“Glory” on BLU RAY - A Review Of The MASTERED IN 4K Release…

Here is a link to Amazon UK to buy this issue at the best price (£9 as of March 2014):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00D6AAS94

First things first - I don't own a 4K TV - nor do I own the Sony BDPS6200 BLU RAY player with built in 4K upscaling. So I suppose this review of "Glory Mastered In 4K" is compromised on 2 fronts. However I have what I suspect most film lovers have - a good Plasma TV and a half-decent BLU RAY player. But even with machines as lowly as these - I'm compelled to review...

Is Mastered In 4K a gimmick? No it's not. The new format on BLU RAY is in its infancy for sure as far as releases and market interest is concerned - but judging on what I'm seeing on my television - that isn't going to last long. Once you set your eyes on the quality of the picture and what can be done - immediate upgrades on all your favourites is going to make you very excited - and your bank manager very nervous.

"Glory" has had a convoluted and patchy history with regard to reissue - most notorious of all was the DVD - slammed as being awful - with its BLU RAY follow up not a whole lot better. And this powerful 1989 Edward Zwick movie about the 54th Massachusettes regiment in the American Civil War (the first Black military unit and their extraordinary bravery) means a lot to many. So Sony seem to have gone to some lengths to change this with their new format baby because "Glory" is being hailed as a sort of flagship release to show what can be achieved  - even with older and sometimes degraded elements.

It's defaulted to 1.85:1 aspect ratio so it naturally fills the full screen and has a huge impact for doing so. The picture isn't perfect by any means or stretch of the imagination - and there are shocking 'grain' spikes at times. The most famous of these is where Colonel Robert Shaw (a huge performance from Matthew Broderick) is in a ballroom talking to a general - when it cuts to the general the picture is gorgeous - but when it cuts back to Broderick's face - it looks awful - twice. And on many other occasions the natural grain of filming is evident like a very faint shimmer - but even in the darker night sequences in tents when Denzel Washington, Andre Braugher and Morgan Freeman are talking - the picture is amazingly clean, rich and rock solid.

But it's when the camera moves to the drill marches, the towns they pass through and especially the battle encampments and the fields of battle - it looks gorgeous to a degree that is breath-taking. Bloody wounds, muddy shirts, the blue uniforms they covet so much, Denzel standing tall and defiant and hurting as he takes the lashes on the wheel for insubordination - it all looks incredibly rich and deep. Throughout the film this kicked in maybe 30 or 40 times which is impressive despite the grain moments in between.

The best way to describe the picture is 'cinematic' - there's an almost 3D depth to some shots - a real 'movie-in-your-home' sense of distances. And the James Horner soundtrack is given full reign too by the 5.1 True HD mix (English and Spanish) as are and sounds of rifle gunfire, canon blasts, rain on tarpaulin and men screaming in pain in tents as surgeons saw off limbs.

Presentation - Subtitles are in English, English for The Hard of hearing, Hindi, Polish and Spanish. Each release comes in a pretty blue card slipcase on the outside with the BLU RAY MASTERED IN 4K logo across the top - but unfortunately little else. There are literally no extras of any kind - which feels like a huge missed opportunity especially on such a rich film as "Glory" (3 Oscar wins - Best Supporting Actor for Denzel, Best Cinematography and Best Sound).

And as you can see from the list below - the initial vanguard of titles in 4K is hardly enticing - and in some cases - why even bother (the truly dreadful "The Other Guys" and the underwhelming "Moneyball")? And these titles were issued (Region Free) in the States between April and July 2013 with no further names since? Hardly a rip-roaring start...

Having said all that - I'm impressed. I'm even tempted now by "Taxi Driver", Ghostbusters" and "Godzilla" which have received similar glowing reviews on the improvement front.

The truth I suspect is that `4K' is an advancement for film fans that we're going to want more of once we clap our beady eyes on the screen - and that can only spell joy and pain in equal measure.

Here we go again...

Titles MASTERED IN 4K as of March 2014 are:

1. Angels And Demons (2009)

2. Battle: Los Angeles (2011)

3. Ghostbusters (1984)

4. Glory (1989)

5. Godzilla (1998)

6. The Karate Kid (2010)

7. Men In Black (1997)

8. Moneyball (2011)

9. The Other Guys (2010)

10. Pineapple Express (2008)

11. Spider-Man (2002)

12. Spider-Man 2 (2004)

13. Spider-Man 3 (2007)

14. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

15. Taxi Driver (1976)

16. Total Recall (2012)

“Training Day”. A Review Of The 2001 Film Now Reissued Onto BLU RAY.

                                   

"...In Order To Catch A Wolf...You Have To Think Like A Wolf..."

I remember seeing "Training Day" at the cinema in 2001 - the audience applauded at the end - and most left their seats with its gritty brilliance seared into their unconscious. I'm pleased to say that revisiting this urban drug story in 2012 finds that Antoine Fuqua's directorial debut hasn't lost one jot of its power - and better still – is now genuinely enhanced by its reissue on BLU RAY.

The picture quality is far better than I expected - a really crisp transfer. Its default aspect is 2.4:1 - so there are bars top and bottom of the screen - but even stretched to full frame - the print quality still holds up. A lot of the scenes are one-on-one dialogue pieces in the front of cars between the two male leads - but expertly filmed and edited - there's no real blocking. Side shots of their faces are startlingly clear - even the sequences towards the end in people's homes and out on the streets at night are very, very clean. It's a top-notch transfer...

Written by DAVID AYER (a white man who grew up in the South Central projects of Los Angeles) and directed by ANTOINE FUQUA (a black man who did the same)- it's about a fresh-faced cop Jake Hoyt (played by Ethan Hawke) who is hooked up with legendary narcotics Detective Alonzo Harris (played by Denzel Washington) for one 'training day'. From dawn to dusk - it will be a baptism of fire.

And while the young rookie Hoyt seems to cut the mustard in the eagerness department, unfortunately he's also highly principled - and Alonzo feels that this Academy naivety will get him killed in the real world (dialogue above). So Hoyt struggles. At first Alonzo has the air of a man doing what he has to do to keep the river of drugs off the streets of Los Angeles. His methods may be brutal but the end justifies the means - doesn't it? Then things get gradually murkier...and even life-threatening...

Soon after a car bust - Jake is drawn into Alonzo's doped-up world and begins to feel like he's being played - but Alonzo keeps proffering believable reasons for his actions. Only a brave intervention (a young Latino girl being attacked by two lowlifes in a lane) saves Jake from the clutches of a double-barrelled bathroom death. Soon (bruised and battered) Jake is taking the game to Alonzo's neighbourhood - and on it goes to a brilliant but inevitably bloody ending...

Part of the reason why "Training Day" works is that there's an air of authenticity in the script that echoes The Wire and The Sopranos (both Author and Director have been there). The bad language and street talk is either vicious or impenetrable - and frequently both. A dance of fear and intimidation co-exists between the cops and the largely Black and Latino communities. 

No one is clean and few get away from it unaffected. Some areas of the city are even no-go zones - poverty and bad housing being a breeding ground. Gun law abounds and it's hard to tell the difference between Dictators - the drug-pusher or the police officer who protects the drug-pusher...

Denzel is truly magnificent in the part (a departure from his nice-guy roles) - he inhabits his gold-chained Alonzo with a power and ferocity that few actors could even get near. You feel this mouthy monster owning the areas he walks into and you understand why many of them smile as Alonzo approaches - but would gladly put several bullets in his back as he leaves. 

Ethan Hawke does well to keep up with such a tour-de-force - and at times - even matches him. 

It's not surprising that Washington took his 2nd Oscar for it ("Philadelphia" was his first).

The supporting cast too is exceptional - Snoopy Dogg and Dr. Dre as drug-dealing hoodies - Macy Gray as a crack wife - Eve Mendes as Alonzo's squeeze - Scott Glen as an old veteran - and the trio of corrupt officials - Tom Berenger, Raymond J. Barry and Harris Yulin (who feature in the 'Alternate Ending' in the Extras). And special mention should also go to the locals and the then unknown Latino cast - some of who are actually gang members. Fantastic stuff...and so impressive...

To sum up - a great film then - now made better by a format that allows it to shine.

This is precisely what a good BLU RAY reissue should be.

Recommended like a hard rock in the crack den at the back of 10 Downing Street...(yo David).

BLU RAY Specifications:

VIDEO: 1080p High Definition 2.4:1 Aspect Ratio

AUDIO: Dolby Digital English 5.1, French 5.1 and German 5.1

SUBTITLES: English, French and German

EXTRAS:

1. Feature-Length Commentary by Director Antoine Fuqua (Director)

2. Additional Scenes

3. Alternate Ending

4. HBO First Look: The Making Of Training Day

5. 2 Music Videos - "No.1" by NELLY and "Got You" by PHAROAHE MONCH

6. Theatrical Trailer