The Green Mile Blu-ray

The Green Mile

 (1999)

Drama | Fantasy



Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) is the head of the block guards during the 1930's at the Cold Mountain Correctional Facility. Through his many years of watching men live and die Paul's faith and sanity has deteriorated. He is assigned to watch over John Coffey (Michael Duncan), a giant man convicted of murdering two little girls. But John acts more like a child than a cold hearted murderer. Edgecomb and other guards (Morse and Pepper) find themselves in a moral dilemma when they witness John accomplish healing miracles.

For more details about The Green Mile on Blu-ray, see The Green Mile Blu-ray Review

Starring: Tom Hanks, David Morse, Bonnie Hunt, Michael Clarke Duncan, James Cromwell
Director: Frank Darabont

The Green Mile Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


Much like The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile’s memory play aesthetic lends itself to a color palette soaked in nostalgic honey brown tones, a warm and slightly stylized appearance bolstered by a solid, but not quite perfect 1080p/VC-1 encoded transfer. This is certainly the best the film has ever looked on home video, and I personally wouldn’t hesitate to upgrade from the DVD, but there are a few slight issues that keep The Green Mile from being thoroughly impressive. Though the film has always had a strong sense of saturation and contrast, here primary colors can seem too strong at times—like old Mr. Edgecomb’s red rain slicker or the yellow cast in young Paul’s house—and black levels have a tendency to crush detail during some of the dimmer indoor scenes. Dark hair sometimes becomes a mass of solid black, sides of faces are lost to chiaroscuro shadows, and the lapels and pockets of the prison guards’ deep navy uniforms are frequently indiscernible. How much of this is intentional is hard to say, but in all other ways, this is a winning transfer. Aside from a few soft shots, clarity is exceptional, with every pore, crease, and bead of sweat visible on Tom Hanks’ face. I noticed some light edge enhancement during a few scenes, but you’d have to go out of your way to look for it. Film lovers will also be glad to hear that The Green Mile retains all of its natural and pleasing grain structure, which is thin enough most of the time that even the most virulent grain haters won’t mind. And as the film fits nicely onto a 50-GB platter, you won’t find any compression-related problems like banding or blocking. If it weren’t for the occasionally too strong black levels I would probably be singing this transfer’s praises, but even with the crush I found the film’s picture quality to be warm, sharp, and inviting.

The Green Mile Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


It might not be rife with bombastic, ear-pummeling, channel-panning sound design, but The Green Mile’s Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track is dynamically solid, clean as a whistle, and modestly engaging. The rear speakers nearly always broadcast subtle ambient sounds—rain pours, thunder claps, birds chirp, crickets sing, chain gangs clank, and electricity zizzits ominously, a portent of lethal surges to come. Indeed, the electrocution scenes find this track at its most active and disturbing, with the buzzing hum of power mixed with squealing, frying, and crackling sounds not unlike bacon sizzling on a griddle. With the exception of some mumbled lines by Michael Clark Duncan, dialogue is crisp and clear, well prioritized even in the more sonically cluttered scenes (of which there are few). Actually, the track is quite impressive when dealing with small sound effects that need to stand out from Thomas Newman’s fantastic score. I loved hearing Mr. Jingle’s little paws patter across the linoleum floor of the green mile, just discernable enough to register as convincing. Though short on sonic theatrics, this track suits the largely dialogue-driven film and frequently builds up an involving ambient soundfield.

The Green Mile Blu-ray, News and Updates

• Boogie Nights Blu-ray as Best Buy Exclusive - December 6, 2009


• Today on Blu-ray - December 1st - December 1, 2009


• Gremlins and Green Mile See Expanded Release - November 4, 2009


• Another Best Buy Exclusive: The Green Mile BD (Update) - October 16, 2009

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