BLACK ROBE (1 Viewer)

Black Robe is available from Australian distributors selling directly or on EBay advertised as Region-Free. For those without a Region-free Blu-ray player I haven't read where the Region-free status has been verified. Buyer beware. This is a really good movie of a Jesuit priest traveling in 17 century Northern Quebec to a remote mission. I want to buy the Blu-ray but I am concerned because the running time is reported at 96 minutes. The running time for the DVD is 101 minutes.

Does anyone own this Blu-ray and can they confirm whether or not the movie has been edited to delete some of the violence and sex scenes? That would be disappointing studios normally add additional violence/sex that wasn't in the theatrical version to increase sales.

That time difference is about what it would be if it had been converted to PAL. There could be speed issues with the audio (higher in pitch than it should be).

The seller of it I found on Ebay and Amazon (only one guy has it both places) is a good seller. Overpriced, but good. Shoot him an Ebay question and ask.

Excellent film that definitely counter balances the ridiculously cuddly native Americans in DANCES WITH WOLVES.

True that about DwW being overly cuddly.I do have BR, but mine is a DVD from Germany( I think...regardless it is Europe something)

I'd buy BLACK ROBE (1991) on blu-ray in a heartbeat. One of the finest historical films ever made about early America. The film is neither juvenile nor simplistic. It has historical intelligence. It rises so far above the good guy / bad guy stereotypes it isn't funny. It was a sleeper at the box-office but everyone that saw it was mighty impressed. It played in theaters at about the same time as Michael Mann's THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS (1992).

The DVD transfer is from 1998. It looks okay, but it's time to make a new one.

I have the disc -- it is region free, but it is 1080i50, meaning it's only going to work on a Blu-Ray player that can also output PAL. On my Oppo it works perfectly, but on my Sony it just plays with a black screen. I would see if your Blu-Ray player can play PAL content before importing.

It's also uncut, but is time compressed since it's coming from a PAL source.

Thank you Newbie I have 4 Region-Free Blu-ray players and the all play 1080i/50. As far as I can remember the only 1080i/50 Blu-ray I own is Strike Back which I purchased from Amazon.uk. I will buy Black Robe today through EBay.

You got it Ernest

Andy

I assign this film quite frequently and would love a copy on Blu-ray, but I will wait for a North American one as I don't have a PAL capable player.

Received the Blu-ray of "The Black Robe" and it is a very big improvement over the DVD I compared it with. The pictures has much more depth and detail which really shows in this period piece. The subtitles are now in white not the yellow color used for the DVD. There is one very important item that deals with the video. The Blu-ray is Region-Free but the video is 1080i/50 the international standard for HD interlaced video. The North American standard is 1080i/60.

The video is a serious issue because I don't know if any Blu-ray players designated for Region "A" can convert 1080i/50 to 1080P. Only multi system TV's can display a 1080i/50 signal . I own Momitsu and Toshiba Region-Free Blu-ray players and both were able to up convert the 1080i/50 to 1080P/24.

Video: 1080i/50
Audio: Dolby Stereo 2.0
Region-Code: Region-Free
Subtitles: None

In conclusion this is an excellent Blu-ray of a very good movie. The Blu-ray is a little pricey but then again no more than what you pay for a Criterion or Twilight Blu-ray. If you do not own a Region-Free Blu-ray player I would wait for the U.S. release.