Blu-ray Movie Reviews

An alcoholic movie star (James Mason) stumbles on stage when a young singer (Judy Garland) is performing. The kindness she shows him after the incident makes an impression on him and he convinces her to leave her band and take a shot to be a movie star. The two eventually marry and when her star shines brighter than his there's bound to be problems.

For the record, I generally like musicals but for some reason I couldn't get into this film. The dramatic elements are great, but just when things start to get interesting Garland will burst into an overlong and unmemorable song. At nearly three hours, the films pacing is severely challenged and I can see why Warner shortened it over 30 minutes for its theatrical run in 1954. The restored cut includes some still shots since the original footage was destroyed, but the studio found the original full-length audio tracks to make thing coherent.

Video Highlights

• VC-1/1080p encode on a BD-50 disc
• Originally filmed in Cinemascope
• Bold color palette, especially red
• Inky blacks
• Occasional soft scene
• Thin layer of grain

Audio Highlights

• DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack
• Decent dynamics considering its age
• Intelligible dialog
• Front-heavy presentation
• Adequate stereo separation across the front

Warner is the best in the business at restoring old classics and this is no exception. Colors are bold and bright and detail is left intact despite the digital processing needed for restoration. The audio track is better than I expected for a film of this vintage, but pales in comparison to a modern musical.

Bonus Materials (Presented on second DVD disc – all in SD)

• Introduction
• Audio Vault
• Deleted Scenes
• Alternate Takes
• Outtake
• Vintage TV special
• Vintage Newsral
• Premiere footage
• Jack L. Warner promotional short
• Film Effects Reel
• A Star is Bored Looney Tunes cartoon
• Theatrical Trailers
• Digibook packaging

Many see this film as a classic, but I'm not one of them. I found it to be a tiresome bore even though I felt the performances by Garland and Mason were excellent and their love story very touching. Unfortunately the musical numbers are unmemorable and its sleep inducing three-hour runtime a bore. Credit needs to be given to Warner on the restoration and I'm sure fans of the film will be pleased with the results.

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Release Date: June 22, 2010
Studio: Warner

Movie: 5/10
Picture: 9/10
Sound: 7/10

Review System

Source
Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player

Display
JVC DLA-RS1 projector
Stewart FireHawk screen (76.5" wide, 16:9)

Electronics
Onkyo Pro PR-SC885 pre/pro
Anthem PVA-7 power amplifier
Panamax M5400PM power conditioner

Speakers
M&K S-150s (L, C, R)
M&K SS-150s (LS, RS, SBL, SBR)
SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer

Cables
Monoprice HDMI cables (source to pre/pro)
Best Deal analog-audio cables
PureLink HDC Fiber Optic HDMI Cable System (15 meters) from pre/pro to projector

Acoustical treatments from GIK Acoustics hspace=10