kal
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| Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2014 5:26 pm Post subject: All That Jazz [Blu-ray] |
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All That Jazz (Blu-ray + DVD)
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| Quote: | Bob Fosse's 'All That Jazz' is an innovative, subversive, and deeply personal masterpiece. By commenting on his own life and flaws, the director creates a dazzling self-referential journey into song and dance, once again re-writing the rules of Hollywood musicals. The video transfer is simply stunning, and the audio mix is very strong. Criterion has packed the disc with tons of 5-star worthy supplements, giving the movie the special feature treatment it deserves. This is an absolutely stellar presentation for an incredible film, resulting in one of the strongest releases of the year so far. Must own.
The Video: Sizing Up the Picture
The movie is provided with a 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 transfer in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Richly filmic and free of any unnecessary processing, this is a gorgeous and virtually flawless transfer.
The source print is in nearly pristine shape and features a moderate layer of natural film grain, giving the picture a rich sheen of texture. Detail is very strong, highlighting lots of fine details in the actors, costumes, and sets. Scheider's sweaty, sickly face is especially striking, and the third act musical numbers sparkle off the screen. With that said, the fantasy scenes often feature an intentionally soft and diffuse style. The overall color palette veers toward a slightly undersaturated look, but certain sequences offer solid pop, especially the climactic dance scenes cast in colorful lights. Contrast is well balanced and black levels are deep and inky. On that note, however, dark hues can look a tad crushed in certain shots. Thankfully, there are no digital artifacts to report.
'All That Jazz' is bursting with visual style, and this Blu-ray from Criterion offers an exceptional video presentation. Sourced from a new 4K restoration by 20th Century Fox and the Academy Film Archive, the transfer is beautifully detailed and authentic, giving the movie the top-tier treatment it deserves.
The Audio: Rating the Sound
The film is presented with an English DTS-HD MA 3.0 mix and optional English subtitles. Though very center channel heavy, the audio still carries a surprisingly solid presence and opens up nicely during certain musical scenes.
Dialogue is clear and precise and there are no age-related issues to speak of. The majority of the audio is relegated to the center speaker, but the design work is very effective and spacious considering the lack of surrounds. True directionality is rare, but Fosse uses isolated sounds to enhance the story, mood, and emotions of scenes, and these instances come through very well. While much of the track is essentially mono in nature, several musical numbers do expand to the left and right channels as well, and these scenes offer great stereo separation, range, and fidelity, opening up the scope of the track nicely. Balance is handled well between all of the audio elements and there's even some decent low frequency kick during some of the songs.
Outside of the musical numbers, the 3.0 presentation is mostly mono in nature, but the mix is artistically and technically strong. There are no pops, crackles, or hisses, and the songs sound fantastic. |
Kal
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