Breaker Morant Blu-ray

Breaker Morant

 (1980)

Drama | History | War



Based on a true story, Breaker Morant is the tale of three soldiers who are court-martialed at the end of the Boer War. When one of their comrades is ambushed and killed, three soldiers seek revenge and kill a Boer Solider. The act of murder and the mysterious disappearance of a German missionary leads to the arrest of the three men. In one of the most controversial court-martials in military history, they are defended by Major Thomas, small town Australian solicitor who has only been given one day to prepare the case.

For more details about Breaker Morant on Blu-ray, see the Breaker Morant Blu-ray Review

Starring: Edward Woodward, Bryan Brown, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Jack Thompson, John Waters
Director: Bruce Beresford

Breaker Morant Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


Image Entertainment has released Breaker Morant for the first time in Blu-ray high definition with generally excellent results. Framed in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio, the source material definitely shows its age but also manages to impress with the full 1080p treatment. The image retains its inherent grain, which is visible throughout, though it is never a distraction. The print, while showing signs of wear as evidenced by splotches and speckles throughout, remains in mostly good condition, holding up well to the scrutiny of high definition. I noted a marked improvement in overall quality partway through the film, as excessive spotting, softness, and lack of definition seemingly vanished in favor of a cleaner, clearer picture. Troublesome spots certainly remained, but there was an improvement nevertheless. I did note some instances of what appeared to be video noise around the 36 minute mark, but I never noted it again. Black levels fare remarkably well, and the image showcases some extraordinary detail here and there, notably under the controlled lighting of the courtroom during close-up shots. Several scenes appear to be somewhat soft. I noted one sequence where the camera jumped from one close-up of an actor to a close-up of another. One looked clear, detailed, and bright, while the other appeared a bit smudgy and soft. Overall, for a film of this age and budget, I was very impressed with the results.

Breaker Morant Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


Breaker Morant comes to Blu-ray sporting a DTS-HD MA 2.0 soundtrack. Thankfully, the powers-that-be at Image Entertainment have foregone the temptation to re-mix this into a full blown surround experience, instead providing us with a lossless rendition of the original source material. As a 2.0 track, surrounds and LFE are nonexistent, which is perfectly fine for a film whose original mix eschewed these elements to begin with. This film is almost completely dialogue driven, featuring very little in the way of music or ambience. While I was mostly pleased with dialogue reproduction, I found it a bit muffled on occasion, and I had to rewind the disc and turn on the subtitles to see what I had missed out on. The accents of the actors are not so thick as to throw off American viewers. Most sound effects, such as trotting horses and gunshots, seemed weak in comparison to what is available today, but I'll take "weak" and "original" over "powerful" and "phony" any day of the week. Breaker Morant won't be the best sounding disc in your collection, but don't let the 2.0 monicker or the slightly lower score here fool you. You are getting a high definition experience, true to the source material.

Breaker Morant Blu-ray, Forum Discussions

Topic

Replies

Last post