A Few Words About A few words about...™ Hidden Figures -- in 4k UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

Hidden Figures was one of my top three films from 2016. It just makes me smile.

It's a multi-faceted true story of mathematical wizards working for NASA in the early 1960s.

The kickers to the story, and there are two, are first that the wizards are women, and secondly, that they're "colored."

Being more than a bit of a liberal, I still recall discussions with my parents as we traveled through the Southern states, trying to make sense of signs denoting colored this, or colored that. That, and the chain gangs.

We've made huge strides to get to a real point of equality in the past 50 years or so, but there's still a road ahead of us.

Hidden Figures, directed by Theodore Melfi, deals with all of these attributes, while honing his film toward the technical necessities of getting astronauts into space...

and then bringing them down again, safely, to a predetermined area.

My initial exposure to the film was on DVD. I later sampled it on Blu-ray, but Fox's new 4k UHD release, with a pleasant layer of HDR, works beautifully, yielding imagery that up-rezzes a bit better than one might get from an up-rezzing BD player.

Shot on film, Hidden Figures makes a wonderful addition to a 4k library.


Image - 5

Audio - 5 (DTS-HD MA 7.1)

Pass / Fail - Pass

Highly Recommended

RAH

 

[Mark Booth]

I have the 4K version but have only watched the standard Blu-ray so far.

The thing that surprised me about this film is that nobody (and I mean NOBODY) is shown smoking cigarettes during the film. No smoking of any kind. In a film set in 1961.

Now THAT is historical inaccuracy.

Mark

 

[Robert Harris]

I have the 4K version but have only watched the standard Blu-ray so far.

The thing that surprised me about this film is that nobody (and I mean NOBODY) is shown smoking cigarettes during the film. No smoking of any kind. In a film set in 1961.

Now THAT is historical inaccuracy.

Mark

What were the smoking regs at NASA in 1961?

 

[Mark Booth]

What were the smoking regs at NASA in 1961?

I've looked at archival video of the NASA control room for the Apollo 11 mission. There were most definitely smokers in the control room and that was 1969.

Mark

 

[Mark McSherry]

I've looked at archival video of the NASA control room for the Apollo 11 mission. There were most definitely smokers in the control room and that was 1969.

And smoking was not ignored in Ron Howard's APOLLO 13---

SMOKING

• Jim and few other people have cigars at the moon walk party, but none are seen smoking them.

• Gene smokes quite a bit as things get tense.

• Many people smoke in the background of several scenes, especially in the control room.

• The Mission Control staff celebrates with cigars.

 

[David Norman]

What were the smoking regs at NASA in 1961?

Pretty much none like most places in the 60's -- most of those folks were chain smokers if you look at any of the old video and newsreels though for some reason I think you already knew the answer. Just about every military and engineer I knew from them were heavy smokers. OTOH, smoking (or not) doesn't change the story a bit other than as a red herring.

The only thing most smokers rejected more than "it's harmful for the smoker" would have been the notion that it was harmful to a bunch of objects or other people -- actually most smokers would have been more likely to claim benefits from smoking (no pun intended)

 

[Johnny Angell]

I'll admit I didn't catch the lack of smoking in the movie. After having it pointed it out to me, I still love the movie and will be getting the 4K disc.

 

[Mark Booth]

I think the lack of smoking in a film set in 1961 is a breath of fresh air! I feel bad for actors that are forced to endure smoking while movies are being made, clove cigarettes or not.

Mark

 

[PMF]

I think I heard somewhere that the new OPPO 4K player has "filters" for such presentations; and that the UHD has an Easter Egg option allowing one to chose the viewing of this film with or without smoking. I may have to do some more research, though, before I become the butt of all HTF jokes.

P.S. Looking forward to this film. I love these kinds of histories.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I think I heard somewhere that the new OPPO 4K player has "filters" for such presentations; and that the UHD has an Easter Egg option allowing one to chose the viewing of this film with or without smoking. I may have to do some more research, though, before I become the butt of all HTF jokes.

P.S. Looking forward to this film. I love these kinds of histories.

Is it April 1st again?

 

[PMF]

Is it April 1st again?

No, but we are in the first 7 Days of May; but that's another RAH review.