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    • BLU-RAY REVIEW

    Reds

    Featured In Issue 115, December 2006

    Picture3
    Sound2.5
    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):
    Paramount Home Entertainment
    (Catalog Number):
    11976
    (MPAA Rating):
    PG
    (Rating Reason):
    (Retail Price):
    $29.99
    (Disc Type):
    Two-Disc Set, HD-30s
    (Widescreen Edition):
    Yes
    (Full Screen Edition):
    No
    (Running Time In Minutes):
    195
    (Color Type):
    Color
    (Chaptered/Scene Access):
    Yes
    (Closed Captioned):
    Yes
    (Regional Coding):
    Not Indicated
    (Theatrical Year):
    1981
    (Theatrical Release):
    Yes
    (Direct-To-Video Release):
    No
    (Disc Release Date):
    11/07/06
    (THX® Digitally Mastered):
    No
    (Director):
    Warren Beatty
    (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, Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
    (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):

    Celebrating its 25th anniversary and arriving on DVD for the first time, Reds is Warren Beatty's award-winning epic set during World War I. Interspersed with interviews with real-life witnesses to the revolution, the story revolves around American journalist, activist, and Communist John Reed (Beatty) and his affair with married writer/feminist Louise Bryant (Keaton). (Tricia Spears)

    Special features are identical to those found on the standard-definition DVD—The only special feature on Disc One of the DVD is the DVD trailer. Disc Two contains seven Witness To Reds featurettes: The Rising (6-1/2 minutes), Comrades (13-1/2 minutes), Testimonials (12 minutes), The March (nine minutes), Revolution—Part 1 (seven minutes), Revolution—Part 2 (seven minutes), and Propaganda (nine minutes). The HD DVD has the same special features as the DVD.

    The anamorphically enhanced 1.78:1 DVD picture is cleaned up very well, with little in the way of source element artifacts and well-rendered colors and detail. Blacks are deep, and shadow delineation is good. Fine details can be lost at times, whites can be slightly bloomy, and some edge enhancement can be noticed, although it is a good picture. The HD DVD's VC-1-encoded picture does not hold up so well, with details in the shadows looking slightly flat and source element artifacts being much easier to recognize. Edge enhancement is still a minor problem. Colors are rather drab, with its fidelity looking dated. (Danny Richelieu)

    The Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel soundtrack does not provide much additional dimension over the original mono soundtrack, which is also included. The surrounds are rarely used, and the front left and right channels are typically given the same mono signal (different from the center channel), which limit the stereo field's effectiveness. Fidelity can be good but is very shifty throughout the life of the presentation. The HD DVD's Dolby Digital Plus encoding's fidelity sounds noticeably more dated, betrayed by the improvements the advanced codec provides. (Danny Richelieu)

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