Castle, The (Blu-ray) (1997)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Menu Animation & Audio Alternate Music/Sound Score
Rating
Year Of Production	1997
Running Time	85:31 (Case: 82)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Rob Sitch
Studio Distributor	Working Dog Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Michael Caton Anne Tenney Stephen Curry Anthony Simcoe Sophie Lee Wayne Hope Tiriel Mora Eric Bana Charles 'Bud' Tingwell
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	Craig Harnath

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Alternate Audio DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     One of the most controversial local DVD releases was the original 'Poolroom Edition' of The Castle. Our review of this release can be found here by my site colleague DarrenW. A few years later the film was re-released in the remastered & replastered edition which I reviewed here. Now, The Castle has been released on Blu-ray and this new edition is the subject of this review. Honestly, this edition is very similar to the previous DVD edition except for being in high definition with high definition audio. Other than that there is little difference.

     Watching this film again confirmed in my mind that this is one of the best Australian films ever made despite being low budget. There is a warmth to this film which makes the comedy even more amusing and poignant. The casting is marvellous and extends to minor characters such as Farouk the neighbour. It is also interesting to note Eric Bana and Wayne Hope in smaller roles when they were less well known. This combined with the excellent dialogue makes for a great comedy. The themes are very Australian and the film speaks to some core Australian values such as our sense of fairness and our desire to own and keep our own homes despite what they may be like. This film has provided many sayings which are now in common usage in Australia, such as 'This one's going straight to the poolroom' , 'It's the vibe' and 'Tell him he's dreaming'.

     I won't carry on too much about the film itself as most of our readers would know it well, however check out Darren's review linked above if you need a refresh. Otherwise the big interest here is in the information below.

Video

     The video quality is better than DVD but still restricted by its low budget origins.

     The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is the original theatrical aspect ratio or close to it. It is 16x9 enhanced. The framing is very similar to the remastered and replastered edition. See my review linked above for screen shots.

     The picture is significantly sharper and more detailed that the DVD with much more vibrant colour. The downside is that the grain is more obvious because of the increased clarity. However, if you can cope with the grain the picture is much better here.

     The colour was significantly improved but still reveals its budget origins.

     There are no other obvious artefacts except the grain.

     There are subtitles in English for the Hearing Impaired. They were clear and easy to read but somewhat summarised.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

     The audio quality is very good a big step up from the DVD.

     This disc contains three audio options, an English DTS HD-MA 5.1 soundtrack, an English DTS HD-MA 5.1 soundtrack which features extra orchestral score and an English Audio Descriptive Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack. The first soundtrack is the original theatrical version and sounds much fuller and more enveloping on this HD transfer. The second one includes more incidental music but is fairly unobtrusive. Both feature the Aussie dialogue as opposed to the changed version made for the US market.

     Dialogue was clear and easy to understand which is obviously a key factor for this film.

     The surround speakers are for atmosphere and things such as planes going overhead. They were certainly more noticeable on this release than the DVD.

     The sub is used sparingly mostly for planes and music.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    No extras are included once again and I can only guess that the explanation offered by Rob Sitch in the initial review by Darren (linked above) still holds true.

Menu

    The menu including scenes and audio from the film but was otherwise unremarkable.

Digital Copy

    A second disc contains a digital copy of the film.

    This seems to be the only Blu-ray version at this point. According to the case it is Region B locked.

    The video quality is better than the DVD but still reveals its budget origins.

    The audio quality is very good.

    The disc has no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall