7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
When their latest play fails and they threaten to disband, William Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan are inspired to create their masterpiece, "The Mikado."
Starring: Jim Broadbent, Allan Corduner, Lesley Manville, Eleanor David, Ron CookDrama | 100% |
History | 11% |
Biography | 8% |
Musical | 3% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Winner of Oscar Awards for Best Costume Design and Best Makeup, Mike Leigh's "Topsy-Turvy" (1999) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include the film's original theatrical trailer and TV spots; audio commentary with director Mike Leigh; deleted scenes; exclusive video interview with director Mike Leigh and music director Gary Yershon; "A Sense of History", a short film written by Jim Broadbent and directed by Mike Leigh; and a standard featurette. The disc also arrives with an 18-page illustrated booklet. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
A scene from The Mikado
Presented in Mike Leigh's preferred aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Topsy-Turvy arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc:
"Supervised by cinematographer Dick Pope and approved by director Mike Leigh, this new digital transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine in 2K resolution from a 35mm interpositive. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were manually removed using MTI's DRS system and Pixel Farm's PFClean system, while Digital Vision's DVNR system was used for small dirt, grain, and noise reduction.
Telecine supervisors: Dick Pope, Vishal Chathle/Universal Studios, Los Angeles; Maria Palazzola.
Telecine colorist: Doug Drake/Universal Studios, Los Angeles."
I don't have the now out of print R1 SDVD release of Topsy-Turvy in my library to compare it to this new Blu-ray release, but I cannot possibly imagine anyone not being thrilled with it - the film looks splendid in 1080p. Detail is consistently excellent, even during the darker scenes, while clarity is outstanding. Color reproduction is very convincing, and I must speculate that this is probably the key area where this release convincingly outdoes the old R1 SDVD release of Topsy-Turvy. Indeed, the variety of reds, browns, grays, and blacks look remarkably healthy and natural. Furthermore, I did not see any traces of heavy noise reduction; a healthy layer of light grain is present at all times. This being said, I noticed that light sharpening has been applied during specific scenes (the sharpening is most obvious during close-ups), but none of it affects dramatically the integrity of the presentation. Finally, there are absolutely no stability issues to report in this review. I also did not see any annoying scratches, large damage marks, stains, or debris. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.
The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc:
"The surround track was remastered at 24-bit from the original 35mm magnetic track. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube's integrated audio workstation."
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is excellent. Andrew Dickson score benefits greatly from the loseless treatment; the dialog and the singing are always crisp, clean, stable, and exceptionally easy to follow. I also did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, hissings, or audio dropouts to report in this review.
Topsy-Turvy is a witty, brilliantly directed film, but it is not one of my favorite Mike Leigh's films. Its eccentricity and dry sense of humor are often times overpowering, bordering pretentiousness I've always had a difficult time tolerating. I prefer the British director's contemporary films, and specifically Naked, Secrets & Lies, and All or Nothing. It would be great if they also made it to Blu-ray. As expected, Criterion's Blu-ray release of Topsy-Turvy looks and sounds terrific. RECOMMENDED.
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