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A Few Words About A few words about...™ Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles - in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

Robert Harris

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Throughout the history of the cinema, vampires have generally been treated as something unclean -- not someone or something one would bring home to dinner to meet the family.

Interview with the Vampire, based upon Anne Rice's work, turns the tables on that ethic and allows us to see the life of a vampire from the inside -- and it appears that it isn't all bad.

The 1994 production based upon Ms. Rice's tome, as directed by Neil Jordan and photographed by Philippe Rousselot, is wonderful filmmaking, beautifully cast and acted, and now finally brought to Blu-ray in all its glory.

One needs to understand, however, that this is a low-key film, darkly lit in the majority scenes, with shadows that constantly come into play.

The Blu-ray disc itself is gorgeous, needle sharp, with full grain and a lush color scale. While the audio is rich and full, it appears that this may have been a master prepared before the changeover to full lossless. Will 99% of the viewing audience be able to hear a difference? Extremely doubtful.

The only negative is an odd and very short intro, that really isn't an intro -- by Mr. Jordan and Ms. Rice -- along with some shots from the film in standard definition. I found it unnecessary and visually annoying.

With that exception, I'm thrilled to be adding Interview with the Vampire to my Blu-ray library.

Highly recommended.

RAH
 

troy evans

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This is one of my favorite films. Sometimes you don't know what to expect from catalog BD titles. Warner seems to be stepping up to the plate and knocking them out in regards to PQ at least. After reading your review, it makes my purchase that much easier. Thank You Mr. Harris.
 

troy evans

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Looks that way. Why certain titles get it and many others don't is beyond me. I'm still buying it. :D
 

MarekM

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yes you are right, but I have DVD with DTS !!!!!
htf_images_smilies_smile.gif


so it's quite ironic that DVD have better track then blu-ray hmm

Marek
 

troy evans

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You have to remember that on sd dvd the DD is at 440 bitrate and on Blu it's at around 640 kbps. So the Blu will sound better than the sd dvds DD. It won't be as good as a true lossless track, however. As far as whether it will beat the DTS track that's currently on the sd dvd release, I don't know.
 

Matt Hough

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I saw INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE on HBO-HD some weeks ago, and it looked just wonderful. I'm sure the Blu-ray will be even more appealing.
 

Andrew Bunk

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Matt,

Do you mean Showtime HD? I saw it on Showtime recently - don't remember seeing it on HBO's schedule.

Anyway, I thought it looked pretty good too.

I've seen several complaints already regarding softness on other forums, but I suspect this is indeed due to the style of the film. Still looking forward to this despite the lack of TrueHD.
 

Matt Hough

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It probably was Showtime instead of HBO. I have both and just didn't pay attention which one it was.
 

Cees Alons

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:laugh:
Nor accompany them to their home "for dinner", I guess.


Thanks for this very insightful review. Added to my pre-order list!


Cees
 

Michael Reuben

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Late to the party, but I finally got to this in my pile, and the image is truly stunning. I haven't seen so much detail, since, well, the theater in 1994. Another great recommendation from RAH.

I too have seen the hi-def cable broadcast, and the Blu-ray is superior. The difference is not subtle.
 

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