- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
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- 18,396
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
A couple of weeks ago I was able to take a cursory look at Warren Beatty's 1981 epic Reds in HD. It is not the length of the film at 195 minutes that places it in the epic category. This is a huge, beautifully mounted production that easily defines the term for the era.
I've now found the time to re-visit the film in it's entirety and am pleased to report that Paramount has done everything correctly. On a technical basis, Reds is simply gorgeous.
To my eye, the film looks much like a new 35mm print projected on a home theater-sized screen.
Color and densities seem proper. Grain structure, which some may find course, as it is visible, is as it should be for a 1981 production. There is no finer compliment to pay an HD disc than to report that it replicates the theatrical experience.
Like the image, audio is faithfully reproduced, now in Dolby 5.1.
As a film Reds holds up perfectly, having lost none of it's power or intelligence in the intervening decades. Because of the quality that went into the production, time has been kind. Whether viewers will find interest in the leftist politics is up to the individual. I personally found the interaction of the various intellectual and political camps, inclusive of the Greenwich Village of the era fascinating. On another level, Women's Rights was taking hold, and many of the characters represented were at it's center.
Something else that shone through was Mr. Beatty's mechanism of storytelling. The personal tale of John Reed and Louise Bryant works with the story told on the huge canvas much in a way that David Lean might have handled it, and political comparisons from a different viewpoint to Dr. Zhivago are unavoidable. As a historical note, John Reed is the only American buried within the Kremlin.
The main thing is that one cares about the characters, and interrelating the historical passages with the words of the "witnesses" is both telling and in some cases a humbling experience. Hearing the words of those who were there brings the film's concept of historical epic to an even higher level.
I loved this film when it was released a quarter century ago, and it holds up perfectly today.
Reds is brilliant filmmaking, especially with Mr. Beatty wearing multiple hats, and as a High Definition DVD, it seems not to matter whether one selects a Red or a Blue.
In this case both are politically correct.
Reds come Very Highly Recommended. If you have not experienced this film, do not allow the chance to pass you by.
RAH
I've now found the time to re-visit the film in it's entirety and am pleased to report that Paramount has done everything correctly. On a technical basis, Reds is simply gorgeous.
To my eye, the film looks much like a new 35mm print projected on a home theater-sized screen.
Color and densities seem proper. Grain structure, which some may find course, as it is visible, is as it should be for a 1981 production. There is no finer compliment to pay an HD disc than to report that it replicates the theatrical experience.
Like the image, audio is faithfully reproduced, now in Dolby 5.1.
As a film Reds holds up perfectly, having lost none of it's power or intelligence in the intervening decades. Because of the quality that went into the production, time has been kind. Whether viewers will find interest in the leftist politics is up to the individual. I personally found the interaction of the various intellectual and political camps, inclusive of the Greenwich Village of the era fascinating. On another level, Women's Rights was taking hold, and many of the characters represented were at it's center.
Something else that shone through was Mr. Beatty's mechanism of storytelling. The personal tale of John Reed and Louise Bryant works with the story told on the huge canvas much in a way that David Lean might have handled it, and political comparisons from a different viewpoint to Dr. Zhivago are unavoidable. As a historical note, John Reed is the only American buried within the Kremlin.
The main thing is that one cares about the characters, and interrelating the historical passages with the words of the "witnesses" is both telling and in some cases a humbling experience. Hearing the words of those who were there brings the film's concept of historical epic to an even higher level.
I loved this film when it was released a quarter century ago, and it holds up perfectly today.
Reds is brilliant filmmaking, especially with Mr. Beatty wearing multiple hats, and as a High Definition DVD, it seems not to matter whether one selects a Red or a Blue.
In this case both are politically correct.
Reds come Very Highly Recommended. If you have not experienced this film, do not allow the chance to pass you by.
RAH
