8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.8 | |
Reviewer | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.8 |
The life of Emperor Pu Yi, who took the throne at age three, in 1908, before witnessing decades of cultural and political upheaval, within and without the walls of the Forbidden City.
Starring: John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole, Ruocheng Ying, Victor WongDrama | 100% |
Period | 30% |
History | 27% |
Biography | 17% |
Epic | 17% |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
4K Ultra HD
Region B (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 5.0 |
When a film more or less sweeps the Academy Awards, it's probably easy to think everyone associated with the film, perhaps especially the co-writer and director who took home two of those aforementioned Oscars, are firmly ensconced in the filmmaking hierarchy of icons for all time. And while that may well have been true of Bernardo Bertolucci after this film was released, as some of the bounteous supplements Arrow Video has aggregated for this impressive new set make clear, in an industry where you're only as hot as your most recent success, Bertolucci was in relatively dire straits when The Last Emperor was in its formative stages. Despite having effected a "hat trick plus one" fairly early in his career with The Conformist, The Spider's Stratagem , Last Tango in Paris and 1900, Bertolucci had stumbled at least somewhat with the two films which immediately preceded The Last Emperor, Luna and Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man. That general feeling of entropy, combined with a seriously risky gambit of getting the Chinese Communist Party to agree to a production utilizing the Forbidden City for a location shoot, probably led many to believe that Bertolucci had bitten off more than he could possibly chew, and there were probably some "industry vultures" simply waiting for the carrion of The Last Emperor to be scattered across the landscape for them to feast on. Of course, instead of being the unmitigated disaster some were predicting or perhaps even hoping, The Last Emperor turned out to be an unabashed triumph for everyone involved, and it remains one of the most effective so-called "historical epics" if its or frankly probably any generation.
Note: Screenshots are sourced from Arrow's standalone 1080 version of the Theatrical Cut. Per Arrow's standard operating procedure, this
release does not include a 1080 disc of the Theatrical Cut, but the Extended Version on Disc Two is presented in 1080, as with the general
1080 release.
The Last Emperor is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Arrow Video with a 2160p transfer in 2.35:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the
following information on the restoration:
The Last Emperor has been exclusively restored by Turbine in partnership with Arrow Films and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1 [sic] with stereo and 5.1 sound.To cut to the chase, this is a hugely impressive looking presentation that should easily please the film's legion of fans, and HDR and/or Dolby Vision definitely offer some interesting new highlights, and in some cases rather dramatic changes in tonal values. The most striking of these to me personally was the markedly different look of the blood from Piyu's slit wrists suffusing the water of a sink very early in the film (see screenshot 5 of the 1080 review). In the 1080 version, it's rather vividly red, while in the 4K UHD version it has a somewhat more rusty brown hue, and changes like that are evident throughout the 4K UHD presentation, though that said, the suffusion of reds is really remarkable in this version, even if they can skew slightly toward oranges at times. The coolness of the prison scenes is probably a bit more pronounced in this version, with an almost teal undertone at times, but detail levels are generally excellent even in these slightly blanched sequences. While grain can vary at times, for the most part it's very nicely tightly resolved.
The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K at Technicolor Rome. The film was graded in standard dynamic range, HDR10 and Dolby Vision by Jan Frederik Kuhn & Benjamin Albrecht at LSP Medien, Uelzen. The restoration was supervised by Christian Bartsch, Turbine.Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches and other instances of film wear were repaired or removed through a combination of digital restoration tools and techniques. Image stability and flicker were also improved.
The film's original framing was maintained using reference materials supplied by Schedule 2, London. Instances of visible debris or hairs at the edge of the frame were considered part of the original photography and were left unaltered during the restoration process.
The original stereo soundtrack was remastered from the magnetic reels. The 5.1 mix was provided by StudioCanal.
The Last Emperor features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 options. The surround track is quite spacious at times, especially in some of the outdoor material, though even interior scenes in the Forbidden City's immense palace can reveal clear engagement of the side and rear channels. Some of the prison footage also has really nicely immersive effects that provide a bed of sonic activity. The fantastically wide ranging score also resides comfortably in the surround channels and adds a good deal of energy (at times percussive) to the sound design. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
Disc One
- Bernardo Bertolucci (HD; 8:18)
- John Lone (HD; 8:33)
- Joan Chen (HD; 9:13)
The Last Emperor may well be a paradigm of "truth is stranger than fiction", even if this film may vary at times from the actual historical record. One of the most gorgeous films of its era also has some unusual emotional impact, something that's not always the case with what can be overblown historical epics. Arrow provides a release with solid technical merits and excellent supplements. Highly recommended.
Special Edition | Theatrical Cut
1987
Special Edition | Theatrical Cut
1987
Limited Edition
1987
1987
2011
The Argentine
2008
2019
Diamond Jubilee Edition
2006
1992
Guerrilla
2008
Collector's Edition | Sony Collector's Edition #2
1957
Premium Collection
1975
25th Anniversary Edition
1993
Two-Disc Collector's Edition
2010
2006
2010
Limited Edition
1982
Triple Play
2011
1955
1971
Novecento / Masters of Cinema
1976
2004
1984
2023