Gilbert & Sullivan 1982 Series (Umbrella Entertainment Region 4/Four DVD Import Box Set) + The Last Emperor (1987/Umbrella Entertainment Region B Blu-ray) + A Room With A View (1985/Umbrella Entertainment Region 4/Four DVD)

 

Picture: C+/B-/C+     Sound: B-/B-/C+     Extras: D/B-/C-     Main Programs/Films:

 

 

Gilbert & Sullivan 1982 Series  B

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1881/Gilbert+&+Sullivan+-+The+Master+Col

 

The Last Emperor  B-

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8039/The+Last+Emperor+(1987/Criterion+Bl

 

A Room With A View  B-

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6219/A+Room+With+A+View+(HD-DVD+and

 

 

 

PLEASE NOTE: The DVDs covered here can only be operated on machines capable of playing back DVDs that can handle Region 4/Four PAL format software, while the Blu-ray can only be played on machines that can handle Region B encoded software.  All can be ordered from our friends at Umbrella Entertainment at the website address provided at the end of the review.

 

 

I decided to include the links to our previous coverage of each release in their best U.S. versions so those unfamiliar can look them up.  Each is a key release with major critical acclaim, but it does not necessarily mean I think they are as great as some others might.

 

In the case of Gilbert & Sullivan, this is actually an upgraded, extended version of the Acorn Media DVD set I covered many years ago.  Their set included:

 

H.M.S. Pinafore

Iolanthe

The Gondoliers

The Mikado

Patience

The Pirates Of Penzance

Princess Ida

Ruddigore

The Sorcerer

The Yeoman Of The Guard

 

The Umbrella set not only upgrades all the content to DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mixed (though retaining the Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), it also adds The Sorcerer (included on the Patience DVD) with Clive Revill, Trial By Jury and Cox and Box on a whole new DVD.  The additional performances make this a better set and why they were not on the Acorn edition, I do not know.  The 1.33 X 1 picture is the same as the Acorn set, all originating in analog PAL video and all playing back about as well as can be expected for their age.  Again expect minor aliasing and flaws like the Acorn set.  If the extra shows were not enough, the sound upgrades to DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 (likely done to compete against the cycle of Blu-rays with lossless PCM and DTS 5.1 and 7.1 mixes sounds better than the Dolby Digital 2.0 mixes included on this set and the old Acorn set.  The result is that you get much more sound and music out of the original sound materials.  There are no other extras like the Acorn set had, but the improvements here are more than enough to now make this Gilbert & Sullivan set the definitive version of the series just the same.

 

The Last Emperor (1987) was hailed as a great Blu-ray from Criterion and this new Blu-ray from Umbrella is exactly the same as that with the same 2.00 X 1 1080p digital High Definition transfer and extras, but the DTS-HD (Master Audio) MA lossless 2.0 Stereo soundtrack has been expanded to DTS MA 5.1.  Unfortunately, I was unhappy with the image on both, feeling it was not as clean or clear as the 35mm presentation I saw at the time, let alone being the material that was good enough to have 70mm blow-ups.  Those blow-ups had 4.1 six-track Dolby magnetic surround sound, so the older DTS mix under-whelmed me and though this is a little better, I still feel it is lacking in soundfield.  Some may also prefer it to the Criterion mix as I do.  As for the film, I think it is good, but not Bertolucci’s best work despite it winning the Best Picture Oscar and sadly ending an era of international epics that were exceptional smart and cinematic.  Though the cast is good and locations undeniable, there has always been a lack of edge to the film that made Bertolucci’s previous works so compelling.  Still, it is an ambitious film and Bertolucci slowly declined as a filmmaker afterwards.

 

That leaves the also watchable A Room With A View (1985), which we have already covered on Blu-ray and the now-defunct HD-DVD format, so here it is one more time (and for the first time on this site) on DVD.  In that, it is a good basic edition, but the anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image though colorful and from what looks like the same HD video master, can be soft and a little smeared in parts, while Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is the only audio option and its surrounds are no match for the 5.1 mixes on the Blu-ray.  A Stills Gallery is the only extra, lacking all the other goodies on the still-available U.S. BBC Blu-ray, but maybe Umbrella will have that and even more when they do a Blu-ray.

 

 

As noted above, you can order the Blu-ray and PAL DVD imports exclusively from Umbrella at:

 

http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo