8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.6 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
A retired boxer from the US returns to the village where he was born in Ireland, where he finds love.
Starring: John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond, Victor McLaglenRomance | 100% |
Drama | 83% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 16-bit)
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
John Ford is a director who has become identified, almost synonymously so at times, with the American West. Probably no other director, not even Howard Hawks or Anthony Mann, has contributed as much to the Western genre as Ford did, and many of Ford’s films set in the idiom have become all time classics. How interesting, then, that one of Ford’s better remembered films (some might even argue his best remembered film) was the director’s loving ode to his ancestral home of Ireland. In some ways, though, The Quiet Man plays very much like a Western, albeit a slightly comic one. The stalwart hero in this case is an expat American named Sean Thornton (John Wayne) who has returned to his ancestral home of Innisfree. Sean has twin (related) nemeses in the film, who may not be "bad guys" in the traditional sense (especially since one of them is a woman), but who offer an obstacle to overcome much like any good Western hero has to face. These "problems" are a blowhard named Will Danagher (Victor McLaglen) and Danagher’s tempestuous sister Mary Kate (Maureen O’Hara), a feisty lass with whom Sean more or less falls instantly in love but who is not exactly going to go gently into that domestic bliss night with Sean. Much like most of Ford’s Westerns, The Quiet Man’s setting is as much a character as any of its human beings, and the film contains some of the most lustrous Technicolor footage of Ireland that’s ever been captured on celluloid.
The Quiet Man is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. There was quite a bit of internet hubbub when my interview with Olive Films' Frank Tarzi broke the news that The Quiet Man was coming to Blu-ray and also that Olive was not utilizing the UCLA restoration. Several experts expressed at least moderate surprise at this fact, though some conceded that the UCLA restoration had "issues" in and of itself and might not be proper material for a new HD master. All of that "palace intrigue" aside, Olive's press materials repeat Mr. Tarzi's comments in my interview with him and tout this transfer as coming from a new 4K scan from the original camera negative. The results are, in a word, sumptuous. The unbelievably gorgeous Technicolor cinematography of Winton Hoch and Archie Stout boasts all of the incredible variety of greens imaginable, but best of all (at least for true Technicolor aficionados), the reds are simply rock solid, from the slight auburn tint of O'Hara's hair to the deeper crimson of the dress she sometimes wears. The image is wonderfully sharp and precise and there are no major stability issues to report. Are there any issues? Well, yes, a couple of extremely minor ones which are in some cases no doubt endemic to the source elements, including some minor density fluctuations in some of the rear projection materials, and one or two times where some very moderate ringing surrounds objects. Olive has a long history of not digitally tweaking their releases, and some may wonder if that's the case here, given the relative paucity of overt overwhelming grain, but if any noise reduction has been applied, it's been done very judiciously as fine detail remains strong. Overall this is one gorgeous looking transfer that preserves the film's natural look while offering it in about as pristine a version as could be hoped for.
The Quiet Man features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio mono mix that ably reproduces the original theatrical sonic experience. Victor Young's lovely score has never sounded better, with its fulsome brass orchestrations sounding especially bright and colorful. Dialogue is crisp and clean, and the evocative ambient environmental effects also sound precise and natural. There's just some slight boxiness to Ward Bond's narration as well as the "remembered" voiceover from Sean's mother.
What a phenomenal movie! Every time I watch The Quiet Man, I just fall in love with it all over again, and my love for it has only increased with this wonderful looking and sounding release. Olive Films quickly became one of my favorite "catalog" labels in 2012, and it looks like that tradition is continuing into 2013. Highly recommended.
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