This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
Marlon Brando absolutely owned the 50's as an actor, and Viva Zapata! (which he was nominated for best actor on), is sort of a lost gem from this period. Most people know his work with Elia Kazan on On the Waterfront and Streetcar Named Desire, but this is another great from their cinematic pairings.
The blu-ray comes highly recommended, especially at the great in-store BB price I found it at. The B&W 4:3 image is stunning with a filmic presentation that really does a good job of honoring it's 35mm roots. The mono audio track is presented in lossless via DTS-HD MA, and while it's mono, it's a great presentation of that mono track and while it's thin sounding compared to more modern tracks, it's an admirable track with strong clarity. Definitely comes recommended!
Nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, and Winner of two, including Best Director for John Ford, THE GRAPES OF WRATH comes to Blu-ray for the first time! This American classic based on John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel follows Tom Joad (Henry Fonda in an Oscar-Nominated role) and his family as they escape the Depression-era Oklahoma dust bowls for the promised land of California. But the arduous trip and harsh living conditions offer little hope, and family unity proves as daunting a challenge as any other they face.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
Not much to say about the film aside from it's a classic adaption of a classic literary work. The blu-ray comes highly recommended! The B&W 4:3 image is a great visual presentation of a caring restoration. No crazy post work like digital noise reduction or artificial sharpening, just a good crisp presentation of the film. The mono audio track is presented in lossless DTS-HD MA, and while of course it doesn't match up to surround sound films of recent years, it's a rather solid mono track for the era and has been preserved nicely here. Definitely worth a pickup or upgrade from DVD, and at a great price from BB!
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
Before Michael Bay became a joke with his almost comedic style over substance films of the last decade or so, he was actually showing signs of being a pretty great action director. Which is why the Rock, for any faults it does have, is on just about anyones short list of greatest action flicks of the 1990's.
The blu-ray should also be on anyone's shortlist for how good a 1990's catalogue title can look and sound. Supported with a high-bitrate encode, the film pops with resolution and depth in contrast and black levels. Even more than that, the lossless LPCM surround track will be like taking off tinfoil off your surround sound speakers when compared to the DVD. Definitely worth a pickup, especially since it's often at the right price.