kal
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Joined: 06 Mar 2006
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Location: Ottawa, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 1:17 pm Post subject: Now You See Me [Blu-ray] |
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Another reference disc!
Now You See Me (Extended Edition) [Blu-ray]
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| Quote: | Although it's not nearly as much fun the second time around, 'Now You See Me' is still an exciting rollercoaster ride of a movie that provides some top-notch entertainment. Enjoying the movie (especially during that second or third viewing) requires a great deal of suspension of disbelief, but most should find it worth their time and money. Recommended.
The Video: Sizing Up the Picture
'Now You See Me' was shot on 35mm film and contains a ton of scenes that are both dimly lit and rely on visible spotlights/stage lights for the image. Therefore, I had a concern that both banding and black levels might be a big issue with this 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 Blu-ray transfer. Thankfully, neither are much of an issue at all. Black levels are quite strong, despite a few moments here and there where shadows prove hard to distinguish. Likewise, despite all the lights that are part of the stage shows in the movie, banding never seems to be a problem. Lens flares are the most annoying thing, but that's a filmmaker issue and has nothing to do with this transfer (and keep in mind that Star Trek producers Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman were also producers on this movie, so maybe they convinced Louis Leterrier that lens flares look cool). Film grain is still present, although nicely pushed into the background.
While both facial details and backgrounds are sharp throughout, I did notice a slight inconsistency in skin tones from scene to scene. While skin tones look normal in most exterior sequences (as well as during the stage performances), they sometimes look a little oversaturated in some of the interior set scenes. Again, a large part of this is probably just the difference between natural lighting, the visible lighting of the stage segments, and the professional camera lighting of the stuff shot on sets.
All of the above are minor quibbles, and most will not even be noticed except by the most discerning of viewers. Overall, this is an excellent transfer by Summit/Lionsgate, and the movie looks great in HD.
The Audio: Rating the Sound
For full disclosure before discussing the audio, the mix here is an English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track, and I only have a 5.1 setup, so my reactions to the audio are those of a 7.1 track downmixed into 5.1, rather than being able to hear the full distinctness of the 7.1 track. With that in mind, I found the audio to be just as well-done as the video transfer is. Big releases like 'Now You See Me' often tend to amp up the sounds and soundtrack at the expense of the spoken dialogue, but everything seems to be properly mixed here. Big explosions or events in the film still have the 'umph' they're supposed to without any high-end distortion, while quieter scenes still have subtle background noises. So the dynamic range throughout is excellent.
In addition to the 7.1 lossless track, the Blu-ray includes a Dolby Digital 2.0 track that has been 'optimized for late night listening', whatever that is supposed to mean. I suspect it's just code for, 'hey, you'll only be getting audio from your front speakers, so it won't wake the neighbors'. There's also an English Descriptive Audio track as well as a Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 track. Subtitles are available in English, English SDH, and Spanish. |
Kal
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