6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
A strong-willed woman, frustrated by ongoing injustice at home, leaves the United States after meeting Jude, an American doctor who runs a remote medical mission within the Ottoman Empire -- a world both exotic and dangerous, and on the brink of what is about to become the first World War. There, she finds her loyalty tested to both Jude and the mission's founder when she falls in love with their perceived enemy, a lieutenant in the Ottoman Imperial Army.
Starring: Michiel Huisman, Hera Hilmar, Josh Hartnett, Ben Kingsley, Haluk BilginerWar | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.38:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: DTS 5.1
Spanish: DTS 5.1
Italian: DTS 5.1
Castellano, Español
English SDH, French, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Twin films, films that play to the same basic story lines and themes, often release in close proximity, but a little more rare is the case of twin films releasing under the same studio banner. The Ottoman Lieutenant released a month prior to The Promise, that film a flop at the box office and this one barely making a sound through its stay. Both release to Blu-ray under the Universal banner, each within two weeks of one another. Flop though it may have, The Promise delivered a somewhat stale and hackneyed but elegantly assembled and strongly performed story of forbidden love and jealousy in the Ottoman Empire during World War 1. The Ottoman Lieutenant delivers a stale and hackneyed but poorly performed and plodding story of forbidden love and jealousy in the Ottoman Empire during World War 1. If you're only going to watch one stale and hackneyed story of forbidden love and jealousy in the Ottoman Empire during World War I, make it The Promise.
The Ottoman Lieutenant's 1080p transfer comes sourced from the film's digital photography. The image is impressively filmic, offering a firm, well defined picture that leaves behind the familiar digital sheen. Object texturing is terrific, particularly the film's many rough stone, worn wood, and earthy terrain elements that abound throughout. Facial features are impressively complex, revealing pores and hair with fine-point clarity. Clothing of several varieties, including sharp military dress, showcases impressive complexity in close-up. Colors are rather neutral, influenced by the many bright locations but never pushing unusually hot. Balance and saturation are fine. Black levels are deep and skin tones accurate. Noise is minimal and other source or encode anomalies are very few and very far between. If nothing else, the movie is a pleasure to watch on Blu-ray.
The Ottoman Lieutenant's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack occasionally struggles to find its legs. While detail and definition are fine, raw volume leaves a bit to be desired, particularly early on when dialogue plays shallow at reference volume and effects follow suit. Things improve a bit as the film moves along, but never is the track particularly well pronounced at reference. Even would-be immersive and aggressive elements like pelting rain, a packed street, or a rumbling train deliver a base sound element but the track cannot do much with any of it, holding back rather than letting loose and fully immersing the listener in the place or the moment. Music is well spaced along the front. Surround usage is mostly complimentary and light. Clarity is pleasant, though again it's lacking that last little push. Action scenes and gunfire aren't notably aggressive, but element detail and spacing, again mostly along the front, are fine. Dialogue, beyond the shallowness, presents fine from its natural front-center position.
This Blu-ray release of The Ottoman Lieutenant contains no supplemental content. A UV/iTunes digital copy code is included with purchase.
The Promise may suffer from some of the same core deficiencies as The Ottoman Lieutenant, but the former at least has its act together, knows its characters and story, and benefits from stable filmmaking, scriptwriting, and acting. The Ottoman Lieutenant, however, suffers through a number of plot contrivances, wooden acting, and poor pacing. A few quality moments and excellent production design ease the burden, but the end result is still the same: a dull film that cannot match, never mind surpass, the competition. Universal's featureless Blu-ray does deliver fantastic video. Audio could use a slight boost, but it's generally fine. Skip it.
(Still not reliable for this title)
2014
2019
2017
2015
1983
2008
1981
2007
2016
2016
2017
2015
Warner Archive Collection
1942
1964
1977
2011
1940
2016
2016
2016