Election Blu-ray

Paramount Pictures | 1999 | 103 mins | Rated R | Jan 20, 2009

Large: Front Add to collection Set price tracking

Video Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video resolution: 1080p Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 Audio English: Dobly TrueHD 5.0 French: Dolby Digital 5.0 Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.0 English: Dobly TrueHD 5.0 French: Dolby Digital 5.0 Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.0 (less) Subtitles English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese (less) Disc 50GB Blu-ray Disc

Price List price: $29.99  Amazon: $14.99 (Save 50%) Third party: $11.48 (Save 62%) Usually ships in 24 hours Blu-ray rating Users 4.8 Reviewer 3.0 Overall 3.7 Based on 2 user ratings Playback Region A (B, C untested)

Election

Arriving with an above average yet underwhelming 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer, the Blu-ray edition of Election outclasses its standard DVD counterpart but never quite makes the most of its high definition presentation. Thankfully, Payne's washed out, wintery palette still offers fans more natural skintones, more vibrant primaries, and more stable contrast than previous releases. While blacks aren't as inky or resolved as I prefer, the darkest portions of the screen boast a nice filmic appearance, depth is fairly convincing, and shadow delineation is revealing. Detail also receives a noticeable boost -- close-ups feature crisper textures, improved clarity, and sharper edges (without as much intrusive or substantial edge enhancement) -- but several establishing shots and crowded scenes are a bit hazy, especially compared to the best BD transfers on the market. At times, I suspected Paramount had applied Digital Noise Reduction (DNR) to the picture, but I eventually became convinced that the softness was consistent with the director's aesthetic choices and the film's original print, making it tough to criticize the overall presentation.

That's not to say I didn't encounter any technical mishaps. The image is frequently dotted with white and black print specks, noise invades high and low contrast shots, the film's grain field is inconsistent, and I caught splashes of artifacts on at least three occasions. Sure, each issue is minor in the grand scheme of things but, taken as a whole, the picture isn't nearly as clean or reliable as it could have been. In the end, Election looks pretty good and should please fans of the film. It won't wow your neighbors, but it's still a solid step up from the standard DVD.

Election Blu-ray, Audio Quality

There's not a lot to analyze when it comes to Election's Dolby TrueHD 5.0 surround track (yep, that's not a typo... it's a 5.0 mix). Without a dedicated LFE channel, dynamics are weak and the soundscape doesn't have the weight audiophiles often associate with lossless audio. Just as it was with the video transfer, the results are admittedly faithful to the film's original presentation, but that's not saying much. It doesn't help that the soundfield is incredibly front-heavy, leaving the rear speakers with little to nothing to do other than enhance interior acoustics and environmental ambience. Of course, it's important to note that the film's sound design is so flat and uninvolving that no amount of studio tampering could have made it anything more. Luckily, dialogue is crisp, clean, and well prioritized across the front speakers. It certainly isn't a selling point for the disc, but I doubt the film will ever sound better than it does here.

Election Blu-ray, News and Updates

Election Blu-ray, Forum Discussions