7.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The story follows an underground weapons manufacturer in Belgrade during WWII and evolves into fairly surreal situations. A black marketeer who smuggles the weapons to partisans doesn't mention to the workers that the war is over, and they keep producing. Years later, they break out of their underground "shelter" --- only to convince themselves that the war is still going on.
Starring: Predrag Manojlović, Lazar Ristovski, Mirjana Joković, Slavko Stimac, Ernst StötznerForeign | 100% |
Drama | 60% |
Dark humor | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Serbian: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Serbian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English
Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (1 BD, 2 DVDs)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Emir Kusturica's "Underground" (1995) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental feature on the release include an original trailer; the longer TV version of the film; making of featurette; and archival cast and crew interviews. The release also arrives with a 10-page illustrated booklet featuring an essay by Giorgio Bertellini and technical credits. In Serbian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
The maniac
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Underground arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.
The release is sourced from the same master that the British Film Institute used to produce this release of the film in 2016. This is an old master and while it offers some rather good upgrades in quality over the first North American DVD release of the film, it comes with plenty of limitations as well. What is good about the master is that improves clarity and definition during darker footage, of which there is quite a lot throughout the film. Generally speaking, depth is better as well, though a fresh 2K/4K master will unquestionably offer some pretty significant upgrades during darker and daylight footage. There are no traces of problematic digital adjustments, but grain exposure is quite inconsistent. In fact, much of the darker footage actually tends to look noisy, so on a larger screen the age of the master definitely shows. The color grading is convincing, but this is another area where plenty of meaningful improvements can be made. Image stability is very good. In summary, the current master has some decent organic qualities and certainly offers the best technical presentation of the film that I have seen. However, it has its fair share of limitations as well. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: Serbian: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Serbian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.
If this film is ever redone in 4K, I hope that the people that work on the makeover also produce a brand new Atmos track. There is an incredible amount of music and Balkan mayhem in the film that I think would greatly benefit from an Atmos track. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is very solid and is drastically better than the lossy track from the old R1 DVD release, but over the last year or so I have tested a lot of Atmos tracks and my gut-feeling is that one such new track could do miracles for this film. There are no technical anomalies to report.
BLU-RAY DISC
I think that in many ways Emir Kusturica's Underground has been as groundbreaking and influential as Jean Renoir's The Rules of the Game. It emerged at a time when there were hardly any truly independent voices in Eastern European cinema, and it was so honest yet ferociously unapologetic and original that it was impossible to ignore. I know for a fact that it seriously angered some very important people because it delivered a lot of messages that during the '90s were not considered safe. It also inspired a lot of young directors on the Balkans to dream big, and eventually they made films that initiated the Romanian and Bulgarian New Wave. Kino Lorber's Blu-ray release contains the original theatrical version of Underground as well as the film's longer TV version, though only in standard definition. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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