The New World Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

The New World Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 26, 2016

Nominated for Oscar Award for Best Achievement in Cinematography, Terrence Malick's "The New World" (2005) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include original trailers for the film; exclusive new interviews with actors Colin Farrell and Q'orianka Kilcher; exclusive new interviews with producer Sarah Green, production designer Jack Fisk and costume designer Jacqueline West; Austin Lynch's documentary "Making The New World"; and more. The release also arrives with a book featuring an essay by film scholar Tom Gunning, an archival interview with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki from American Cinematographer, and a selection of materials that inspired the production. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for each version of the film. Region-A "locked".

The arrival

Terrence Malick’s The New World feels like a long and strikingly beautiful dream. It abruptly pulls you in and then quickly disables your mind’s ability to question the series of images that begin to overwhelm it.

The introduction of Captain Smith (Colin Farrell) is casual, almost accidental. The English colonists have reached a new land and he is quietly released from a giant cage to prove his loyalty to the King. He is warned that this is his second and final chance. In this foreign place, however, he is like a man who has suddenly gone blind and is struggling to understand why he can’t see. At first, he is guided only by his instincts.

By the time the Indians meet the colonists nature already is an important character in the film. She flirts with Smith and then gradually makes him become aware of its vastness and beauty. Malick spends a great deal of time documenting how Smith falls under her spell and begins to feel what it means to be alive in an entirely new way.

The feeling becomes even more intense after Smith meets Pocahontas (Q’orianka Kilcher), the young and beautiful daughter of a powerful local Indian chief. There is an instant attraction between them but in the beginning they can communicate only through sounds and looks. The words come much later on and somewhat complicate their relationship.

A lot of the stories in the film are actually told through the bodies of different characters. And this is hardly surprising as there is no other director that understands how to film bodies quite like Malick does -- in his films simple looks and gestures routinely reveal a lot more than words can. Here large segments of the film are essentially dialog-free because everything that you need to know about the feelings and experiences of its characters is channeled through carefully observed body movements and sounds.

There are a few segments where it does feel like Malick goes slightly overboard with the panoramic/meditative footage and causes an unusual shift in the progression of the relationship between Smith and Pocahontas.. However, the shift also allows Malick to essentially leave some gray areas in the narrative that make it easier to (rightfully) interpret their actions in different ways. In the final act Pocahontas travels to London with John Rolfe (Christian Bale) and her experience there is also used to force you to rethink what the discovery of the New World in a slightly different context.

Criterion’s upcoming release of The New World contains three very different versions of the film: a newly remastered Extended Cut which is approximately 172 minutes long, First Cut which is approximately 150 minutes long, and Theatrical Cut which is approximately 136 minutes long. There are substantial differences between the three, with the Extended Cut expanding various sequences with brand new footage. The Extended Cut was supervised by director Malick and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki.

The New World Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Terrence Malick's The New World arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

Included in the release are three different cuts of the film. The new Extended Cut has been remastered in 4K specifically for this release under the supervision of director Terrence Malick and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki.

Please note that the screencaptures that are included with our review appear in the following order:

1. Extended Cut: Screencaptures #1-21.
2. Theatrical Cut: Screencaptures #23-32.
3. First Cut: Screencaptures #33-35.

The following text appears inside the book provided with this Blu-ray release:

"This new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution at 16-bit color depth on a Northlight 2 film scanner from the 35mm original camera negative, a 35mm interpositive, and the 65mm original camera negative for select shots. The 35mm negative had been cut in 2005 to create the Theatrical Version, so it could not be used for the entirety of the Extended Version. The three film elements were edited together under the supervision of film editor Mark Yoshikawa. Opticals, fades, and dissolves were re-created. Certain shots contained burned-in subtitles, which the filmmakers requested be left as is. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, chemical stains, and splices were removed using MTI Film's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for small dirt. The 5.1 surround soundtrack for the Extended Cut was remastered by Joel Dougherty at Warner Bros. Studios.

Extended Cut

Transfer supervisors: Terrence Malick, Emmanuel Lubezki, Lee Kline.
Colorist: Bryan McMahan/Modern VideoFilm, Burbank, CA.
Editor: Mark Yoshikawa.
Assistant Editor: Peter Pav.

Theatrical and First Cuts

Original transfer supervisor: Emmanuel Lubezki.
Original colorist: Jim Garrow/FotoKem, Burbank, CA."

The Extended Cut looks absolutely magnificent in high-definition. Indeed, there are massive improvements in terms of detail and clarity that drastically improve fluidity. As a result, the film now has a much better balanced appearance. In fact, I did numerous comparisons with the other cuts and can confirm that the discrepancies in terms of depth are massive. Indeed, on the first two cuts there are traces of moderate filtering adjustments that routinely flatten the image and cause distracting smearing (see an obvious example in screencapture #25). With a lot of wider panoramic shots where light is captured in unique ways the effects are also prominent and cause entirely different anomalies (see screencapture #35). On the Extended Cut there are no traces of compromising digital work. Furthermore, the Extended Cut comes with a much better range of primary colors and nuances. The overall balance is excellent and very much supportive of the intended atmosphere. There are many cases where the careful grading has even helped previously lost nuances to reemerge (compare screencaptures #17 and 30). Unsurprisingly, on large screens the difference between the Extended Cut and the Theatrical Cut and First Cut of the film is often staggering. Finally, the Extended Cut has an all-around strong organic appearance that really allows one to experience the film in an entirely new way. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The New World Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Extended Cut of The New World arrives with an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The lossless track is fantastic. The film has a unique sound design that incorporates a lot of nature sounds and seemingly random noises that are exceptionally easy to identify. Overall balance also remains excellent throughout the entire film. Depth and clarity are terrific, allowing James Horner's score to very effectively open up different parts of the film. There are no audio dropouts, pops, cracks, background hiss, or other purely digital anomalies to report in our review.

The New World Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One

• Trailer - original theatrical trailer for The New World. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• Teaser - original theatrical teaser trailer for The New World. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• Making "The New World" (2004) - this archival documentary was shot during the production of The New World by Austin Lynch. Included in are numerous comments addressing the technical nature of the shooting process and the period appearance of the film by production designer Jack Fisk, art director David Crank, archeologist Dr. William Kelso, producer Sarah Green, Chief of the Chickahominy Tribe Stephen R. Adkins, and choreographer Raoul Trujillo, amongst others.
  
  1. Making The New World
  2. Core Training
  3. Finding Pocahontas
  4. Re-creating the Powhatan
  5. Along the Chickahominy River
  6. Werowocomoco
  7. Jamestown
  8. The John Rolfe plantation
  9. The Battle
  10. England

Disc Two

• The Theatrical Cut - presented here is the Theatrical Cut of The New World. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles. (136 min/English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1/1080p).

• Actors - in this brand new program, actors Colin Farrell (Captain Smith) and Q'orianka Kilcher (Pocahontas) recall how they were approached and offered to play their respective characters, their initial impressions of the script for The New World, Terrence Malick's vision of the film, etc. The two actors also discuss the grueling shooting process, the visual style of the film, the period costumes and the original language the Indians spoke in the film, etc. The program was produced exclusively for Criterion in 2016. In English, not subtitled. (30 min, 1080p).

• Production - in this brand new program, producer Sarah Green, production designer Jack Fisk and costume designer Jacqueline West discuss Terrence Malick's working methods, the major ideas and philosophy that are channeled through The New World, the relationship between Captain Smith and Pocahontas and how much of it was formed by myths, the period atmosphere of the film and the type of costumes that were created to enhance the sense of authenticity Terrence Malick and his team were determined to bring to the film, etc. The program was produced exclusively for Criterion in 2016. In English, not subtitled. (37 min, 1080p).

Disc Three

• The First Cut - presented here is the First Cut of The New World. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles. (150 min/English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1/1080p).

• Editors - in this new program, editors Hank Corwin, Saar Klein, and Mark Yoshikawa discuss the challenges that they faced while trying to give structure to the enormous amount of material that was shot for The New World (the editing of the film involved four different editors), what it means to work with Terrence Malick, the director's pursuit of authenticity and why it could be quite overwhelming at times, some of the conflicts they experienced during the creative process, the evolution of the initial script and how additional footage started pouring in, the importance of organic sounds throughout the films, etc. In English, not subtitled. (41 min, 1080p).

• The Versions - Mark Yoshikawa was the only editor that worked with Terrence Malick as The New World evolved. In this new video piece, he discusses Terrence Malick's approach to each cut, some of the key differences between them, and the structure of the new Extended Cut. Included in the program are direct comparisons between the different cuts. In English, not subtitled. (18 min, 1080p).

• Book - a book featuring an essay by film scholar Tom Gunning, a 2006 interview with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki from American Cinematographer, and a selection of materials that inspired the production.

The New World Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I think that one of the major reasons why Terrence Malick's films have such a strong emotional impact on different viewers is the fact that they tend to "speak" to them in unique ways. So the viewing experience actually very quickly becomes an intimate experience, one that is never easy to forget. The New World has this very special ability to detach viewers from their reality and then take them on a real journey. I like it a lot and think that it ranks amongst Terrence Malick's best work. Criterion's upcoming release features an Extended Cut of the film which has been remastered in 4K. It looks stunning in high-definition, and I am convinced that at the end of the year a lot of critics will place this release at the very top of their lists. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.