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    • BLU-RAY REVIEW

    Sleuth

    Featured In Issue 131, May 2008

    Picture4
    SoundNR
    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):
    Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
    (Catalog Number):
    24452
    (MPAA Rating):
    R
    (Rating Reason):
    For strong language
    (Retail Price):
    $38.95
    (Disc Type):
    Single Side, Single Layer (BD-25)
    (Widescreen Edition):
    Yes
    (Full Screen Edition):
    No
    (Running Time In Minutes):
    89
    (Color Type):
    Color
    (Chaptered/Scene Access):
    Yes
    (Closed Captioned):
    Yes
    (Regional Coding):
    A, B & C
    (Theatrical Year):
    2007
    (Theatrical Release):
    Yes
    (Direct-To-Video Release):
    No
    (Disc Release Date):
    03/11/08
    (THX® Digitally Mastered):
    Yes
    (Director):
    Kenneth Branagh
    (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 TrueHD 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):

    Andrew Wyke (Caine) is a brilliant and successfull crime novelist who lives a very lavish lifestyle. Although he is no "Sleuth," Andrew discovers that his wife is having an affair with young hairdresser Milo Tindal (Law). Wily Andrew invites young Milo to his country estate to play an increasingly dangerous game of cat and mouse. When the two English gentlemen's game of one-upmanship spirals out of control, it is game over for one of them. (Stacey Pendry)

    Special features include two feature commentary tracks: one by Actor Jude Law and the second with Actor Michael Caine and Director Kenneth Branagh, and the following two featurettes A Game Of Cat & Mouse: Behind The Scenes Of Sleuth (15 Minutes) and Inspector Black: Make-Up Secrets Revealed (two minutes). There are also previews.

    The anamorphically enhanced 2.32:1 DVD's milky blacks and relatively poor shadow delineation can give the image a flat appearance. Flesh can have a somewhat pasty appearance. Resolution is nicely rendered, with fine details, especially in skin and fabrics, delivered nicely to the screen. The color scheme is somewhat limited, but colors can be bold and vibrant. Pixel breakup and compression artifacts aren't recognizable for the most part, and edge enhancement is minor. Moiré patterns can also be recognized at times throughout. The H.264 AVC-encoded Blu-ray Disc shows similarly poor black levels and shadow delineation, making the image look relatively flat. Resolution is pristine, though. The moiré patterns that were recognizable in the DVD are not noticeable in the Blu-ray Disc. (Danny Richelieu)

    The Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel soundtrack is marred by heavy shuffling distortion shrouding the dialogue. The audio sounds bright, especially noticeable in the dialogue. The mix is very basic, with little surround envelopment. The entire soundtrack is very quiescent. Dialogue can be spread across each of the screen channels, in an attempt to provide some kind of reverberation from the rooms the subjects are speaking in, but they are delivered at such low levels they aren't effective. The Blu-ray Disc's Dolby TrueHD lossless encoding provides an improvement in overall fidelity, but it is relatively minor. Dynamic range is also improved, but the mix is still basic and overly bright. (Danny Richelieu)

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