Brazil 4K Ultra HD

In "Brazil," a bureaucrat in a dystopic society becomes an enemy of the state as he pursues the woman of his dreams. Low-level bureaucrat Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) escapes the monotony of his day-to-day life through a recurring daydream of himself as a virtuous hero saving a beautiful damsel. Investigating a case that led to the wrongful arrest and eventual death of an innocent man instead of wanted terrorist Harry Tuttle (Robert De Niro), he meets the woman from his daydream and, in trying to help her, gets caught in a web of mistaken identities, mindless bureaucracy, and lies. (Gary Reber)

Special features include a 1996 commentary with Director Tery Gilliam.

The 1.85:1 2160p HEVC/H.265 Ultra HD Dolby Visio/HDR10 picture, reviewed on a VIZIO Quantum X P85QX-JI UHD/HDR display, was photographed on Kodak 35 mm film using the J-D-C camera system and sourced from a 4K master Digital Intermediate format derived from the original 36 mm camera negative, supervised and approved by Director Terry Gilliam. Film grain for the most part noise reduced with a few .brief frames where it is noticeable. The picture features an amazing diversity of sets and electronic equipment along with dreamy sequences and wild interior settings to create a seemingly nightmarish dream. Color fidelity is excellent with a saturated range of nuanced and strong hues, including strong primaries that pop. The production design provides this varied color palette to burst off the screen. Flesh tones appear perfectly natural. HDR contrast is excellent. Black levels are deep and solid, as exhibited, for example, in the tuxedos worn by the men at a cocktail party. Shadow delineation is revealing of excellent depth. White level illumination is brilliant. Resolution is superb with fine detail along with image sharpness and clarity. Facial features are finely resolved as are objects and structural features of sets. Fans of Brazil will be enormously satisfied with this 4K Ultra HD restoration. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. stereo soundtrack is compressed and distorted in the sound effects element, such as the numerous segments of explosions and gunfire. Fidelity is excellent for dialogue. And the sound design delivers with regards to atmospherics and Foley sound effects, which are in perfect sync with picture. However, overall, fidelity is less than pristine. There is no surround track as this is strictly a stereo presentation. Dialogue is intelligible with generally good spatial integration. Overall, this is a serviceable stereo soundtrack. Too bad a modern Immersive Sound treatment could not have been done as the material certainly is ripe for such. (Gary Reber)