The Notebook Blu-ray

Limited Edition Gift Set

New Line Cinema | 2004 | 124 mins | Rated PG-13 | Jan 20, 2009

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Video Video codec: VC-1 Video resolution: 1080p Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 Audio English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English: Dolby Digital 5.1 French: Dolby Digital 5.1 Russian: Dolby Digital 5.1 English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English: Dolby Digital 5.1 French: Dolby Digital 5.1 Russian: Dolby Digital 5.1 (less) Subtitles English, Spanish, German, Russian English, Spanish, German, Russian (less) Disc 50GB Blu-ray Disc

Price List price: $39.99  Amazon: $23.99 (Save 40%) Third party: $22.98 (Save 43%) Usually ships in 24 hours Blu-ray rating Users 4.6 Reviewer 3.5 Overall 4.2 Based on 8 user ratings Playback Region free

The Notebook

The Notebook features a crisp and colorful 1080p/VC-1 transfer that quickly puts its standard DVD counterpart to shame. The film’s palette is vibrant, its interior scenes warm, and its exterior shots are ripe with lush greens and striking blues. Fleshtones are a bit flushed during the first act, but it appears to be an intentional tweak Cassavetes employed to make his young stars look even younger. Delineation is revealing, blacks are dark and deep (aside from some brief but problematic nighttime sequences), and contrast is spot on. More importantly, the BD transfer boasts sharp fine details and a series of refined textures. Fans no longer have to suffer through the murky, cluttered confines of the poorly-encoded DVD – individual hairs are well rendered, skin textures have been preserved, and distant details like swaying grass and healthy trees look fantastic. A handful of soft shots pop up here and there, but such filmic discrepancies should be attributed to the original print rather than the technical proficiency of the transfer. Best of all, the image isn’t hindered by the rampant artifacting, source noise, and banding that plague the standard DVD.

Sigh… if only there wasn’t so much edge enhancement. Take a moment and click on any of the screenshots on this page (pay particular attention to the silhouetted boatman and the soldiers in the snowfield). Notice the intrusive white lines that outline every actor, building, and foreground object in many of the shots? It’s a noticeable and pervasive issue that tends to spoil the otherwise remarkable transfer. In this age of high definition and impeccable clarity, post-processing nonsense like edge enhancement (and digital noise reduction) are lazy, counterintuitive, and unnecessary.

The Notebook Blu-ray, Audio Quality

The Blu-ray edition of The Notebook arrives with a stirring Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track that delivers a more robust and involving representation of the film’s original sound design than the standard DVD's paper-thin audio ever could. While the majority of the film is centered around hushed conversations and quiet exchanges, dialogue is intelligible, weighty, and perfectly prioritized within the mix. Even when voices share the soundscape with elements like Aaron Zigman's expressive score, the film’s rousing period music, or one of Cassavetes more involving sequences (among them a fierce storm and a WWII bombing run), every word is unmistakably clear. The LFE channel doesn’t have a lot to do, but it does imbue every action and movement with realistic heft and presence. Likewise, the rear speakers aren’t tasked with any complicated action scenes, but they effectively enhance the film’s interior acoustics and environmental ambience. Best of all, pans are smooth and transparent, directionality is accurate, and the soundfield is immersive.

The Notebook may not be filled with lumbering robots, rampaging superheroes, or blaring gunfire, but its TrueHD track will still satisfy any audiophile capable of appreciating a subtle sonic experience.

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