Schindler's List Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

directed by Steven Spielberg
USA 1993

Based on a true story, Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List stars Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler, a German businessman in Poland who sees an opportunity to make money from the Nazis' rise to power. He starts a company to make cookware and utensils, using flattery and bribes to win military contracts, and brings in accountant and financier Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley) to help run the factory. By staffing his plant with Jews who've been herded into Krakow's ghetto by Nazi troops, Schindler has a dependable unpaid labor force. For Stern, a job in a war-related plant could mean survival for himself and the other Jews working for Schindler. However, in 1942, all of Krakow's Jews are assigned to the Plaszow Forced Labor Camp, overseen by Commandant Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes), an embittered alcoholic who occasionally shoots prisoners from his balcony. Schindler arranges to continue using Polish Jews in his plant, but, as he sees what is happening to his employees, he begins to develop a conscience. He realizes that his factory (now refitted to manufacture ammunition) is the only thing preventing his staff from being shipped to the death camps. Soon Schindler demands more workers and starts bribing Nazi leaders to keep Jews on his employee lists and out of the camps. By the time Germany falls to the allies, Schindler has lost his entire fortune -- and saved 1,100 people from likely death. Schindler's List was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won seven, including Best Picture and a long-coveted Best Director for Spielberg, and it quickly gained praise as one of the finest American movies about the Holocaust.

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Theatrical Release: December 1st, 1993 - New York City, New York (Premiere)

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Comparison:

Universal Studios (DVD18) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Universal - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Universal Studios (DVD18) - Region 1 - NTSC LEFT vs. Universal - Region FREE - Blu-ray RIGHT

Box Cover
Distribution	Universal Studios - Region 1 - NTSC	Universal Studios - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	2:13:32 + 1:01:21 = 3:14:53 (total)	3:15:12.701
Video	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.99 mb/s (Side 1) + 5.92 mb/s (Side 2) NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 46,497,227,722 bytes Feature: 45,019,650,048 bytes Video Bitrate: 25.06 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Bitrate:
Bitrate: Blu-ray
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (5.1 DTS ES), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 2363 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2363 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) DTS Audio Spanish 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit DTS Audio French 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles	English, Spanish, French, None	English (SDH), Spanish, French, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Universal Studios Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Widescreen, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound • "Voices From the List" featurette (1:17:20) • "Behind the Shoah Foundation With Steven Spielberg" featurette (11:25) • About Oskar Schindler (text screens) • Cast and Filmmakers (text screens) DVD Release Date: March 9, 2004 Slim bound case resembling a hardback book. Chapters: 27 (1st Side) + 13(2nd Side) = 40 (total) NOTE: The bonus features are all located on Side B of the disc!!!	Release Information: Studio: Universal Studios Aspect Ratio:- 1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 46,497,227,722 bytes Feature: 45,019,650,048 bytes Video Bitrate: 25.06 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • "Voices From the List" featurette (1:17:20) • "Behind the Shoah Foundation With Steven Spielberg" featurette (11:25) • About IWitness (3:48) Blu-ray Release Date: March 5th, 2013 Custom Blu-ray Case. Chapters: 40

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were ripped directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Universal - Region FREE - Blu-ray (February 2013): I think this is a very significant difference - the 1080P image (supervised by Spielberg) is dramatically superior to the SD - DVD. The multi-layered contrast brings up the detail and the overall HD image is brilliant. The 3+-hour film is transferred to a dual-layered disc with a decent, and supportive bitrate. This proves substantially more consistent (and artifact-free) than the DVDs.

The now-iconic John Williams' score sounds pristine via the competent DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround at 2363 kbps. Separations exist (Amon Goeth's sniper sequence) but nothing overwhelms. The audio is quite impressive and there are optional subtitles for the region FREE disc.

The Blu-ray itself only contains the feature film. There are two DVDs in the package that have the film (divided as the 2004 DVDs) with the duplicate extras (minus the text screens) on the 2nd disc. We get the 1 1/4 hour "Voices From the List" featurette, the 11-minute "Behind the Shoah Foundation With Steven Spielberg" featurette and a new education piece entitled About IWitness running shy of 4-minutes.

This remains an extremely impacting film experience and, even upon repeat viewing, I never felt bothered by the length. I believe it is far more affecting on Blu-ray making it a must-have for many Home Theatre devotees.

***

ON THE DVD: The image - has strong contrast, but is slightly weaker than my expectation. Sharpness is there for the foreground but lacking and quite hazy everywhere else. I realize that this is the manner is which the film was shot, but I suspect something better could have been arranged in the transference to Digital Versatile Disc. The audio is correspondingly a bit on the 'less than perfect' side - dynamic at some times, but flat in others - I noted both tracks as having some very slight inconsistencies. This is still a great disc, don't get me wrong - just a shade less than I had desired. The Extras are informative and extremely well done. I can't really see too many overly picky reasons why someone wouldn't want this DVD, if they enjoyed the film.

Gary W. Tooze

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Universal - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Extras are on Disc 2 of the Double DVD included in the Blu-ray Set

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Universal - Region FREE - Blu-ray Subtitle Sample

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