Moulin Rouge (Blu-ray) (2001) |
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Moulin Rouge (Blu-ray) (2001) |
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| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Musical |
Introduction-Baz Luhrmann Featurette-Making Of Audio Commentary-B Luhrmann , C Martin, D McAlpine ,Craig Pierce More…-Picture-In-Picture Feature Featurette-Behind The Scenes-A Creative Adventure Featurette-Making Of-The House of Iona Featurette-The Stars Interviews-Crew Featurette-Craig Pearce Reads Early Treatment Notes-Old Storylines and Script Comparisons Deleted Scenes-5 Featurette-Director's Mock Previsualizations Featurette-Extended Dance Sequences (4) plus intro Multiple Angles-Dance (3) Easter Egg Featurette-The Musical Journey; Live MTV Movie Awards Music Video-Lady Marmalade Gallery-Set (9),Cost (4),Graphic,Photo (5),Little Red Book,Poster Featurette-Evolution Of The Intro;Green Fairy; Internat Sizzle Reel Trailer-4 + Disc Credits + Music Promo |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2001 | ||
| Running Time | 122 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | RSDL | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Baz Luhrmann |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Twentieth Century Fox |
Starring |
Nicole Kidman Ewan McGregor John Leguizamo Jim Broadbent |
| Case | Standard Blu-ray | ||
| RPI | $32.95 | Music | None Given |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 (4608Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 1080p | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English for the Hearing Impaired English Audio Commentary Danish Danish Audio Commentary Finnish Finnish Audio Commentary Norwegian Norwegian Audio Commentary Portuguese Spanish Swedish Swedish Audio Commentary |
Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
It is strange that a film that made over $150 million at the Box Office and snared 8 Oscar nominations should have such a divisive reputation. Moulin Rouge! set the world abuzz in 2001 and is justly seen as the dual career pinnacles of Baz Luhrmann and Nicole Kidman - a pair of stars cresting the white hot peaks of their careers. Of course Kidman produced other great films in the ensuing year - The Others, Cold Mountain and her Oscar winning turn in The Hours. But never has she been so luminous, so starlike - so beautiful. It is almost as if the reputation of the film has been coloured by the declining fortunes of the pair, Kidman in a series of flops and unlikeable films and Luhrmann with his big budget folly Australia. Perhaps that is why Moulin Rouge has crept onto Blu-ray with little fanfare, instead of the high kicks it dished out in its original home theatre incarnation.
That release was comprehensively reviewed on this site many years ago. To that review I suggest the curious should turn to learn about the plot of this important film.
To lovers of the film the question is simple - should you update to high definition? In fact, true lovers of the film tend to be vociferous in their admiration and probably had it on pre-order for some time. For those who admire the film but are not a slave to it - is this worth purchasing? As always that question comes down to a few simple questions:
The answers? See below...
It is often said of a certain catalogue title that it was "made for High Definition". Sometimes the hype is unjustified. Well, Moulin Rouge ! was made for High Definition. Seriously.
It goes without saying that it is in the original cinematic aspect ratio. When the film was reviewed back in 2001 it was widely lauded for its razor sharp image and eye candy colours. Putting the original DVD and the new Blu-ray up against each other shows the huge upgrade High Definition has made to the film. Everything you need to know about the beauty of this Blu-ray can be seen in two excerpts - the Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend mash-up, where Satine descends from the Gods, and the Elephant Love Medley love song pastiche on the top of the elephant. The first shows off the crispness of the Blu-ray to perfection. Check out, if it is your thing, the saliva swimming around Kidman's perfect teeth in the close-up as she begins her song. Marvel at the million sparkles shooting off from her dress. Then in the later scene check out the purity and crispness of the colours.
This movie has more colour that anything I can remember - there seem to be hundreds of variants of red alone. Trust me, after the final Indian Love Song, with its dazzling and dizzying array of colours you will need a Bex and a good lie down! In fact, the image quality is so clear that tiny moments in the film, such as where it seems that the focus puller was riffling through his bag for a Snickers, are noticeable for falling below perfection. There is a lot of post-production gone into the film, with some sequences treated and aged to achieve a certain look and at times the actors are lit to make the image softer. Overall this is a showcase for Blu-ray, despite the fact that it is almost 10 years old.
There are a bunch of subtitles: English Hearing Impaired, English Commentary , Danish, Danish Commentary, Finnish, Finnish Commentary, Norwegian, Norwegian Commentary, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Swedish Commentary. They are clear and easy to read.
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The all important audio for Moulin Rouge! has as its centrepiece an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. There are other tracks:
The dialogue for the film can be heard clearly. The musical numbers are well presented although it must be said that the songs are often dense, heavily orchestrated numbers - the sort of songs that sent some people out of the cinema elated and others with oncoming migraines. It is perhaps in the quieter moments that this track comes to the fore - when the lovers sing earnestly to each other or the Roxanne tango cover. There is a real snap to the DTS HD track which is missing from the ordinary Dolby Digital tracks.
There are no technical defects with the track. The bass is ably supported by the sub-woofer and there are some occasional surround sounds which emphasize the spread of the track but generally this is a front and centre piece.
No one could be disappointed at the audio for the film.
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| Surround Channel Use | |
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The 2001 DVD was awash with extra features. This Blu-ray release ports over those extras and jumbles them up so it can be a little bit hard to work out what is new and what is repeated. I commend you to the earlier DVD review for a summary of the merits of each existing featurette.
So what is new? Not a great deal actually. Is that a bad thing? Again, not really. The extras for the DVD release were comprehensive and interesting and unlikely to be improved upon by the 9 year gap. The commentary tracks have been combined into one and the Picture-in-Picture mode works well bringing established comments and features into the frame throughout the film.It is one of the first of these features that is actually fun to use.
The new material is as follows:
Baz introduces the Blu-ray somewhat nervously as though he is not sure how the fans will like the tinkering that has gone on with the film.
A featurette about the film and it's context within the Luhrmann canon.
Not exactly Skywalker Ranch or Troublemaker Studios, this is where Baz and the creative team hang-out and make magic happen.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
This Blu-ray is identical to other Regions.
Moulin Rouge! hits Blu-ray with the force of a gale. The film is perfectly suited to the medium and fans will be extracting every ounce of joy from it for months to come.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Cambridge 650BD (All Regions), using HDMI output |
| Display | Sony VPL-VW80 Projector on 110" Screen. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. |
| Amplification | Pioneer SC-LX 81 7.1 |
| Speakers | Aaron ATS-5 7.1 |