Blue Murder: Ultimate Edition (1995)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Drama	Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Director & Editor Featurette-Making Of Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Editing Biographies-Cast Gallery-Photo
Rating
Year Of Production	1995
Running Time	197:12
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (53:54) Multi Disc Set (3)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Michael Jenkins
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Richard Roxburgh Tony Martin Steve Bastoni Gary Day Steve Jacobs Peter Phelps Marcus Graham Alex Dimitriades Bill Hunter John Hargreaves Gary Sweet
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$39.95	Music	None Given

    I will kick off here with a quick comparison of the two releases. In short this release is a big step up from the original version.

    If you are not aware of this show it is the story of the relationship between violent criminal Neddy Smith (Tony Martin) and NSW cop Roger Rogerson (Richard Roxburgh). Their relationship led to them working together for many years, making lots of money, until they went too far. It is a very realistic and unsettling but dramatised portrayal of a bad time in NSW law enforcement and organised crime. If you enjoyed Underbelly but have not seen this show, do yourself a favour and get this new version which is available at a budget price.

Video

    The video quality is good, significantly better than the original but certainly not without issue.

    The feature is presented in a 1.29:1 aspect ratio, non 16x9 enhanced which is the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was reasonably clear and sharp throughout, however there was some grain probably mostly driven by the original filming being in 16mm. Shadow detail is good without being spectacular. There is some macro-blocking to be seen from time to time especially in backgrounds and around fast moving characters.

    The colour was good but a little washed out with bright colours not appearing overly vibrant. This is probably partially by artistic choice.

    Other than the MPEG issues already mentioned there were quite a few white spots throughout. They were never overly obvious.

    There are no subtitles.

    There is a layer change on disc 1 at 53:54 and disc 2 at 59:11. Neither were overly obvious.
    

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is very good, a step up from the previous release.

    This DVD contains two audio options (plus a commentary), an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 448 Kb/s and an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s. The new 5.1 remix is a significant improvement in terms of warmth and body, however, it is still very front and center focused.

    Dialogue was mostly clear and easy to understand throughout although subtitles would have been helpful.

    The surround speakers were only used mostly for mild atmosphere.

    The subwoofer added bass to the music and some louder scenes.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    The case talks about a trailer which is not present but the other extras certainly make up for this.

Menu

    The menu features animation. It allows for scene and audio selection.

Discs 1 & 2

Commentary - Director Michael Jenkins and Editor Bill Russo (with a moderator)

    A quality commentary with lots of interesting discussion. They are both interesting speakers and talk about scene specific issues along with more general items including the story, production, shooting style, casting and much more. The moderator keeps things moving along and the guys involved are relaxed and enjoying themselves. The topics are focused more on technical issues than anything else.

Disc 3

Blood Brothers - The Making of Blue Murder (23:26)

    16x9 enhanced with DD 2.1 sound. The director, some crew and Richard Roxburgh are interviewed about making Blue Murder in 2005. Fascinating stuff about  sources of the story, the production, the characters and the relationship between Neddy & Roger.

Editing Blue Murder (21:10)

    A fascinating featurette that really takes you into the process of editing. It basically consists of an interview with Bill Russo, editor of Blue Murder, where he discusses what editing is and shows examples of different ways he could have edited a scene from Blue Murder. Fascinating stuff!

Cast Bios

    Two page text bios for the director, writer and 5 main cast members.

Stills Gallery (1:16)

    Stills from the show, rolling by automatically.

    The video quality is a big improvement on the original release.

    The audio quality is very good considering the shows origins.

    The extras are high quality and would be fascinating to film students.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall