8 | / 10 |
Users | 3.9 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
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 | Uncertain |
Period | Uncertain |
History | Uncertain |
Biography | Uncertain |
Epic | Uncertain |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.02:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Winner of nine Oscar awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Last Emperor” (1987) chronicles the tragic story of Pu Yi, the last of the great Chinese rulers. Beautifully-lensed and impeccably acted, the picture is regarded by many as one of the last true epics of our time. Courtesy of the Criterion Collection. Region-A "locked".
The Emperor
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.02:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p
transfer, Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of
Criterion.
Those of you who have already taken a look at Criterion's SDVD release of The Last
Emperor probably have a pretty good idea what to expect from this Blu-ray disc – a high
definition digital transfer supervised and approved by cinematographer Vittorio Storaro.
Overall, this is a notably healthy high-definition transfer. Its color-scheme, for example, is rich and natural-looking. Orange, red, green, and blue are all with prominent roles in The Last Emperor, and the high-definition transfer certainly allows them to be as effective as possible. The blacks on the other hand are also convincing - during the first half of the film they are slightly less saturated than they are during the second half (past the Japanese takeover of
Manchuria), but healthy and solid looking. Furthermore, the delicate grain-structure of the
film is intact. I compared the Blu-ray release with the DVD release and, as far as I am
concerned, heavy DNR alterations have not been applied here. I noticed a bit of shimmering as well as digital noise during some of the panoramic vistas (the desert inauguration of the
Emperor in particular), but overall I was most definitely pleased with the look of Criterion's
high-definition transfer. Finally, I did not detect any disturbing specks, debris, or scratches. (Note:This is a Region-A "locked" release which you won't be able to playback on your Region-B PS3 or SA).
An English, with portions of Mandarin and Japanese, DTS-HD MA 2.0 mix is what Criterion have provided for their release of The Last Emperor. There is a sizable difference between the DTS-HD MA track the Blu-ray disc boasts and the audio treatment the DVD offers. I could list a number of very specific examples in support of this statement but, suffice to say, you could pick any of the mass scenes from the first half of the film, and compare them with the corresponding scenes on the DVD release (I strongly recommend listening to the large horns in the Forbidden City when the Emperor captures the cricket). The dialog is also crisp and very easy to follow. The English subtitles on the other hand are very well done and free of grammatical errors (I must note that I watched the film with the English subtitles on as I still have a difficult time with some of the accents). This being said, I did not detect any pops, cracks, drop-outs. For the record, the English subtitles are placed inside the image frame.
Before we discuss the extras found on the Blu-ray disc, allow me to point out to you that
this release of The Last Emperor arrives with a very stylish 16-page booklet
containing the following: "The Last Emperor, or the Manchurian Candidate", an essay by
David Thompson, information about the director's approved transfer, acknowledgments,
special thanks, and production credits.
On the actual Blu-ray disc, we get all of the extras that are found on the SDVD release of
The Last Emperor. These include: an audio commentary featuring Bernardo
Bertolucci, producer Jeremy Thomas, screen-writer Mark Peploe, and composer-actor Ryuichi
Sakamato; "The Italian Traveler: Bernardo Bertolucci", a 53-minute film by Fernand
Moszkowicz, tracing the director's geographic influences, from Parma to China; Video images
taken by Bertolucci while on production in China; "The Chinese Adventure of Bernardo
Bertolucci", a 51-minute film by Paolo Brunatto revisiting the creation of the film; a 45-minute
documentary featuring Storato, editor Gabriella Christiana, costume designer James
Acheson, and art director Gianni Silvestri; a 66-minute documentary exploring Bertolucci's
creative process and the making of The Last Emperor; a 30-minute BBC interview
with Bertolucci from 1989; an interview from 2008 with composer David Byrne; a 2008
interview with cultural historian Ian Buruma examining the period of the film; and a
theatrical trailer.
Visually breathtaking, Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor is a fascinating film, mixing history with drama in a somewhat controversial fashion. The story of Pu Yi, the last of the great Chinese rulers, is told through a series of flashbacks highlighting key events from his coronation to his imprisonment by Mao's followers. Criterion's Blu-ray release is an excellent opportunity to see this Oscar-winning film with a deserving transfer. Very Highly Recommended.
1995
2008
2011
2019
2008
2006
2008
1992
65th Anniversary Limited Edition
1957
1975
25th Anniversary Edition
1993
Collector's Edition
2010
The North
1983
2006
2010
1982
1955
2008
2011
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1971