Wings of Desire Blu-ray

Wings of Desire

 (1987)

Drama | Fantasy



Damiel is an angel perched atop buildings high over Berlin who can hear the thoughts—fears, hopes, and dreams—of all the people living below. But when he falls in love with a beautiful trapeze artist, he is willing to give up his immortality to come back to earth to be with her.

For more details about Wings of Desire on Blu-ray, see the Wings of Desire Blu-ray Review

Starring: Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin
Director: Wim Wenders

Wings of Desire Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


Presented in the director's preferred aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

Director Wim Wenders supervised and approved this new high-definition digital transfer, which was created from a 35mm interpositive and a 35mm internegative scanned in 4:4:4 24P resolution on a Spirit Datacine.

This Blu-ray release of Wings of Desire is leaps and bounds better than the Special Edition R1 SDVD MGM released a couple of years ago. Detail is fantastic, clarity great and contrast excellent throughout the entire film. The B&W sequences, in particular, look outstanding. The grain structure of the film is also fully intact. Additionally, neither edge-enhancement nor macroblocking are an issue of concern. There are no stability issues to report either - when blown through a digital projector, Wings of Desire looks great.

Criterion's Blu-ray release of Wings of Desire also looks notably healthier than the SDVD R1 release. Indeed, there are absolutely no disturbing scratches, debris, dirt, or stains to report. This being said, there are two scenes where a noticed a tiny but of chroma popping up, which is the only reason I am not giving Wings of Desire our highest score.

Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content.

Wings of Desire Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: German (with portions of English and French): DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

The soundtrack for Wings of Desire was originally created on an LTRT stereo format. The soundtrack for this Blu-ray release is presented in a multichannel format. Supervised and approved by director Wim Wenders, it has been remastered and remixed at 24-bit from the original 35mm stems.

I have absolutely no reservations with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track whatsoever. The dialog is crisp, clear and very easy to follow. Additionally, there are no disturbing pops, cracks, or hissings to report. The music - and especially Nick Cave's performances - sounds terrific. The bass, in particular, is rich and surprisingly potent. There are no balance issues to report either.

Wings of Desire Blu-ray, News and Updates

• Today on Blu-ray - November 3rd - November 3, 2009


• Slight Delay for Three Criterion BDs (Update) - September 16, 2009


• Criterion October Wave: Howards End, Monsoon Wedding, Wings of De... - July 17, 2009