Burn After Reading Blu-ray

Burn After Reading

 (2008)

Comedy | Crime



An ousted CIA official's memoir accidentally falls into the hands of two unwise gym employees intent on exploiting their find.

For more details about Burn After Reading on Blu-ray, see the Burn After Reading Blu-ray Review

Starring: Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, John Malkovich
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Burn After Reading Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


While the 1080p 1.85:1 picture delivers oodles of definition and contrast, the color palette is a bit washed out. Skin colors are passable, but still look someone lifeless, for an overall clinical or cold feel. Rather than a problem with the transfer for Blu-ray production, this type of picture was a stylistic choice by the filmmakers. I'm not sure if it was all in film choice or camera settings, but whatever accomplished the look and feel of the picture, it isn't the result of DNR because there is subtle, small grain throughout the entire film. The appearance of the picture stays constant throughout Burn After Reading: good resolution, subdued color palett and film-like, evenly distributed grain with only the slightest hint it has been digitized.

Dark scenes show good shadow detail and inky black level. This is especially important because of the way Burn After Reading was shot. Characters and objects in the foreground tend to look highly detailed, while the back goes soft, showing blurred backgrounds with interesting gradients between areas out of focus and occasionally an impressionist halo around bright areas. The first dusk scene, showing Harry jogging and Osbourne's boat as night settles in, offers good evidence of the quality transfer. Nowhere is there a hint of artifacting, banding or strobing. The picture is rock solid. It does not look as good as No Country for Old Men, which features the brilliant camerawork of Roger Deakins, but few Blu-rays do.

Burn After Reading Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


The audio engineering throughout Burn After Reading is involving, convincing and highly detailed. Transferred to a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, it is reference material all the way, with luscious, extended treble, gorgeous midrange and taut bass. It's more than up to the dialog challenge, providing good layering of voices in scenes where people are talking over each other. Even better, the modern, urban music that provides some sense of intrigue and suspense allows the brushwork on the snare to sound airy and defined as if real musician is in the room with his drum kit. When the bass kicks in, it has similar presence and palpability. A good scene to gage the realism of the audio engineering is after Harry suffers a major shock and is having trouble getting along with Katie Cox. After she confronts him about his bad attitude, he storms upstairs to grab his belongings. Listen to the sound of his footsteps as Harry leaves the room where Katie is sitting, stomps up the stairs, heads through the hallway and into the bedroom--each area having a different effect on the sound of shoes on hardwood floor--and finally back down the stairs again. The varying reverberation is paid off especially well, without a hint of digital squashing of dynamics.

Burn After Reading Blu-ray, News and Updates

• Burn After Reading is Blu-ray Bound - October 28, 2008

Burn After Reading Blu-ray, Forum Discussions

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