|
|
In Short: Tristar's excellence lives on as they provide a very solid special edition of "Immortal Beloved"
The Movie:
Gary Oldman stars in one of his very best performances as Beethoven in "Immortal Beloved". The film tells the tale of finding the "Immortal Beloved" of Beethoven's life, the one great love that he mentions in a letter. From that starting point, we are shown the events of Beethoven's life. In flashbacks, we see every aspect in this powerful, intense drama.
Oldman absolutely becomes the role, consistently intense and on the edge. Oldman brings the character to life wonderfully, showing the pain of having to have to hide his deafness to the emotion of performing and becoming one of classical music's great stars of the era.
The film provides this all in a fresh, vibrant way. The movie, like the music, has a fantasic life, a great energy to it. It's visually beautiful throughout, and has great performances from not only Oldman, but from the supporting cast. "Immortal Beloved" is a fascinating picture and one of my favorites.
The DVD
VIDEO: I've praised Tristar's work a lot during the time I've been reviewing DVD, and they've consistently deserved it. I still think that they do the best work out of any studio. "Immortal Beloved" continues their efforts of greatness quite well. Quite simply, it looks absolutely outstanding here. Tristar has provided an anamorphic transfer, letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the results of their efforts are simply goregous. Colors are deep, rich and vibrant, looking beautiful and well-saturated. Flesh tones remain accurate and natural throughout the movie. Every detail of the green trees of the forests are visible, and even dark scenes contain good detail.
There really are no flaws here, for a very smooth, "film-like" picture that I found very enjoyable and simply, a pleasure to watch. As usual, Tristar provides us with picture quality that is simply of the highest possible quality. This is really the kind of image I want to see on DVD. Throughout, "Immortal Beloved" just looks goregous. Out of all of the Tristar discs I've watched, I've only been dissapointed with one: Monty Python and The Holy Grail. One dissapointment from Tristar, but with very many other efforts from them, I've been pleased and even thrilled with the kind of quality they produce.
If you're looking for the scene at the lake under the stars, it's about 1 hour and 41 minutes into the movie.
SOUND: This is simply an experience, a goregous rendering of music and sound throughout. The viewer is absolutely immersed in the middle of it all, enveloped by the music(which sounds beautiful) and occasionally moved by a supply of deep bass, which provides a fine bit of thunder on occasion during the picture. Surrounds are used to great effect throughout the picture, with music coming from them often. Dialogue is clear and well-integrated throughout, never sounding thin. If you love Beethoven's music, you'll love this soundtrack. There is just an energy, a life to this soundtrack and this music that is so wonderful.
MENUS: I like what Tristar has done lately, making menus that are non-animated, but still stylish and easy to navigate, but here, I would have at least liked to have heard some music playing behind the menus.
EXTRAS::
Commentary: This is a commentary by director Bernard Rose, who provides a lot of very interesting facts, starting with an interesting tidbit about why the music was removed from the opening logos. He then goes on to reveal quite a bit about the various aspects of the history of Beethoven and his music. This may not always be an entertaining commentary, but Rose keeps talking about quite a number of things throughout the commentary and I found most of what he had to say quite interesting as he talks about music today, the struggles of art in Beethoven's period and quite a few other items. The concepts and beliefs that the director has about music are very strong and I think that many will find a lot to talk about and maybe even discuss with others about the views Rose discusses here.
Unfortunately, the commentary does begin to have a few more pauses as it does go on, but still, when Rose did speak, I found what he had to share very informative. I liked the commentary and recommend it.
Trailer: The trailer (which makes it look like some period action film) is included.
Featurette:: A very nicely done featurette that contains interviews with the cast and crew as well as some nice background information on the events of the picture. I found this to be an interesting addition and better than the usual featurettes. This is also longer than the usual featurettes and runs quite a few minutes.
"Beloved Beethoven": A longer and more in-depth documentary that focuses more on the history of Beethoven and the concepts of how the movie was going to be shaped around his life. Director Bernard Rose is the main focus of the interviews, but there are quite a few from other members of the cast and crew. It's really interesting to hear Oldman's comments, especially why he originally did not consider doing the role, then finally reconsidered. This is quite a great extra, running just a tiny bit over 30 minutes in length and containing some great interviews and info.
Where To Find It:
Where To Find It:
Final Thoughts: Another very fine success from Tristar. Great film and certainly a very excellent DVD. Highly recommended.
The Film: 94/A = (470/500 possible points)
Video: 96/A = (384/400 possible points)
Audio: 95/A = (380/400 possible points)
Extras: 89/B+ = (267/300 possible points)
Menus: 75/C = (150/200 possible points)
Value: 89/B+ = (267/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1918/2100
Average:91.3%/A
|
