Blu-ray Review HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: Gattaca (1 Viewer)

[Kevin EK]

Blu-ray Disc REVIEW

 

[JonZ]

Thanks for the review. This is a must have.

 

[Craig Beam]

Hell yes. Can't wait!

 

[Paul Arnette]

I appreciate the review, but, for whatever reason, this film immediately clicked for me. I never felt overburden by the backstory, and this is simply one film that always makes me feel great after having watched it like I could accomplish anything. I guess it truly did "touch me in spite of itself".

Anyway, this is one of my favorites, and, while I was disappointed that it wasn't released way back in Blu-ray Disc's beginnings, I think it will be worth the wait based on the video score and additional supplemental features added.

 

[Ron Reda]

Definitely picking this one up. For some reason, the story has always stuck with me and in this day and age, seems very relevant.

 

[DaveF]

Is the audio given a 3/5 because it's a mediocre presentation or because artistically it's not flashy enough? That is, do only big, loud action movies get a 4 or 5 for audio, or is there something lacking in the Blu-Ray presentation of Gattaca's soft soundtrack?

 

[Kevin EK]

Dave, I struggled with that. Yes, it's a softer soundtrack. I wasn't sure how to phrase that without it coming across as an insult that I didn't intend.

The reason I didn't go higher on the scale was simply that the there wasn't enough to the mix for me to do so. It's not a matter of needing to hear explosions or jet blasts for me; it's that the surrounds and the subwoofer were simply not that present here. The subwoofer does kick in a little at the beginning and the ending of the film, but that's about it. I feel that the 3 is not a denigration of the sound - it's a perfectly good soundtrack, just not that active of one.

 

[Travis Brashear]

I see how this is gonna go...I'm going to have to keep hundreds of Columbia/Tri-Star/Sony SD-DVDs along with the new Blu-ray counterparts just so I can keep the f-ing trailer for the movie proper. Great...so much for slimmer Blu-ray cases saving me storage space...

I wonder if these studios that have been scaling back trailer inclusions would consider slapping about 3-4 hours' worth of them on a Blu-ray and selling that?

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Looking forward to picking this up.

 

[ChrisCAB]

This is a favorite.

One question - does the lack of a DD 5.1 English mix mean that if I won't be able to listen to this one in surround sound (I connect blu-ray to preamp via coax)? I recall this happening with Across the Universe which caused me to watch it in Portugeuse (I don't speak it) and skip to the songs. Incidentally, I hated that movie.

 

[Seppo]

If I'm not mistaken the Dolby TrueHD track contains a regular DD 5.1 "core" mix as well (either 448 or 640 kbps).

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Chris, *ALL* Dolby TrueHD tracks on Blu-ray contain a core (old fashioned) Dolby digital stream for using over coax. That was the case with Across the Universe as well (in fact, selecting the TrueHD stream should have automatically routed that core Dolby stream to your SPDIF output, though some players will send the lossless decoded stream out in 2.0 PCM form if you have "PCM" enabled instead of "bitstream" for your SPDIF output). Incidentally, I loved the movie.

 

[Jason_V]

Never seen Gattaca and I've always wanted to. Picking it up on Tuesday.

 

[Kevin EK]

The Dolby True HD channels do contain a core Dolby Digital signal. What's weird on this disc is that the French and Portuguese tracks are at a bitrate of 640kbps, but the English track is at 448kbps. But you will get a surround signal from it.

 

[Carlo_M]

Well this will be the third time I'm buying this movie. One of my favorites, and definitely put Jude Law on the map for me as a quality actor.

 

[ChrisCAB]

That's strange - maybe it's a quirk in my processor or the disc was defective, but I could not get a 5.1 signal no matter what I did. That was the only time that happened.

Glad you liked the movie (Across the Universe) - I should have known I'd hate it (my wife's idea to watch it) as I can count on one hand the number of times a Beatles song has been redone well (e.g. Aerosmith and Earth Wind & Fire).

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I'm looking forward to getting this also.

Thanks for the review.

_Man_

 

[Edwin-S]

So why does the video only rate 4 out of 5? Your review does not specify a problem with the video.

 

[Kevin EK]

It's not that anything was wrong with the video. I have only rarely given a 5 out of 5 as I feel it's the equivalent of an A++. (I believe I gave that number for 2001 on HD-DVD, and for Dreamgirls on Blu-ray.) So it's not that anything is wrong with the picture, but for me to give the highest rating, I need to see it "go to eleven."

 

[Richard Travale]

I'll be waiting in line for this one.