BLU-RAY REVIEW

Good Night, And Good Luck

Featured In Issue 113, October 2006

Picture5
Sound4
WSR Score3
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):
Warner Home Video
(Catalog Number):
82842
(MPAA Rating):
PG
(Rating Reason):
For mild thematic elements and brief language
(Retail Price):
$28.99
(Disc Type):
Single Side, Single Layer (BD-25)
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
No
(Running Time In Minutes):
93
(Color Type):
Black & White
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
1
(Theatrical Year):
2005
(Theatrical Release):
Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release):
No
(Disc Release Date):
08/01/06
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
No
(Director):
George Clooney
(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):
Dolby Digital 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 the early 1950s, Edward R. Murrow (Strathairn) bravely led the press in a fight against Senator Joseph McCarthy to exploit his wrongful accusations that certain Americans were Communists and security threats. While many sat silent for fear that they themselves would be targeted, Murrow put his career at risk by facing CBS executives and opening the eyes of the American public with such a controversial topic in lieu of entertainment. Strathairn's subtle and serious Oscar®-nominated performance demands the respect of his audience. Until then...Good Night, And Good Luck. (Suzanne Hodges)

Special features are the same as those found on the DVD: audio commentary with Filmmakers George Clooney and Grant Heslov, a 15-minute companion piece for viewers who wish to know more behind the making of the film, and the theatrical trailer.

Both the MPEG-2-encoded Blu-ray Disc and VC-1-encoded HD DVD black-and-white 1.78:1 picture look very good, with fine detail, impressive gray scaling, and deep blacks. Both versions have been transferred very well, almost completely devoid of source element artifacts and edge enhancement. Even using different codecs and having different total bit space (the HD DVD version uses a single-layer 15-GB disc and the Blu-ray Disc version uses a single-layer 25-GB disc), the two look very, very similar. If anything, the HD DVD version has a slight edge in three-dimensionality, although they are so close it is difficult to determine what exactly contributes to it. This is a very good picture on both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc, perhaps the best picture I have seen thus far on both formats. (Danny Richelieu)

The HD DVD's Dolby® Digital Plus encoding and the Blu-ray Disc's Dolby Digital encoding both, again, sound very similar. The 5.1-channel soundtrack is rather subdued, with little surround envelopment or spread across the front stage. Dialogue is recorded well, though, and the benefit in fidelity provided by both audio formats is pristine. There is a slight hum that can be heard at times, but it does not become overly distracting. It is almost impossible to hear any difference between the two formats. If anything, there is a slight increase in the soundtrack's fluidity with the HD DVD version, but, again, it is slight. (Danny Richelieu)