|
|
|
Life of Pi (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (9th May 2013). |
|
The Film
 ***This is a technical review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** Based on the critically acclaimed, best-selling book, Ang Lee brings one boy’s spectacular journey to the big screen in the book that was considered un-filmable. A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor--a fearsome Bengal tiger.
Video
 Life of Pi is released in the United Kingdom by Fox in the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. This particular release includes the movie in both 3D and 2D versions with the 3D using a MVC encode and the 2D using an AVC-MPEG 4 encode. To be blunt, and to get to the point quickly, both the 3D and 2D transfers are of reference quality.
When it comes to 3D, there are an awful lot of naysayers, but as a supporter of the format, I believe the naysayers just haven't had the opportunity to view a film that uses 3D wisely and really makes a big difference to the story. "Life of Pi" could be the movie that changes many minds. There are a few popouts but it's never done just for the sake of showing off the 3D capabilities, with director Ang Lee using 3D to allow an extremely immersive sense of depth throughout. The environments really pull you in, waves hitting you during storms and a real sense of being stuck out at sea during the long panning shots. The animals look superb, the tiger jumping towards you (his first appearance on the boat made me jump), the thousands of meerkats leering and jumping around and the hummingbird coming out of the screen as it flies are just some of the 3D highlights. The 2D is ever so slightly better thanks to more accurate tones which appear darker due to the 3D glasses, but both transfers suffer from no damage and are practically faultless. There is no banding, no crushing, no aliasing and no edge enhancement that is obvious. Detail is very good, from the fur of animals, to the Indian streets, and especially on people where you can even see veins in feet and every out of place strand of hair. Absolutely brilliant.
Audio
There are plenty of audio options on offer here, with disc one housing 3D and 2D options, disc two with just 2D options. They are: DISC ONE English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 German DTS 5.1 French Dolby Digital 5.1 Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 English Audio Descriptive Dolby Digital 5.1 DISC TWO English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 Castellano DTS 5.1 Hindi Dolby Digital 5.1 Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1 Russian Dolby Digital 5.1 Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Tamil Dolby Digital 5.1 Telugu Dolby Digital 5.1 Ukranian Dolby Digital 5.1 Urdu Dolby Digital 5.1 English Audio Descriptive Dolby Digital 5.1 Obviously, I viewed the film in the original English which has a 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix that can only be described as stunning. The track shows off a massive range, with each scene delicately balanced with surround and LFE use perfected to a tee. During the more uneventful scenes, the light wind still whirls, waves can still be heard and the wood of the boat creaks away. Then, when we hit a storm, or the boat sinking, it really kicks in and knocks you for six. Personal favourite moments were the growls of the tiger on the boat and the subtle echo of Pi's voice when he is in the church after being dared to drink the holy water. The track is as immersive as they come and there were no signs of any faults such as incorrect directionality, dropouts or scratches. As per the picture quality, audio is of reference quality. The following subtitles have been included: DISC ONE - English HoH, German and Spanish DISC TWO - Castellano, English HoH, Estonian, Hindi, Latvian, Lithuanian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tamil, Telugu and Ukranian
Extras
All extras on disc one are available in either 2D or 3D, whilst the extras on disc two are in 2D only. All extras are in high definition. DISC ONE The extras start off with a selection of deleted scenes: - Play All (13:16) - "Anandi's Second Dance" (1:44) - "Time to Grow Up" (2:08) - "Happy Birthday" (2:47) - "Did I Say Something Wrong?" (2:21) - "Darkness" (4:37) You can see why these scenes were essentially deleted but they aren't just dull conversation pieces like your usual deleted sxenes. The best scene here is where the tigers build up of poo is discussed, but I also enjoyed Anandi's second dance which added that little bit more to the build-up of Pi talking to her in the market. Next up, we have a couple of VFX progressions: - "Tsimtsum Sinking" (12:41) - "The Wave Tank" (2:07) 
These are eally enjoyable and interesting build-ups of the sets and the building of the scenes involved, from being extremely basic, right through the end product. Some narration would've been ideal, but I still found myself mesmerised. The final extra on the first disc is a theatrical trailer. DISC TWO The second disc kicks off with "A Filmmaker's Epic Journey" documentary: - Play All (63:28) - "Part 1" (15:02) - "Part 2" (16:13) - "Part 3" (17:44) - "Part 4" (14:27) Very informative and in-depth, this hour-plus documentary takes us on an enjoyable journey through the making of the movie and covers a huge array of subjects including the pre-production, filming, the special effects CGI work, continuity problems and the 3D, culminating in a look at the world premiere which was held at the New York Film Festival. The "A Remarkable Vision" featurette (19:35) is a closer look at the visual effects work that went into the movie. There are various interviews and soundbites included from various members of the visual effects team and director Ang Lee. "Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright" (8:35) is a fascinating featurette that shows in detail the work that went into creating Richard Parker, the tiger. We get side by side comparisons of footage of a real tiger and of the CG tiger amongst some soundbites. The rest of the extras are self-explanatory: Photo Gallery (7:23) 7 Storyboards: - Play All (12:24) - "Zoo Hospital" - "Ashram" - "Piscine Molitor" - "Floating Festival" - "Cargo Hold" - "Underwater Fantasy" - "Mexican Beach"
Overall
An excellent film on a technically superb disc. Had there been an audio commentary included, this would've received A+'s across the board. 3D score: A+
|
|||||
|