PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.

Overall | Three Colours: Blue (Trois Couleurs Bleu) (Blu-ray) (1993) | Three Colours: White (Trois Couleurs Blanc) (Blu-ray) (1994) | Three Colours: Red (Trois Couleurs Rouge) (Blu-ray) (1994)

PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Three Colours Trilogy: Limited Edition (Blu-ray) (1993)

Three Colours Trilogy: Limited Edition (Blu-ray) (1993)

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Released 25-Apr-2012

Cover Art

This review is sponsored by
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Overall Package

     One of the most famous art-house trilogies makes its way to local Blu-ray in a bare bones two disc Blu-ray set.There are two major releases of this trilogy on Blu-ray, both of which are preferable to this release as they both contain lots of extras. There is a Region A (locked) Criterion edition which includes many extras. You can find a comprehensive review of this edition here. If you cannot handle Region A Blu-rays there is also a Region B (not locked) UK release from Artificial Eye, and you can find an excellent review of this here. The Region A is the best globally however the Region B from the UK is also a significantly better offering that our local bare bones release. Having said that if you just want the movies, the local release is perfectly serviceable. There are differences between the audio formatting on these releases, however, I can't see where this would make a huge difference as they are all in HD formats.

     The video quality is very good for films of this age, especially compared to the DVD versions, which were diabolical.

     The audio quality is excellent for films of this age.

     The extras went back to Poland in a suitcase and then drowned in a ferry disaster.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Other Reviews NONE
Overall | Three Colours: Blue (Trois Couleurs Bleu) (Blu-ray) (1993) | Three Colours: White (Trois Couleurs Blanc) (Blu-ray) (1994) | Three Colours: Red (Trois Couleurs Rouge) (Blu-ray) (1994)

PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Three Colours: Blue (Trois Couleurs Bleu) (Blu-ray) (1993)

Three Colours: Blue (Trois Couleurs Bleu) (Blu-ray) (1993)

If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD

Released 25-Apr-2012

Cover Art

This review is sponsored by
BUY IT

Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama Main Menu Audio
Rating ?
Year Of Production 1993
Running Time 98:15
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Krzysztof Kieslowski
Studio
Distributor
Icon Entertainment Starring Juliette Binoche
Benoît Régent
Florence Pernel
Charlotte Véry
Hélène Vincent
Philippe Volter
Claude Duneton
Hugues Quester
Emmanuelle Riva
Florence Vignon
Daniel Martin
Jacek Ostaszewski
Catherine Therouenne
Case ?
RPI ? Music Zbigniew Preisner


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None French DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 1080p
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     The Three Colours Trilogy is a famous set of arthouse films from the 1990s, made by Polish director, Kryzsztof Kieslowski. This trilogy was his last works before his death in 1996. The trilogy has been released as a set of Blu-rays here in Australia by Icon Entertainment. This local release has the films spread over two Blu-ray discs, Blue on its own disc, and White & Red on the second disc. The trilogy has also recently been released on Region Free Blu-ray by Artificial Eye in the UK and as a Criterion edition on Region A in the US. Both of those have the films across three Blu-ray discs, although this does not necessarily mean the transfers are different. Actually, based on online screens shots, I think these Blu-rays are probably sourced from the same digital masters as the other editions. I will cover how the versions compare in the region comparison section of the box set review. For now, let me just tell you this is a bare bones edition with only the films whereas both the other major releases are packed with extras.

     The first film, Three Colours : Blue, is a drama starring Juliette Binoche as a young woman who has lost her husband and daughter in a car crash, whilst being badly injured herself. Her husband was a famous composer and she decides to change everything in her life and escape to another existence. The film explores how she deals with loss and eventually how she starts on the road to recovery.

     I am not going to try to impress you, dear reader, with my in depth analysis of the film and its meaning or the use of the colour blue or even bang on about the marvellous music by Zbigniew Preisner. What I would like you to do, however, is refer back to the plot synopsis/essay written by SeanA in our review of the DVD release of this film back in 2001. He has a lot to say on the subject and his analysis is well worth reading.

     I believe this film is the best of the trilogy and although showing its age is still a marvellous film.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

     The video quality is in a different class to previous DVD releases but of course does not challenge recent blockbusters in terms of its ability to show off your system. As I mentioned above this seems to be the same transfer as is used on other international releases.

     The feature is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 1080p encoded using AVC.

     The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout considering the age of the film and significantly better than previous DVD releases. Clarity is affected by film grain at times which becomes quite noticeable in some scenes such as at 7:40, 36:50 or 58:06. The shadow detail was very good.

     The colour was not overly vibrant but certainly better than the DVD.

     There is some minor shimmer to be seen very occasionally and also one spot of pixelization at 56:10 on some wooden blinds. There are minimal film artefacts as the print has been significantly cleaned.

     There are subtitles in English which come on automatically but can be switched off. They were clear and easy to read.

     There are no obvious layer change during playback.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio quality is excellent for a film of this age and budget. This disc contains a French soundtrack in DTS-HD MA 5.1. The 5.1 coding does not really make a big difference and it sounds more like a 3.1 to me.

     Dialogue was clear and easy to understand at all times. Effects were also very clear with lots of separation across the front and rear speakers. The opening sequence of road noises is very clearly defined and leaps from the speakers.

     The music by Zbigniew Preisner sounds marvellous on this transfer, filling the room (although most sound comes from the front speakers).

     The surround speakers were only used for very mild atmosphere.

     The subwoofer was well used supporting the music.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

 

       Nothing, nada, zilch.

Menu

        The menu included music and allowed for scene selection.

Censorship

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    In terms of the movie itself, this release seems to utilise the same masters as overseas releases, however, as a set this local release is bare bones compared to other releases. I will cover the major differences in the box set review.

Summary

     A major arthouse film from the 1990s makes its way to local Blu-ray.

     The video quality is very good for a film of this age, especially compared to the DVD versions, which were diabolical.

     The audio quality is excellent for a film of this age.

     The extras died in the car crash at the beginning of the film.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Review Equipment
DVDSONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output
DisplaySharp LC52LE820X Quattron 52" Full HD LED-LCD TV . Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderBuilt into BD player. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-511
SpeakersMonitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer

Other Reviews NONE
Overall | Three Colours: Blue (Trois Couleurs Bleu) (Blu-ray) (1993) | Three Colours: White (Trois Couleurs Blanc) (Blu-ray) (1994) | Three Colours: Red (Trois Couleurs Rouge) (Blu-ray) (1994)

PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Three Colours: White (Trois Couleurs Blanc) (Blu-ray) (1994)

Three Colours: White (Trois Couleurs Blanc) (Blu-ray) (1994)

If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD

Released 25-Apr-2012

Cover Art

This review is sponsored by
BUY IT

Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama Main Menu Audio
Rating ?
Year Of Production 1994
Running Time 91:52
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Krzysztof Kieslowski
Studio
Distributor
Icon Entertainment Starring Zbigniew Zamachowski
Julie Delpy
Janusz Gajos
Jerzy Stuhr
Aleksander Bardini
Grzegorz Warchol
Cezary Harasimowicz
Jerzy Nowak
Jerzy Trela
Cezary Pazura
Michel Lisowski
Philippe Morier-Genoud
Piotr Machalica
Case ?
RPI ? Music Zbigniew Preisner


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None French DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 1080p
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     The Three Colours Trilogy is a famous set of arthouse films from the 1990s, made by Polish director, Kryzsztof Kieslowski. This trilogy were his last works before his death in 1996. The trilogy has been released as a set of Blu-rays here in Australia by Icon Entertainment. This local release has the films spread over two Blu-ray discs, Blue on its own disc, with White & Red on the second disc. The trilogy has also recently been released on Region Free Blu-ray by Artificial Eye in the UK and as a Criterion edition on Region A in the US. Both of those have the films across three Blu-ray discs, although this does not necessarily mean the transfers are different. Actually, based on online screens shots, I think these Blu-rays are probably sourced from the same digital masters as the other editions. I will cover how the versions compare in the region comparison section of the box set review. For now, let me just tell you this is a bare bones edition with only the films whereas both the other major releases are packed with extras.

     The second film, Three Colours : White, is a black comedy which focuses on the story of Karol Karol (Zbigniew Zamachowski), a Polish hairdresser who has moved to Paris after marrying Dominique (Julie Delpy). She is divorcing him, frustrated by his lack of ability to consummate the marriage. After the court case he decides to head back to Poland, via quite a strange mode of travel. Here he begins to rebuild his life, while also trying to work out how he can get Dominique back.

     Rather than me banging on about how meaningful this film is, I would suggest that you refer back to the plot synopsis/essay written by SeanA in our review of the DVD release of this film back in 2001. He has a lot to say on the subject and his analysis is well worth reading.

     I know SeanA disagrees with this view in his review, however, I think this is the weakest of the three in the trilogy despite being quite a fun black comedy. I also think this film has aged quite badly compared to the other two.

     Regardless, you are probably mostly interested in the technical specifications anyway, so see below.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

     The video quality is in a different class to previous DVD releases but of course does not challenge recent blockbusters in terms of its ability to show off your system. As I mentioned above this seems to be the same transfer as is used on other international releases.

     The feature is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 1080p encoded using AVC.

     The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout considering the age of the film and significantly better than previous DVD releases. Clarity is affected by film grain at times which becomes quite bad in some scenes such as at 3:20, 21:30, 34:15 or 43:02 but I suppose this is preferable to lots of Digital Noise Reduction. This is worse than Blue in terms of grain. The shadow detail was very good.

     The colour was not overly vibrant but certainly better than the DVD. Due to the bright colour scheme there is some light colour bleeding at times.

     There is some minor shimmer to be seen very occasionally and one spot of aliasing on a striped shirt.

     There are subtitles in English which come on automatically but can be switched off. They were clear and easy to read.

    There is no obvious layer change during playback.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio quality is excellent for a film of this age and budget.

     This disc contains a French (& Polish) soundtrack in DTS-HD MA 5.1. The 5.1 coding does not really make a big difference and it sounds more like a 3.1 to me.

     Dialogue was clear and easy to understand at all times. Effects were also very clear with lots of separation across the front and rear speakers.

     The music by Zbigniew Preisner sounds marvellous on this transfer, filling the room (although most sound comes from the front speakers).

     The surround speakers were only used for very mild atmosphere.

     The subwoofer was well used supporting the music.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

 

       Nothing, nada, zilch.

Menu

        The menu included music and allowed for scene selection.

Censorship

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

     In terms of the movie itself, this release seems to utilise the same masters as overseas releases, however, as a set this local release is bare bones compared to other releases. I will cover the major differences in the box set review.

Summary

     A major arthouse film from the 1990s makes its way to local Blu-ray.

     The video quality is very good for a film of this age, especially compared to the DVD versions, which were diabolical. The audio quality is excellent for a film of this age.

     The extras went back to Poland in a suitcase.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Review Equipment
DVDSONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output
DisplaySharp LC52LE820X Quattron 52" Full HD LED-LCD TV . Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderBuilt into BD player. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-511
SpeakersMonitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer

Other Reviews NONE
Overall | Three Colours: Blue (Trois Couleurs Bleu) (Blu-ray) (1993) | Three Colours: White (Trois Couleurs Blanc) (Blu-ray) (1994) | Three Colours: Red (Trois Couleurs Rouge) (Blu-ray) (1994)

PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Three Colours: Red (Trois Couleurs Rouge) (Blu-ray) (1994)

Three Colours: Red (Trois Couleurs Rouge) (Blu-ray) (1994)

If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD

Released 25-Apr-2012

Cover Art

This review is sponsored by
BUY IT

Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama Main Menu Audio
Rating ?
Year Of Production 1994
Running Time 99:05
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Krzysztof Kieslowski
Studio
Distributor
Icon Entertainment Starring Irène Jacob
Jean-Louis Trintignant
Frédérique Feder
Jean-Pierre Lorit
Samuel Le Bihan
Marion Stalens
Teco Celio
Bernard Escalon
Jean Schlegel
Elzbieta Jasinska
Paul Vermeulen
Jean-Marie Daunas
Roland Carey
Case ?
RPI ? Music Bertrand Lenclos
Zbigniew Preisner


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None French DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 1080p
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     The Three Colours Trilogy is a famous set of art-house films from the 1990s, made by Polish director, Kryzsztof Kieslowski. This trilogy was his last works before his death in 1996. The trilogy has been released as a set of Blu-rays here in Australia by Icon Entertainment. This local release has the films spread over two Blu-ray discs, Blue on its own disc, with White & Red on the second disc. The trilogy has also recently been released on Region Free Blu-ray by Artificial Eye in the UK and as a Criterion edition on Region A in the US. Both of those have the films across three Blu-ray discs, although this does not necessarily mean the transfers are different. Actually, based on online screens shots, I think these Blu-rays are probably sourced from the same digital masters as the other editions. I will cover how the versions compare in the region comparison section of the box set review. For now, let me just tell you this is a bare bones edition with only the films whereas both the other major releases are packed with extras.

     The third film, Three Colours : Red, is a very unconventional romance starring Irene Jacob as Valentine a young model/university student. Valentine lives in Geneva and has a possessive boyfriend, Michel, who travels constantly for work. He calls her to make sure she is alone and constantly questions her about why she doesn't answer the phone whenever he calls. On the way home one night she runs over a German Shepherd and tries to return her to her owner, retired judge Joseph Kern (Jean-Louis Trintignant), who shows great indifference to the dog. After she has the dog looked after by a vet she takes it home herself. One day, when she lets the dog out for a run, the dog goes straight back to its master. During her various visits to the judge's house she realises that he is spying on his neighbours by tapping their cordless phone frequencies. An odd but emotional relationship develops between the older judge and the young model. Another relationship in the neighbourhood between a young lawyer, Auguste, and his girlfriend is played out in parallel scenes.

     Rather than me banging on about how meaningful this film is, I would suggest that you refer back to the plot synopsis/essay written by SeanA in our review of the DVD release of this film back in 2001. He has a lot to say on the subject and his analysis is well worth reading.

     Red is a very interesting film, which brings the whole trilogy together.

     Regardless, you are probably mostly interested in the technical specifications anyway, so see below.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

     The video quality is in a different class to previous DVD releases but of course does not challenge recent blockbusters in terms of its ability to show off your system. As I mentioned above this seems to be the same transfer as is used on other international releases. The feature is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 1080p encoded using AVC.

     The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout considering the age of the film and significantly better than previous DVD releases. Clarity is affected by film grain in some scenes but not quite as often as Blue or especially White . Particularly grainy scenes can be seen at 4:20, 21:15, 23:40 or 40:28. There was also one spot at 47:42 where Digital Noise Reduction resulted in some artefacts. The shadow detail was very good considering the age of the film.

     The colour was better than the first two films with the reds being quite vibrant.

     There is some minor shimmer to be seen very occasionally and some mild edge enhancement here and there.

     There are subtitles in English which come on automatically but can be switched off. They were clear and easy to read.

     There are no obvious layer changes during playback.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio quality is very good for a film of this age and budget. The sound was not as striking as on the first two films.

     This disc contains a French soundtrack in DTS-HD MA 5.1. The 5.1 coding does not really make a big difference and it sounds more like a 3.1 to me.

     Dialogue was clear and easy to understand at all times. Effects were also very clear with lots of separation across the front speakers.

     The music by Zbigniew Preisner sounds good but I believe its impact was felt more in the other films especially Blue.

     The surround speakers were only used for very mild atmosphere.

     The subwoofer was well used supporting the music.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

 

       Nothing, nada, zilch.

Menu

        The menu included music and allowed for scene selection.

Censorship

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    In terms of the movie itself, this release seems to utilise the same masters as overseas releases, however, as a set this local release is bare bones compared to other releases. I will cover the major differences in the box set review.

Summary

     A major art-house film from the 1990s makes its way to local Blu-ray.

     The video quality is very good for a film of this age, especially compared to the DVD versions, which were diabolical. The audio quality is very good for a film of this age.

     The extras sank on a ferry.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Review Equipment
DVDSONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output
DisplaySharp LC52LE820X Quattron 52" Full HD LED-LCD TV . Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderBuilt into BD player. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-511
SpeakersMonitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer

Other Reviews NONE