6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
This historical drama is an account of the early life of Winston Churchill, including his childhood years, his time as a war correspondent in Africa, and culminating with his first election to Parliament.
Starring: Robert Shaw (I), Anne Bancroft, Simon Ward, Jack Hawkins (I), Ian HolmWar | 100% |
Drama | 76% |
Biography | Insignificant |
History | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: LPCM Mono
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Richard Attenborough may understandably be best remembered in his guise as a director for Gandhi, Attenborough’s multi-Academy Award winning biographical film about one of the 20th century’s most notable individuals. Some ten years before Gandhi became a noted critical success, Attenborough had arguably a bit less of a bullseye with another film about one of the 20th century’s most notable individuals, Young Winston, a depiction of the early years of one Winston Churchill (played by Simon Ward as a young man). Sharing a somewhat staid ambience with Gandhi, Young Winston doesn’t have the same invigorating lead performance (though Ward is quite good), and it simply can’t match the same visceral quality that Gandhi offered in terms of its portrayal of a people wanting to forge their own independent identity apart from their supposed British “colonizers”. Young Winston is undeniably handsome (both its art direction and costume design received well deserved Academy Award nominations), but it’s a bit distant in attempting to provide any real emotional content.
Note: Powerhouse Films provided only a check disc for purposes of this review.
Young Winston is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Powerhouse Film's Indicator imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Since
I'm working from check discs, I'm not privy to any verbiage that might be included in the insert booklet, and Powerhouse's website mentions only that
this release sports a "high definition remaster". A lot of this transfer looks rather good, with generally consistent detail and fine detail levels and good
densities and palette suffusion. But there are some pretty wide variances on display, with some of the battle scenes looking pretty ragged at times,
with an almost dirty looking grain field that tends to be very noticeable when bright blue skies are in the frame, and a somewhat wan looking palette at
times. That said, it's probably the outdoor material here (not necessarily limited to some of the battle scenes) where the palette looks the warmest,
especially with regard to some of the primaries. Some interior scenes do have occasional oddness in the color timing, with flesh tones verging toward
purple at times. Clarity and sharpness are generally good, but again can vary, with occasional shots looking fairly soft
(it does appear that some of Bancroft's scenes may have been shot with a diffusion filter). I noticed no major age related wear and tear and no
compression anomalies.
Perhaps surprisingly this release offers only an LPCM Mono track, which admittedly was evidently how the film was screened in its 35mm exhibitions, while the 70mm screenings had six track sound, according to the IMDb. That narrowness definitely denies the film some punch in some of the big action scenes, though it suffices much better for the long dialogue scenes. Alfred Ralston's score, which adapts themes by Edward Elgar, sounds decently full bodied, but again no doubt would have benefited from the opening up and low end support it would have received from a surround track.
- Richard Attenborough: Reflections of a Director (720p; 12:40)
- Simon Ward: A National Hero Brought to Life (720p; 16:20)
- William P. Cartlidge: Camel Blues (1080p; 29:10)
- Brian Cook: Stars and Sand (1080p; 8:40)
- Vic Armstrong: My Kingdom for a Horse (1080p; 10:23)
- John Richardson: Fires in the Sky (1080p; 5:26)
- Robin Grantham: Making It Up (1080p; 3:52)
- That Yankee Lady (1080p; 00:49)
- Down with Randolph Churchill! (1080p; 00:36)
- Darling, I'm Trying (1080p; 00:27)
- No Hope At All (1080p; 2:00)
- I Had a Dream (1080p; 2:42)
Powerhouse has also included a Play All option for the above.
Probably unsurprisingly, Young Winston found its most appreciative audience in the United Kingdom, failing to really connect strongly with audiences on this side of the pond. This is a handsome, respectful production that has a lot going for it, especially in terms of Bancroft's winning performance, but it never really creates much excitement or, more importantly, emotion. Technical merits are generally good for those considering a purchase.
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