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    • BLU-RAY REVIEW

    Les Misérables

    Featured In Issue 176, April/May 2013

    Picture4.5
    Sound4
    WSR Score3.5
    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):
    Universal Studios Home Entertainment
    (Catalog Number):
    61125042
    (MPAA Rating):
    PG-13
    (Rating Reason):
    Suggestive and sexual material, violence and thematic elements
    (Retail Price):
    $34.98
    (Disc Type):
    Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
    (Widescreen Edition):
    Yes
    (Full Screen Edition):
    No
    (Running Time In Minutes):
    158
    (Color Type):
    Color
    (Chaptered/Scene Access):
    Yes
    (Closed Captioned):
    Yes
    (Regional Coding):
    Not Indicated
    (Theatrical Year):
    2012
    (Theatrical Release):
    Yes
    (Direct-To-Video Release):
    No
    (Disc Release Date):
    03/22/13
    (THX® Digitally Mastered):
    No
    (Director):
    Tom Hooper
    (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 7.1, DTS 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):

    Les Misérables is the epic musical story of ex-prisoner Jean Valjean (Jackman), hunted for decades by the ruthless policeman Javert (Crowe), after he breaks parole. When Valjean agrees to care for factory worker Fantine's (Hathaway) young daughter, Cosette, their lives change forever. Based on the novel by Victor Hugo and the original stage musical. (Gary Reber)

    Special features include commentary with Director Tom Hooper; the documentary Les Misérables: A Revolutionary Approach with the following chapters: The Stars Of Les Misérables (HD 11:13), The West End Connection (HD 08:23), Les Misérables On Location (HD 09:12), Creating The Perfect Paris (HD 03:53), Battle At The Barricade (HD 04:44), and Les Misérables Singing Live (HD 23:23); The Original Masterwork: Victor Hugo's Les Misérables (HD 11:11); BD-Live functionality, upfront ads; and an UltraViolet digital copy.

    The 1.85:1 1080p AVC picture is stylistically gritty, with a progression from dark ambiance to enlightenment. The first part exhibits a gritty, murky essence, with a slightly bluish, subdued color palette, with decent flagstone rendering. Blacks are deep and naturally presented, and shadow delineation is generally revealing. Resolution exhibits fine detail, especially during close-ups of facial features, hair, clothing, and object texture. These picture elements improve as the imagery graduates to a brighter contrast and colors become rich and vibrant, with a golden amber hue. Overall, the imagery is quite pleasingly compelling and engaging. (Gary Reber)

    The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 7.1-channel soundtrack features a full orchestral score, with emotional impact enhanced with nuanced ambient atmospheric sound elements. The vocals are nicely integrated into the orchestral mix with convincing spatial realism. But occasionally, the lyrics are difficult to understand when the singers are overwhelmed by the orchestra. The surround mix is in accordance with the Dolby® 7.1 Surround theatrical format positioning, with the added two channels placed at the rear. However, surround envelopment is nuanced, with the occasional burst of aggression enhanced with deep .1 LFE bass. As such, much of the soundtrack is frontal focused, with occasionally swelling soundfield action. While slightly compressed sounding, fidelity is generally excellent and natural sounding. (Gary Reber)

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