A River Runs Through It (1992/Umbrella Entertainment/Region B Blu-ray Import)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B Extras:
C Film: C
PLEASE NOTE: This Blu-ray
is only available in the U.K.
from our friends at Umbrella Entertainment and can be ordered from them at the
website address link provided below at the end of the review or at finer retailers. This is a Region B Blu-ray and will only play
on Region B or Region Free Blu-ray players, so make certain yours is before
ordering. All the supplements are in 1080i
High Definition.
I have
mixed feelings about Robert Redford as a director. I liked how he began with the enduring Ordinary People (1980), but thought Quiz Show (1994) did not work as well
as it should have and Lions For Lambs
(2007) missed the boat in too many ways.
His third film in 1992 was A
River Runs Through It, based on Norman Maclean’s story (script by Richard
Friedenberg) of a reverend father (Tom Skerritt in a somewhat thankless role)
whose effect on his sons Norman (Craig Sheffer) and Paul (Brad Pitt) is to try
and be a moral center in an untamed world, but all is about to change as the
boys become men. Oh, and they fly fish
often.
Though
well shot, well acted and made on an A-level, I never really could enjoy this
film and felt it either boring, predictable or not going all the way with what
was happening with the characters. Emily
Lloyd, Brenda Blethyn and Edie McClurg are part of a solid supporting cast, but
I never totally bought the story or the situation. It also seems obvious that they are all
partly doomed in some profound way as the first scene begins. It has a following, but fell short for me,
putting it somewhere in between Redford’s
directing cannon.
The 1080p
1.66 X 1 digital High Definition image was shot in 35mm film by Director of
Photography Philippe Rousselot (Hope
& Glory, The Brave One, The People Vs. Larry Flynt) and there
is no doubt his work saved this film from loosing money on some level and his
work has always given it a reputation as a good-looking movie. The transfer here has fine detail and depth,
more than I expected and on par with (unreviewed) the Sony U.S. Blu-ray. That Blu-ray also had a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix,
but this one has a DTS-HD Master Audio (MA) lossless 5.1 mix that sounds just
as good, but this is an often quiet film that is dialogue-based, so don’t
expect much in the way of a major soundfield, but it is well recorded just the
same down to the Mark Isham score.
Extras
include the original theatrical trailer and a 56-minutes long making of featurette
call Shadow
Casting.
As noted
above, you can order this Region B Blu-ray exclusively from Umbrella at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
Nicholas Sheffo
