Reds (Blu-ray)

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The source materials used for the high definition release looks to have been quite pristine. There were no scratches or other flaws to be found. Film grain was slightly more present in the high definition transfer over the DVD release and this is partly due to the increased resolution of the 1080p mastered print. As already stated, detail is very strong. Colors are nicely saturated, though bright colors were not commonplace during the Communist Revolution, but when the film allows for them, they look spectacular. Black levels are very strong, as exhibited by the Witness scenes and the whites nicely contrast the deep blacks during the snowy scenes in the Russian wilderness. After watching the film again on HD-DVD and Blu-ray, I wish I would have experienced it here first and not on standard definition DVD.

The Blu-ray release and the HD-DVD release streeted day and date with each other. Doing a direct comparison between the two versions resulted in practically identical visuals. The HD-DVD transfer appeared to have a very slight edge in its imagery, as the Blu-ray had a few edges that looked every so slightly harsh when compared to its HD-DVD sibling. This difference was not very noticeable and it could be a case of mind over matter, but I do have a feeling the VC-1 compression codec handled the film slightly better than the Blu-ray´s MPEG-2 codec. The HD-DVD version also looked a minor amount brighter in coloring, but I have always attributed this to the difference in hardware between the Toshiba HD-DVD player and the Samsung Blu-ray player. Overall, the differences are so minor, most would not notice them.

Sound:

The original Mono soundtrack and a re-imaged Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack are provided on the 25th Anniversary standard definition release of "Reds." These are carried over in the form of a Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono soundtrack and a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack at 1.5 Mbps for the Blu-ray release. French and Spanish mono tracks are also included. When compared to the standard definition release, there was a minor improvement with the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray releases of "Reds" and most of this could be attributed to the higher bitrate that is afforded to the next generation Blu-ray format.

The vast majority of the film takes place solely in the center channel and though the multi-channel surround mix is an improvement, it is not nearly as much as the numbers would suggest. There were many scenes when the LED indicator light on my Infinity front channels was red, indicating that no sound was being sent to them. This was during 5.1 playback. Flipping between the mono mix and the surround mix did show that the 5.1 mix had a more spacious sound to it, but there were long periods where the difference was minimal. A few times, however, the 5.1 transfer livens up nicely. The train assault is one moment. During some of the more lively scenes, the rear surrounds wake up, though the .1 LFE channel is hardly noticeable. Sound was very clean and dialogue was good, but this 1981 vintage soundtrack is quite subdued.

Extras:

As was the case with the 25th Anniversary Release on DVD, "Reds" is spread across two discs for both of the High Definition releases. The first hour and forty-odd minutes of the film are found on the first disc, along with the New DVD Trailer that tries to explain the political importance of the film and its forthcoming release to DVD. I´ve found it odd that the DVD advertised itself, but now the Blu-ray release is advertising the DVD release. Still, I always find it odd when a film advertises itself. I guess if you rent the title, it may make some sense, but if you by the disc, do you really want it to advertise itself to you? After the intermission, the remaining hour and a half is found on the second disc.

An hour-long documentary, Witness to Reds is broken down into six chapters and presented on the second disc of the two-disc set. The first chapter, The Rising finds Warren Beatty discussing how he does not like the idea of doing interviews for DVDs. Thankfully, he decided to provide an interview in this newly created documentary on the film. The second chapter, Comrades discusses the casting of the film and how Beatty writes a story with the actors in mind. Testimonials details the finding of the witnesses and the manner in which these segments were filmed. The March discusses the locations used to substitute for Mother Russia in the film. It is rather interesting to hear the sheer number of locations used as Beatty tries to count them on his fingers. Revolution – Part 1 and Revolution – Part 2 detail the historical background of the film and the actors approaches to the picture. Propaganda discusses the marketing and the public acceptance of the film. Featuring Jack Nicholson, cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, producer Dede Allen and others, this newly created documentary is a nice inclusion for this long film, though considering it is the only supplement, makes the this new edition set feel a bit thin for spanning two discs.

Closing Comments:

I didn´t know what to expect with "Reds." I was excited by the cast and I love good historical period films. The romantic element in "Reds" was lost at times by the political aspirations of the characters and the strong plotlines related to their writing careers. Nicholson is low-key, but typically brilliant. Both Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton shine. The film is wonderfully crafted and credit must be given to Academy Award winning directory Warren Beatty for the idea of the witnesses. The film is a little too politically strong for my liking, but I felt it was a wonderful history lesson on the Bolshevik Revolution. The Blu-ray release is an improvement over the standard definition DVD release I have previously (and carbon-copied here) reviewed. The picture quality is a solid improvement over the DVD release, though nearly identical to the HD-DVD release. The sound track sounds pretty good considering the source materials, but was hardly an improvement over the DVD release. The supplements were limited to a one hour documentary freshly created and featuring many principals from the cast and crew. I would have loved a History Channel or A&E documentary on the real events from the film, but only the discussion with Warren Beatty and others is provided. "Reds" is a good film, but very strong on politics and light on action, humor or engaging scenery.

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