Blu-ray Movie Reviews

The Young Victoria (Blu-ray)

David Vaughn  |  May 3, 2010

A young and fiery queen (Emily Blunt) inherits the throne from her uncle in the early 19th century. Spurning the advice of her mother and advisor, she befriends Lord Melbourne (Paul Bettany), a self-serving politician who doesn't have the Queen's best interest at heart. Things turn around for the young monarch when she follows her heart and marries Price Albert (Rupert Friend).

While this isn't as entertaining as Shakespeare in Love or as in-depth as Elizabeth, I still enjoyed the story due to the fine acting and phenomenal Oscar-winning costume design. Before the film I didn't know Victoria was the longest-serving monarch and her story is quite intriguing.

Video Highlights

  • AVC/1080p encode on a BD-50 disc
  • Bold color palette
  • Accurate flesh tones
  • Excellent depth
  • Inky blacks and revealing shadows

Audio Highlights

  • DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack
  • Full-bodied soundtrack
  • Intelligible dialog
  • Enveloping surround field with immersive atmospheric cues
  • Excellent frequency response

Sony delivers another reference video presentation and the audio track is nearly as good.

Bonus Materials

  • Deleted and extended scenes (SD)
  • Making of The Young Victoria featurette (SD)
  • The Real Queen Victoria featurette (SD)
  • The Coronation featurette (SD)
  • The Wedding featurette (SD)
  • Lavish History: A Look at the Costumes and Locations (SD)
  • BD Live enabled with movieIQ

If you're a fan of period pieces you'll probably enjoy this as much as I did. The video encode is perfect and the audio is no slouch. Recommended.

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Release Date: April 20, 2010
Studio: Sony

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

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

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