A Few Words About A few words about...™ The English Patient -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

Anthony Minghella's 1996 Academy Award winning The English Patient is among the latest group of productions to finally make its way to the Blu-ray platform.

This is a beautifully constructed film, that delivers on every level.

For those who haven't previously been exposed to it, the less research you do, the better. Certainly stay away from reviews that discuss the story-line.

From what I'm seeing, it appears to have been captured from an interpositive, which yields decent grain structure, with beautiful color, densities, etc. While this does not appear to be a new harvest, one can scarcely argue for the price of admission. It more than gets the job done.

In that same light, I must admit, that $12.99, currently on Amazon, I was prepared to come away unimpressed, but in this case inexpensive does not relate to cheap. Rather, it's one of the great current bargains of Blu-ray.

While it doesn't appear to be a new 4k image harvest, it's quite fine for Blu-ray, and especially as a film is...

Highly Recommended.

RAH

 

[Walter Kittel]

Anyone familiar with my posts on the subject of The English Patient knows that I am a huge fan of this film.
I sampled the new release this weekend and was quite pleased with the image. I did not do a direct comparison to the Alliance release imported from Canada a few years ago, but if believe that the color performance is improved on this release (in terms of saturation and vividness). If you are a fan of the film then I would suggest an upgrade to the current release regardless of what prior versions you possess.
- Walter.

 

[Dave H]

Thanks, I've never seen it - will have to check it out.

 

[TonyBouchard]

I own both the Alliance and German blu-rays of The English Patient. The new disc is clearly superior to both of the earlier ones. The Alliance disc has undersaturated colors and shows heavy grain and print damage at times - it looks kind of like watching an old, faded print in a 99 cent theater. The German disc is better in some ways but suffers from edge enhancement and digital noise. The upgrade is definitely worth it.

 

[nealg]

$7.99 at Best Buy this week.
EDIT: Amazon also $7.99 right now.

 

[Vegas 1]

While I never picked this up on SDDVD I do have The English Patient on DTS LD & Criterion LD. An upgrade to BR on this film is in order as this is a favorite of mine.

 

[Felix Martinez]

Just saw it this weekend on my FP setup and on my 92in screen it looked FANTASTIC. The audio is also stunning. Big fan of the film and I'm very happy with this release. And at the current price point, it's a No Brainer, which might even be a notch to the right of Highly Recommended...

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Sounds great. Haven't gotten around to revisiting this one in a very long time. Thanks, RAH.


BTW, the bottom has really dropped on its pricing (along w/ a few other recent Miramax/Lionsgate releases) as it's down to just $7.99(!) at both Amazon and Best Buy.


Cheers!

_Man_

 

[Dave H]

Just grabbed it at Best Buy for $7.99.

 

[mark brown]

Stay away especially from the "infamous" Seinfeld episode...

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Originally Posted by mark brown /t/318460/a-few-words-about-the-english-patient-in-blu-ray#post_3898311
Stay away especially from the "infamous" Seinfeld episode...

Elaine was right!

 

[benbess]

Watched this film tonight for the first time in about ten years. It's an impressive movie on many levels. Well worth the low price it's available for now. It's amazing that you can buy what is almost the equivalent of a 35mm print of this and many other films for not much more than the price of one theater ticket.

 

[benbess]

Anyone familiar with my posts on the subject of The English Patient knows that I am a huge fan of this film.
I sampled the new release this weekend and was quite pleased with the image. I did not do a direct comparison to the Alliance release imported from Canada a few years ago, but if believe that the color performance is improved on this release (in terms of saturation and vividness). If you are a fan of the film then I would suggest an upgrade to the current release regardless of what prior versions you possess.
- Walter.

Walter Kittel: I'd be interested in reading a few of your posts on this remarkable film if by any chance you can help me find them....Thanks in advance.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Ben - It has been awhile since I posted on this topic. There was a really nice thread about the film from the "old days" of HTF that may have been carried over when the site transitioned to the new software. Let me dig around a little this morning and if I find anything I'll post to this thread. My admiration for this film is pretty unbounded. I really love the elliptical nature of the film's storyline as the puzzle of the love affair is slowly made whole to the viewer.
I think it is just about time for a another viewing of the subject of this thread.
- Walter.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Found David Boulet's Review thread of the CE version from 2004, but not the appreciation thread.
HTF Review The English Patient 2 disc Special Eedition
I think the archive threads stop at 2001, and most of the film content comments pre-date that when the film first hit DVD in late 1999 or early 2000.
- Walter.

 

[TonyD]

I think every post in that review is a double post.
btw I loved DaVid's reviews, some of the best this site has published.

 

[Dave H]

I still need to watch this - I bought it back in Feb for the sales price at the time - still sealed and sitting on my shelf.

 

[KeithDA]

Here we are over 13 years on and, having watched the Blu again last night, I think it's time for a 4K release of this, if not a 4K box set of ALL of Anthony Mingella's films. Intelligent, well crafted and beautiful to look at.

 

[Konstantinos]

I still haven't bought this, though I love the film, for 2 reasons:
- I can't stand the awful cover (I know, it's the film that counts)
- I'm waiting too for a 4k release.

 

[Alan Tully]

I remember that Seinfeld episode, & would have sided with Elaine, it's not my kind of film at all, but then it was on TV, so I watched it & nearly gave up after 20 minutes, but I stuck with it, & I dunno, it worked it's magic, I then bought the Blu-ray & have watched it a couple of times. I'd buy a 4K, but I think the Blu-ray does look very good.

I'm totally with Seinfeld on their Schindler's List episode.