Blu-ray Review Murder by Decree Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

Bob Clark’s Murder by Decree brings a first-rate tale of Victorian England murder and mayhem into the realm of Sherlock Holmes in a crackerjack movie that mines the best of its real and the fictional worlds.



Murder by Decree (1979)



Released: 09 Feb 1979
Rated: PG
Runtime: 124 min




Director: Bob Clark
Genre: Mystery, Thriller



Cast: Christopher Plummer, James Mason, David Hemmings, Susan Clark
Writer(s): Arthur Conan Doyle (characters), John Hopkins (screenplay), Elwyn Jones (author), Stephen Knight (book), John Lloyd (author)



Plot: Sherlock Holmes investigates the murders commited by Jack the Ripper and discovers a conspiracy to protect the killer.



IMDB rating: 6.9
MetaScore: N/A





Disc Information



Studio: Studio Canal...

Continue reading...

 

[Will Krupp]

Thanks, Matt! Mine's on the way from the Kino sale (in what I call the "July" box) and I'm really looking forward to it!

 

[Keith Cobby]

Thanks for the review. Wonderful, atmospheric film with great portrayals of Holmes and Watson by Christopher Plummer and James Mason. My favourite H & W after the peerless Rathbone/Bruce.

 

[Darby67]

Thank you for the excellent review, Mattt. I look forward to purchasing this title in the near future.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Thank you for your fine review. I haven't seen this movie in its entirety. At least, I don't remember seeing it. Anyhow, I did pre-ordered it during Target's latest "Buy 2, Get 1 Free" sales. Looking forward to watching it.

 

[Hank E]

Uh.... some controversy over on BR which reports this is an older scan incorrectly timed and graded, one person's post:

"Kino Lorber's transfer ruins the film. Gone are the inky blacks, deep-shadows, and lamp-lit
pools of light in the fog. In fact, the contrast is boosted so high, gone is the fog. The sense
of danger lurking around every corner, the mystery of what might be hiding in the darkened
doorways and alleyways of White Chapel, has been obliterated. There is so much light now
there are no darkened doorways, and the alleyways no longer drop off into darkness. I
haven't stuck up for a film in a long time, but this transfer is so completely wrong, and done
with such a total lack of understanding, someone must stick up for MURDER BY DECREE.

To see the film the way director Bob Clark and cameraman Reginald H. Morris intended,
watch the old Anchor Bay DVD. It may not be in 1080p, but it accurately represents the
film insofar as a DVD can, and it's the exact the same scan that Kino Lorber botched.
The Anchor Bay DVD is the MURDER BY DECREE that you want to own"

 

[Matt Hough]

Everyone is entitled to his opinion, but I find those comments on the video quality completely overboard. Missing fog? Obliterated mystery? I found neither to be true on my OLED.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Continue reading...

I watched the movie today. Which audio commentary do you recommend as I'm not going to listen to them both?

 

[Matt Hough]

I watched the movie today. Which audio commentary do you recommend as I'm not going to listen to them both?

Bob Clark

 

[CinemaCynic]

Uh.... some controversy over on BR which reports this is an older scan incorrectly timed and graded, one person's post:

"Kino Lorber's transfer ruins the film. Gone are the inky blacks, deep-shadows, and lamp-lit
pools of light in the fog. In fact, the contrast is boosted so high, gone is the fog. The sense
of danger lurking around every corner, the mystery of what might be hiding in the darkened
doorways and alleyways of White Chapel, has been obliterated. There is so much light now
there are no darkened doorways, and the alleyways no longer drop off into darkness. I
haven't stuck up for a film in a long time, but this transfer is so completely wrong, and done
with such a total lack of understanding, someone must stick up for MURDER BY DECREE.

Just to add another view, the film looks more or less as I remember it theatrically. It is shot with a lot of on set atmosphere, which can dissipate and renders some scenes inconsistent from shot to shot in terms of diffusion. Furthermore the DP also used a lot of diffusive and softening filters in most scenes (but not all) so there's a bit of an inconsistency of look that's baked into the film. I was hoping for the new transfer to reveal some hidden gems of color or detail, and it does in some scenes, but this is a film whose gauzy look is more or less baked into its negative. I don't know what the review above had in terms of settings for his monitor but there are no scenes lacking fog or darkness. It is not, for example, a washed out nightmare like Kino's 'Private Life of Sherlock Holmes' release was.

 

[Reed Grele]

Watched it last night. The film still holds up, and the transfer looked fine. "You squashed my pea" has never looked or sounded better imho.

 

[Matt Hough]

Watched it last night. The film still holds up, and the transfer looked fine. "You squashed my pea" has never looked or sounded better imho.

As many times as I have seen this movie, that scene never ceases to make me laugh.

 

[Worth]

Had a quick look at the disc over the weekend and I think it's maybe a little too bright, but fine overall. I did see this when it came out, but I was ten years old, so I won't pretend to remember exactly what it should look like.

 

[Will Krupp]

Thanks, Matt! Mine's on the way from the Kino sale (in what I call the "July" box) and I'm really looking forward to it!

Turns out I had it wrong and it's NOT coming in the "July" box. That one has items that aren't going to be available until almost the end of the month and I guess I didn't want to wait. I had ordered it on it's own from Amazon and it came last week. It's still sitting here unopened but I hope to get the chance to look at it tonight!

 

[Stephen_J_H]

DOP Reginald H. Morris worked as a cameraman for the venerable Geoffrey Unsworth, and this film has the haze and soft focus that Unsworth is known for, which works well with the period.

 

[Matt Hough]

Turns out I had it wrong and it's NOT coming in the "July" box. That one has items that aren't going to be available until almost the end of the month and I guess I didn't want to wait. I had ordered it on it's own from Amazon and it came last week. It's still sitting here unopened but I hope to get the chance to look at it tonight!

Let us all know what you think once you've seen it please!

 

[Bartman]

Uh.... some controversy over on BR which reports this is an older scan incorrectly timed and graded, one person's post:

"Kino Lorber's transfer ruins the film. Gone are the inky blacks, deep-shadows, and lamp-lit
pools of light in the fog. In fact, the contrast is boosted so high, gone is the fog. The sense
of danger lurking around every corner, the mystery of what might be hiding in the darkened
doorways and alleyways of White Chapel, has been obliterated. There is so much light now
there are no darkened doorways, and the alleyways no longer drop off into darkness. I
haven't stuck up for a film in a long time, but this transfer is so completely wrong, and done
with such a total lack of understanding, someone must stick up for MURDER BY DECREE.

To see the film the way director Bob Clark and cameraman Reginald H. Morris intended,
watch the old Anchor Bay DVD. It may not be in 1080p, but it accurately represents the
film insofar as a DVD can, and it's the exact the same scan that Kino Lorber botched.
The Anchor Bay DVD is the MURDER BY DECREE that you want to own"

If this person viewed this on a poorly calibrated LCD TV, the lack of TV contrast will exacerbate the brightened image. If this person is viewing on the best plasma or OLED TV, they may simply be reacting to the brightened image. I have no horse in this race, as I havn't seen Murder By Decree in 40 years but I have the Anchor Bay DVD coming from Netflix. I'm partial to the Rathbone/Bruce SH movies and the Caine Ripper (I have the U.K. Blu-ray) so here's hoping for the best.

 

[Bartman]

If this person viewed this on a poorly calibrated LCD TV, the lack of TV contrast will exacerbate the brightened image. If this person is viewing on the best plasma or OLED TV, they may simply be reacting to the brightened image. I have no horse in this race, as I havn't seen Murder By Decree in 40 years but I have the Anchor Bay DVD coming from Netflix. I'm partial to the Rathbone/Bruce SH movies and the Caine Ripper (I have the U.K. Blu-ray) so here's hoping for the best.

The Anchor-Bay/Starz/Artisan/Lionsgate Murder By Decree arrived from Netflix and it has an excellent transfer, a transfer that complements the movie and subject matter, a wonderful achievement by Anchor-Bay, highly recommended. The only thing that prevents me from purchasing it, is the lack of subtitles, I'm hard of hearing, so I'll wait for a KL sale to order the Blu-ray.

 

[Christian D66]

The soft diffuse look is a staple of Clark's work, especially present in A CHRISTMAS STORY. I can always tell a Bob Clark film by the titles, diffusion and his auteur move: a scene where a character or characters laugh uncontrollably (in almost every film including here and BLACK CHRISTMAS).

I like this film a lot but think THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES has a superior cast and script -- and given the Holmes revival, why is a restored 4k not out on Criterion or Arrow or....

 

[Will Krupp]

I like this film a lot but think THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES has a superior cast and script -- and given the Holmes revival, why is a restored 4k not out on Criterion or Arrow or....

For what it's worth, the British 'Masters of Cinema' disc (Region B) from Eureka! is very good and much better than the Kino release here in the states.