Critics give Blu-ray thumbs up
Baraka, Godfather trilogy get rave reviews
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 10/31/2008
OCT. 31 | Mainstream movie reviewers, including the legendary Roger Ebert, are starting to rally around Blu-ray Disc.
The format has long had support from tech fans, but up until now, it has not played a big factor in movie reviews. But the recent Blu-ray releases of the Godfather trilogy and world documentary Baraka have so inspired critics that many are telling readers that now is the time to purchase Blu-ray players.
Baraka, released by MPI Home Video on Oct. 28, ramps up the quality bar for Blu-ray titles with its unique use of an 8K resolution video scan (roughly equaling 8,000 pixels per line). Due to budgetary reasons, most films are transferred for disc release using a 2K scan (holding four times less pixel information) and occasionally a 4K scan.
That attention to detail had Ebert glowing in his Oct. 16 review that “Baraka by itself is sufficient reason to acquire a Blu-ray player.” He describes various scenes giddily, such as “the indescribable beauty of the aborigines” and “the sad poetic beauty in slow motion of a chain of explosions for a strip mine.”
The San Francisco Examiner took a shine to Baraka as well declaring, “Anyone who dug Discovery Channel’s Planet Earth series, especially on Blu-ray, will totally fall in love with this flick.”
Critics feel much the same way about Paramount Home Entertainment’s Sept. 23 Godfather release, which features all three films.
Fred Kaplan, writing for popular online magazine Slate.com, wrote, “just as Bruce Springsteen’s Live: 1975-85 box set drove lots of rock fans to buy a compact-disc player in the mid-’80s, so I suspect the ‘Coppola Restoration’ of the Godfather trilogy will compel lots of film lovers to buy a Blu-ray Disc player today.”
The Blu-ray Godfather release is likewise special in that it involves a 4K scan preparation. When Paramount first released the initial Godfather film on DVD, the studio had to essentially struggle with using a much deteriorated print.
Kaplan continues, “…if you have the right TV and have been thinking about investing in a Blu-ray player, you now have the perfect excuse.”
Newsweek’s Malcolm Jones echoes Kaplan in his belief that high-definition measurably enhances The Godfather: “In scene after scene, it’s the Rembrandt-like palette—orange, umber, red and a dozen shades of black—that defines the various moods of the movie.”
It’s tough to draw a direct correlation between spectacular reviews and spectacular sales. But MPI is hopeful the critical accolades for Baraka will spur consumer interest for an otherwise under-the-radar documentary, which was originally released in 1992. As of Oct. 29, Baraka ranked as the No. 10 best-selling Blu-ray title on Amazon.com and the No. 46 overall home entertainment title, including DVDs.
“It’s picking up from a sales perspective,” said Roy Millonzi, executive VP of sales for MPI. “The press has definitely brought more attention to it. It’s not just the tech guys but Roger Ebert. Everyone is coming together to say the same thing—that this is the best that they’ve seen.”
