Legend

Based on the book The Profession Of Violence by John Pearson, Legend tells the story of a pair of ruthless upstarts, Reggie and Ronnie Kray (Hardy). The Kray twins dominated the East End of London for years, until a police investigation. Ronnie's self-destructive tendencies, and the disintegration of Reggie's marriage, threatened to destroy the empire they built. As the brothers rise through the criminal underworld, Ronnie advances the family business with violence and intimidation while Reggie struggles to go legitimate for local girl Frances Shea (Browning). In and out of prison, Ronnie's unpredictable tendencies and the slow disintegration of Reggie's marriage threaten to bring the brothers' empire tumbling to the ground. This is an edgy and action-packed true story. (Gary Reber)

Special features include commentary with Writer/Director Brian Helgeland, the featurette Creating The Legend (HD 11:03), upfront previews, and an UltraViolet digital copy.

The 2.38:1 1080p AVC picture is beautifully photographed and exhibits impressive period realism and imagery. The color palette is perfectly natural with well-balanced contrast, deep natural blacks, and revealing shadow delineation. Hues are rich and warm with strong primaries. There is never an exaggeration in intensity, yet there is impressive vibrancy and color density in various scenes. Fleshtones are perfectly natural throughout. Resolution is excellent, with fine detail evident in a myriad of textures, facial features, hair, clothing, structures, and objects from city streets, brick buildings, night club/casino settings, etc. The shots of the English countryside are appealingly green. Night photography is superb. This is a terrific visual experience that adds up to impressive reference quality. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 7.1-channel soundtrack is dynamic sounding, accentuated with deep bass .1 LFE transients and solid dimensionality, creating a sense of spatial depth. Dialogue is nicely integrated spatially and is mostly intelligible, except for when Ronnie speaks, which sounds garbled with an East London heavy Cockney accent. Atmospherics and sound effects are totally realistic and effectively directional across the soundstage, with nuanced extension to the surrounds. The music score is a wonderful mix of pop sixties, jazz drum kit, rock, and orchestral genres, all very well recorded with superb clarity. This is an excellent soundtrack that with the addition of the two added surround channels, at times sounds nicely holosonic®. Every element of this soundtrack works beautifully to complete the storytelling realism. (Gary Reber)