BLU-RAY REVIEW

Wings Of Desire (Der Himmel Uber Berlin)

Featured In Issue 145, December 2009

Picture4
Sound3
WSR Score5
Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
(Studio/Distributor):
The Criterion Collection
(Catalog Number):
490
(MPAA Rating):
PG-13
(Rating Reason):
(Retail Price):
$39.95
(Disc Type):
Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
No
(Running Time In Minutes):
128
(Color Type):
B/W With Color Sequences
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
A
(Theatrical Year):
1987
(Theatrical Release):
Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release):
No
(Disc Release Date):
11/03/09
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
No
(Director):
Wim Wenders
(Screenplay/Written By):
(Story):
(Music):
(Director Of Photography):
(Production Designer):
(Visual Effects):
(Costume Designer):
(Editor):
(Supervising Sound Editors):
(Re-Recording Mixers):
(Executive Producers):
(Co-Producers):
(Producers):
(Academy Awards):
(Principal Photography):
(Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
(Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
(Disc Soundtrack):
DTS HD Lossless 5.1
(Theatrical Sound):
(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
(DTS Bit Rate):
(Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
(Additional Languages):
(French Language):
(Spanish Language):
(Chinese Language):
(Subtitles):
(Cantonese Language):
(Mandarin Language):
(Japanese Language):
(Italian Language):
(German Language):
(Portuguese Language):

In Wim Wenders' imaginative and lyrical Wings Of Desire (Der Himmel Uber Berlin), Damiel (Ganz) and Cassiel (Sander) are angels who watch over the city of Berlin. Without harps, halos, or robes, they travel unseen through the city, studying people and listening to their thoughts. But when Damiel finds a troubled trapeze artist named Marion (Dommartin), he so desperately wants to comfort her that he decides to become human to be with her. This film preceded 1993's Far Away, So Close (In Weiter Ferne, So Nah!) and inspired the American film City Of Angels. (Suzanne Hodges)


Special features include commentary with Director Wim Wenders and Star Peter Falk; the documentary The Angels Among Us (SD 43:09); an episode from the French TV program Cinéma Cinémas (SD 09:24); nine deleted scenes with commentary by Wenders (SD 32:13); outtakes (SD 06:50); a photo gallery; the following featurettes/interviews: Alekan '85 (SD 10:16), Alekan La Lumiere (SD 27:11), and Remembrance (SD 29:42); two trailers; and a 30-page booklet.

As with the previously reviewed anamorphically enhanced 1.78:1 DVD in Issue 75, the 1.67:1 picture exhibits fascinating cinematography that utilizes ethereal black-and-white imagery for the points of view of the angels. The gray scale is well balanced, with deep blacks and soft whites. Most of the color shots, which represent a human's viewpoint, are intentionally rough, to contrast the simple beauty of the black-and-white images. Film grain is inherent in the source element (though it seems to be an intentional part of the imagery). The new transfer is pristine otherwise, and no longer suffers from the previous edge enhancement, which could be terribly annoying at times, almost separating an object from its background. The picture overall is nicely presented and is sure to please. (Gary Reber/Suzanne Hodges)

As with the previously reviewed Dolby® Digital remastered 5.1 soundtrack, the DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack features dimensionality that is characteristically reserved. Some soundstaging can be noticed across the screen, but the surrounds are essentially silent. Fidelity is noticeably dated. One distinguishing aspect of the soundtrack's creativity is with the dialogue. In addition to the incidental voices, there is an extensive narrative and voices associated with the "thoughts" of various characters heard by the angel. At times "pumping" distortion can be heard, and the voices sound strident. (Gary Reber/Perry Sun)