The Last Emperor [Blu-ray]
Starring: John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'TooleDirector: Bernardo Bertolucci
Studio: Criterion Collection
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Format: Color, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC, Widescreen
Running Time: 164 minutes
DVD Release: January 6th 2009
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DVD Review
Bernardo Bertolucci s The Last Emperor won nine Academy Awards, unexpectedly sweeping every category in which it was nominated quite a feat for a challenging, multilayered epic directed by an Italian and starring an international cast. Yet the power and scope of the film was, and remains, undeniable the life of Emperor Pu Yi, who took the throne at age three, in 1908, before witnessing decades of cultural and political upheaval, within and without the walls of the Forbidden City. Recreating Ching-dynasty China with astonishing detail and unparalleled craftsmanship by cinematographer Vittorio Storaro and production designer Ferdinando Scarfiotti, The Last Emperor is also an intimate character study of one man reconciling personal responsibility and political legacy.
DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY EDITION FEATURES:
Restored, high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by cinematographer Vittorio Storaro
DTS-HD Master Audio stereo surround soundtrack
Audio commentary by director Bernardo Bertolucci, producer Jeremy Thomas, screenwriter Mark Peploe, and composer-actor Ryuichi Sakamoto
The Italian Traveler: Bernardo Bertolucci, a 53-minute film by Fernand Mozskowicz, tracing the director s geographic influences, from Parma to China
Video images taken by Bertolucci in China
The Chinese Adventure of Bernardo Bertolucci, a 52-minute documentary that revisits the film s creation
A 47-minute documentary featuring Storaro, editor Gabriella Cristiana, costume designer James Acheson, and art director Gianni Silvestri
A 66-minute documentary exploring Bertolucci s creative process and the making of The Last Emperor
A 30-minute interview with Bertolucci from 1989
Interview with composer David Byrne
Interview with Ian Buruma examining the historical period of the film
Theatrical trailer
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic David Thomson
User Reviews
Don't waste your money or support this truly below average quality release by Criterion - Rating: 1/5
This is one of the worst Blu-Ray releases I have seen. There is so much grain in 98% of the movie that Criterion should be disgusted with their blatant opportunism.
I guess I won't be buying any of Criterion's Blu-Ray releases in the future until I see a Blu-Ray review confirming whether or not Criterion chose to release a DVD version on Blu-Ray or actually mastered a new version from the original film itself.
Don't waste your money on this garbage release!! Especially if you already own the DVD version which actually has less grain/noise. The small amount of added details in the occasional close up scenes do not even come close to making up for the distraction caused by the sheer volume of grain/noise. If you have a decent video setup at all, you will find yourself constantly distracted by the noise particles all over your screen.
Shame Criterion! Shame! You owe everyone who bought this a full refund or a rerelease. Even the original Blu-Ray releases of Stargate and 5th Element weren't as annoying, because at least they had the excuse of inadequate time to get the early Blu-Ray releases out, and after the fact they allowed us to send in our initial release versions for re-mastered copies of the films after the fact. Criterion has no excuse, they need to rerelease this properly and give everyone who bought a copy a chance to send it in for an exchange...
Blu-ray eye candy - Rating: 5/5
This is a review for the 164 minute version of the movie that is contained on the Blu-ray disc. The longer version on the DVD, that many here have commented on, was not a director's cut but was an edit that was shown as a mini series on Italian television.
The Blu-ray transfer of this film is outstanding, with rich colors, strong detail and with clear and vivid audio. Epic in scope and beautifully filmed by Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now, Reds, One from the Heart & many others),
The Last Emperor reminds me why I love films. The movie has strong performances, interesting locations, lavish costumes and beautiful art direction. This film is a reminder that it used to be possible to make visually rich productions without CGI.
The Blu-ray disc contains hours of extra content including interviews with the director Bertolucci, composer David Byrne, editor Gabriella Cristiana, costume designer James Acheson, and art director Gianni Silvestri. There is also an interesting Interview with historian Ian Buruma that fills in many of the historical details of the events depicted in the film. Criterion did a fantastic job with this Blu-ray release. Highly recommended.
Compare DVD to Blu-Ray - Rating: 3/5
I will not purchase the Blu-Ray version as I like the extended cut on DVD. It is sad when a company downgrades a movie from DVD to Blu-Ray. I was so pleased when The Kingdom of Heaven came out on Blu-Ray. I was longer and filled in all the missing parts missing in the original DVD. This is what Blu-Ray is to me. Better reproduction. More features. And if possible the addition of deleted or missing parts from the DVD.
Great Movie - Rating: 5/5
This is one of the best movies that I have in my collection. The Blu Ray version is excellant. The colors are so vibrant and the sound is great. It is the story of the last emperor of China, Pu Yi. It is well worth the money and the time to watch.
Defective Criterion Blu-Ray Soundtrack - Rating: 2/5
Sadly, Criterion's Blu-Ray edition of THE LAST EMPEROR has a quality control problem severe enough to note here. The DTS surround track has been incorrectly mastered in monaural for the first couple of hours into the picture. Hopefully Criterion will correct the problem on subsequent prints, otherwise their standard dvd version is the one to own for now.
