5.8 | / 10 |
Users | 3.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
A group of archaeological students become trapped in the past when they go there to retrieve their professor. The group must survive in 14th century France long enough to be rescued.
Starring: Paul Walker, Frances O'Connor (II), Gerard Butler, Billy Connolly, David ThewlisAdventure | 100% |
Action | 15% |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English, English SDH, French
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Paramount has released the 2003 Sci-Fi/Adventure time travel film 'Timeline,' directed by Richard Donner and starring Paul Walker and Gerard Butler, to Blu-ray. The disc is featureless and includes troubled video and passable lossless audio. No extras are included. The film was also released to Blu-ray in 2021 by Australian label Imprint. A review of that disc can be found here.
Paramount present Timeline on Blu-ray and fans will wish that they had a time machine to use to urge Paramount to give this Blu-ray a better
presentation than what is on offer here. First, the good: unlike the Australian Imprint Blu-ray, Paramount presents the film in its proper 2.35:1 aspect
ratio, which is a significant gain for the film and the most obvious reason to choose this release over the region free Australian issue. However, it looks
rather poor otherwise. While I do not have access to the Imprint release, by reading through Dr Atanasov's text and perusing the screenshots I surmise
that this looks to
be very similar beyond the aspect ratio correction.
Grain management is problematic. It's obviously the victim of digital processing, leaving the image
with an artificially sharp
appearance rather than the naturally filmic state. While the 1080p resolution muscles up enough to offer stable of decent looking textures, the overall
appearance lacks vitality and authenticity, leaving viewers dreaming of a more majestic image true to the film source. Color reproduction fares only
slightly better. While there is enough vividness to natural greens, English army reds, and French army blues, the tones lack nuance, presenting with
boldness but not much elegance. Black levels are wayward, either pushing to crush or pushing to overly light. Meanwhile, whites are bland and skin
tones never dialed in to perfection. The print does show a few pops and splotches, but such are largely unobtrusive. There are no major encode flaws to
note. This one looks OK, but there is significant room for improvement.
Parmount ships Timeline to Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. This is more than likely the same track found on the Imprint release, but again I cannot confirm. As it stands on this Paramount release, the track is generally in good shape. It does lack nuance and precision, but it is certainly not absent any sense of heartiness. The track is very responsive in sounds of war, with clanking swords and armor, whooshing arrows, rumbling catapult launches, and more creating a big space with high intensity movement and solid power behind them. Musical engagement is fun, with wide front usage, quality surround balance, and solid enough clarity. World ambience is pleasing, too, especially in the woodland areas of France and the general bustle around 1357 Castlegard. Dialogue is clear, centered, and well prioritized for the duration.
This Blu-ray release of Timeline contains no supplemental content. By contrast, the Imprint release, linked above, included a handful of featurettes. The main menu features a static image with no music and only options for "Play," "Settings," and "Scenes." No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.
Timeline is not a great film, but it is a fun film. At now more than two decades of age, it shows some warts that are a product of time, but fans of "time askew" films will find this a suitably entertaining, if note more or less forgettable, venture. This Blu-ray is not great; the film deserves better. First, the video presentation: it needs to be better. Second, the audio: it's more than adequate, even if still imperfect. Third, the extras: there are none. As for this issue versus the Imprint issue, there are pros and cons to both Paramount's US release and Australia's Imprint release. The US release is framed at the proper theatrical exhibition 2.35:1 aspect ratio, but the Imprint release includes well over an hour of featurettes. Sadly, neither really hit the mark. Fans should pick this up at about $5, which seems fair for the effort put into the release.
2010
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1988
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1935
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2015
1993
Unrated Director's Cut
2007
Warner Archive Collection
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1926
2013-2014
Warner Archive Collection
1940
2012