Raging Bull Blu-ray

MGM/FOX
Street: Feb. 10
Prebook: now
> High-def video and Digital 5.1 surround sound punch up this cinematic masterpiece.

Martin Scorsese is a director who never overstays his welcome. Even though his commentary on the Blu-ray version of this 1980 classic about boxer Jake La Motta is carried over from the prior standard DVD special edition, it’s never tiresome to hear him and longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker discuss his filmmaking techniques. On Blu-ray, the film’s cinematography, by Michael Chapman, is even more beautiful and impactful. Just look at La Motta’s (Robert De Niro) wall-pounding meltdown, lit with just a shaft of daylight in the otherwise darkness of solitary confinement, to see what we mean. The clarity is exceptional, as is the contrast between the blacks and the whites. Some grain is noticeable, but that’s a result of the original film stock. Other extras from the earlier edition include featurettes, newsreel footage and a comparison of De Niro’s and La Motta’s moves.

Shelf Talk: Scorsese’s masterpiece didn’t earn a Best Picture Oscar, but it gained some comeuppance when it was named best film of the ’80s by several critics. Dramatic new box art featuring a partially shadowed close-up of De Niro gives the latest incarnation a distinctive look from its predecessors.