictures produced years ago. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. 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 disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. For the record, Shout Factory have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.
I prefer the DTS-HD Master 2.0 track. While the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track has a marginally bigger range of nuanced dynamics, balance isn't overly convincing. There are portions of the film with sudden spikes and drops in dynamic movement that are avoided on the two-channel track. On the other hand, surround activity is definitely not an important factor. The dialog is crisp, stable, and easy to follow. Also, there are no distortions and problematic background hiss.
Shout Factory's Blu-ray release of Ridley Scott's directorial debut, The Duellists, is extremely easy to recommend. While there is definitely some room for improvement, the film has a very pleasing organic look, which I am convinced its fans will be satisfied with. Additionally, the Blu-ray release has retained all of the important supplemental features from Paramount's out of print R1 DVD release. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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