HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: Master and Commander

Michael Osadciw · 05-08-2008, 06:50 PM

Blu-ray Disc Review

MASTER AND COMMANDER
The Far Side of the World

Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Original Release: 2003
Length: 138 min
Genre: Action/Adventure/Drama/War
Film Rating: PG-13

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Colour/B&W: Colour

BD Specifications:
Resolution: 1080/24p
Video Codec: AVC @ 25MBPS
Disc Size: BD-50

Audio:

English DTS-Master Audio 5.1 Surround

Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround

French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround

Subtitles: English, Spanish, Cantonese, Korean

Release Date: May 13, 2008.

Film Rating: /

Starring: Russell Crowe (Capt. Jack Aubrey), Paul Bettany (Dr. Stephen Maturin, Surgeon)

Written by: Peter Weir & John Collee
Directed by: Peter Weir

The Courage To Do The Impossible Lies In The Hearts of Men.

Set during the time of Napoleon, the ship of Captain “Lucky” Jack Aubrey is massively attacked by a much quicker and better equipped French warship in the waters off of South America. Needing extensive repair, Aubrey and his crew spend the time fixing it up while set in sail and encounter challenges of the relentless ocean. The story takes the time to develop the characters that are tightly crammed in this ship; it’s a long journey around South America where Aubrey takes his mission. He’s stalking this French ship as a matter of duty; or is he stalking it out of pride? Aubrey is challenged to choose between his duty as Captain and his long time friendship with the Doctor who sees Aubrey’s mission as having lost sight. After a stop around the Galapagos Islands, it is learned that evolution can happen in many different ways, including the strategies of war and friendship.

Master and Commander was nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture. It’s worth checking out if you haven’t seen it yet.

VIDEO QUALITY: 4/5

The 2.35:1 image is nicely detailed and offers a neutral range of colours making it both calming and pleasing to the eye. What is noticeable about this film is that the colour tones stay consistent from scene to scene with virtually no anomalies. What I did notice was a lot of silhouette imagery – foreground images were darkened from the brighter backgrounds. It was sometimes difficult to see what was happening during these shots, but in contrast to that comment, shadow detail seemed good for the remainder of the film. I was expecting a bit more resolution to be cranked out of this transfer, but the quality is also on par with other Fox catalogue titles. They all seem to have a particular “look” to them…maybe it’s the equipment they use for their transfers that adds its own visual signature to the final product, but it’s something that’s not describable, but rather a subconscious feeling. Whatever it is, it doesn’t put Fox as the top ranking for best looking catalogue releases. They are respectable, but not exemplary. In the end resolution is good and much better than DVD, but a bit gritty – and not the natural film grain grittiness because I like that. It’s something else in the image that feels a subtly hazed and restricting. It’s noticeable on big screens but I’m sure on smaller HD sets the effect is not noticeable.

AUDIO QUALITY: 5/5

I am very impressed with the audio of this film. The movie is five years old and blows away soundtracks today. This was one of those titles I’ve been holding out on to watch just to make sure that I got the best experience possible. That was during the day of DVD. I never did get around to the DVD so it was unintentional that watching this for the first time was in HD and with a DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. The soundtrack delivers and impressively three-dimensional sound space with just the right amount of ambience applied to the sound effects. The creaking of the ship and the feeling that wood is bending all around you is constant in this film. But it’s not just that I gush about, it’s the integration of it and the space created around those sounds so they don’t sound dry and unprocessed. Artificial ambience is good if done correctly. Even the thick ‘thump-thumping’ of running footsteps on the upper deck sounds convincingly real and feels as if there is a dimension of height added to the mix. Dialogue sounds good and intelligible and the EQ of the soundtrack sounds acceptable to not be irritating to the ears. Bass in all channels is engaging, and the LFE hammers with the shot of cannons. This is demo-worthy material and a great movie too.

TACTILE FUN!! /
TACTILE TRANSDUCER ON/OFF?: ON

The LFE is integrated nicely in the mix. The main channels handle most of the bass, but when LFE support is needed, it’s not too aggressive and adds a bit more ummph to the soundtrack. The transducer assists with the experience even more.

SPECIAL FEATURES: 1.5/5

The documentary and featurettes of the DVD Collector’s Edition released in 2004 are missing from this release (yes, I do expect them to be transferred to BD. I think it’s the consumer expectation rule of thumb that if it’s been released on DVD, it should be on BD – exceptions only to the super duper mega box releases). So, the one feature that did carry over is the deleted scenes (24:20). They are not HD, in fact they seem to have a few video artefacts affecting them, but they do fill the full 1.78:1 screen with the 2.35:1 image. They aren’t bad scenes either; Weighing the Anchor is extended boat shots and adds some character in the voyage, then there is a ten minute segment on ship life and that was a treat to see, but it would slow the film down considerably if left in. Also included are nice pieces on the superstition, dentistry, articles of war, and the Galapagos gathering of animals.

New to both formats is the pop up map which when activated, it shows the travels of the ship along the coast of South America up to the Galapagos. There is also a historic and geographic trivia track. These are two special features that I don’t mind activating…they are interesting to me because it’s more my cup of tea. I’m a fact guy, so reading out of a textbook excites me.

The theatrical trailer is 1.85:1 and doesn’t look like HD resolution. Other HD trailers on this disc are The Day After Tomorrow, Eragon, and Kingdom of Heaven. This title is also D-Box motion coded for those early adopters taking advantage of the technology.

IN THE END...

Master and Commander is a well written and produced film that is a pleasure to watch. The picture quality is on par with other Fox catalogue titles filmed over the past few years and the sound design is splendid. There’s an improvement going with an HD release, but I’ll bet my money that some readers who have the DVD sets may be a bit hesitant with replacing just yet.

Michael Osadciw
May 08, 2008.

Review System

Paul Hillenbrand · 05-08-2008, 06:58 PM

Thanks Michael for the review.

Been waiting for this one for quite awhile now. Never purchased the DVD.

Am excited about the lossless sound track an good quality HD video!

Paul

Joseph J.D · 05-08-2008, 08:21 PM

Good Review Michael. As one who has the excellent special edition DVD release, I will not be buying this release on BD. I will definitely be waiting for the expected double-dip on this title with ALL the extras. FOX really should be ashamed of themselves for blatantly doing this with almost every catalog title that they release....thanks FOX for saving me more money so that I can buy more fully realized special edition releases from other studios such as Disney and Warner.

Carlo Medina · 05-08-2008, 09:03 PM

No way, this one is actually coming out?!?!?!?!? After months (or was it years?) of vaporware it's finally here?!?!?!

I'll most likely pick this up since it seems the A/V is up to snuff. After a year and a half of BD buying, I've realized that "not porting over all the DVD extras" for DVDs I already own is not a dealbreaker for me. 99.9% of the time even if they port extras from DVD it's not in 1080p. If it were, that would be a different story. Since I already own M&C the "ultimate edition" package, that will serve as my "extras" discs to the Blu Ray.

Mike Frezon · 05-08-2008, 09:11 PM

This is an absolute fave. The SD-DVD audio was incredibly impressive...especially the DTS track on the CE. It will be amazing to see if the HD SQ can be all that much better (especially on my middlin' system). But I am going to enjoy finding out!

Hope there are good release week prices on this. Or else, I wait.

So, Michael...you never watched Master & Commander on SD-DVD (and subsequently don't have any way to compare the PQ or SQ of the BD with the SD? I would have loved to hear what you thought about that.

BTW, the release date should be May 13, 2008.

**HTF Ads**

Mark Cappelletty · 05-08-2008, 09:13 PM

As someone who just got a combo player and would LOVE to add this and KINGDOM OF HEAVEN to my library, I'm so irrirated by Fox's awful hi-def strategy of high list price/little content that I'm holding off. Same goes for PREDATOR, INDEPENDENCE DAY, the list goes on...

Chris S · 05-08-2008, 11:45 PM

Thanks for the review! Given the lack of extras (no surprise) and the high retail price (again no surprise) I'll wait for a decent sale before picking this one up, but I'll throw it on my Netflix queue in the meantime.

BTW, can anyone find this listed on Amazon? I still can't find it which is strange. Maybe they got tired of relisting it.

Christian P · 05-09-2008, 02:34 AM

Meh, no extras no sale!