8.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Lured by gold, two greedy peasants escort a man and woman across enemy lines. However, they do not realize that their companions are actually a princess and her general.
Starring: Takashi Shimura, Toshirô Mifune, Minoru Chiaki, Kamatari Fujiwara, Susumu FujitaForeign | 100% |
Period | 18% |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Japanese: LPCM Mono
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Akira Kurosawa's "Kakushi-toride no san-akunin" a.k.a "The Hidden Fortress" (1958) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; new and exclusive audio commentary by film historian Stephen Prince; archival interview with George Lucas; and a documentary produced by Toho. The release also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Catherine Russell. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
The duel
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress 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 2K resolution on a DFT Scanity film scanner from the original 35mm fine-grain master positive; the original negative for this film no longer exists. 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, jitter, and flicker.
The original monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from a 35mm optical soundtrack print. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube's integrated workstation. The alternate 3.0 surround soundtrack was decoded through a Perspecta integrator to a create a simulated stereo stereo LCR soundtrack. Though only three channels of audio are present, the Perspecta soundtrack was encoded as 5.1 on the disc to maintain compatibility with legacy players.
Transfer supervisor and colorist: Lee Kline.
Scanning: Imagica, Tokyo."
Excluding some very minor contrast and brightness fluctuations, which appear to be inherited, Criterion's new 2K restoration of The Hidden Fortress is outstanding. The overwhelming majority of the close-ups boast terrific depth (see screencapture #2), while the large panoramic shots convey excellent fluidity. Even in areas where light is restricted clarity and sharpness remain very pleasing (see screencaptures #9 and 10). Color saturation and stability are excellent and there are no traces of digital boosting. Furthermore, there are no traces of compromising degraining and sharpening adjustments. A few extremely light scratches remain, but large debris, cuts, damage marks, and stains have been carefully removed. Also, it is very easy to see that different stabilization adjustments have been performed because there are no serious transition and stability issues. The encoding and compression are very good. All in all, this is a terrific presentation of The Hidden Fortress which is likely to remain the film's definitive presentation on the home video market. (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: Japanese LPCM 1.0 and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (preserving the original Perspecta simulated stereo effects). For the record, Criterion have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.
I encourage you to experiment with the two lossless tracks. I prefer the lossless mono track, but the stereo effects on the second lossless track clearly open up the film in a number of important areas. In terms of dynamic intensity, both tracks handle the film exceptionally well. The range of nuanced dynamics on the mono track, in particular, is surprisingly good. Additionally, different stabilization adjustments have been performed as the dialog is very stable and free of problematic dynamic fluctuations. The English translation is very good.
It is probably quite difficult to tell now because Akira Kurosawa's films are so easily accessible and have been compared for years, but if one were to see them for the first time and in chronological order, one would be shocked to discover just how incredibly well lensed the Japanese master's first widescreen film, The Hidden Fortress, is. Some of the framing and camera movement in this film is on par with what contemporary directors have done with modern technology. Criterion's technical presentation of The Hidden Fortress is terrific. Recently restored in 2K, the film clearly looks the best it ever has. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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