Blu-ray Movie Reviews

The acclaimed illusionist Eisenheim has not only captured the imaginations of all of Vienna, but also the interest of the ambitious Crown Prince Leopold. But when Leopold's new fiancee rekindles a childhood fascination with Eisenheim, the Prince's interest evolves into obsession... and suddenly the city's Chief Inspector finds himself investigating a shocking crime. But even as the Inspector engages him in a dramatic challenge of wills, Eisenheim prepares for his most impressive illusion yet.

This came out right around the same time as The Prestige and it seemed like most either went one way or another when it came to which they preferred. Both are very different stories though and bare little resemblance to each other. This one is a bit more of a stylistic period piece that features some great performances from Norton and Giamatti, and I love the interesting twists. If you didn’t get a chance to see this before, it is certainly worth a look.

Fox serves up a nice Blu-ray transfer for this one. I have the previous Canadian release of this on Blu-ray and found them similar in many respects. There is some occasional banding that creeps into the imagery but aside from that detail is respectable and the vintage look provides a nice looking feature. The DTS-HD Master Audio mix is compelling with plenty of atmosphere and some great ambiance from the film’s moody score. Dynamics are good when they need to be and the sound design overall adds a lot to the character of the film.

Extras are all contained on the standard definition DVD that is included in the package. Fox and MGM seem to be favoring the Blu-ray plus DVD packaging vice the digital copy route for their catalog titles. On the DVD you’ll find some short behind the scenes features and a feature commentary with the film’s director.

This is a solid catalog release for Fox and one that I’m glad to see hit the format. The photographic style of the film holds up well on the format and the film packs some great performances.