City of God Blu-ray - Cidade de Deus

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

(aka "City of God" or "God's Town")

directed by Fernando Meirelles & Kátia Lund
Brazil 2002

A violent, thoroughly electrifying vision of Rio during the volatile 1970s, and possibly the first great crime film of the 21st century. There's nothing particularly heavenly about the "City of God," a housing development thrown up on Rio's outskirts during the 1960s to help alleviate the homeless overflow from the city's teeming slums. Over the next two decades, it'll become a breeding gang for some of Rio's most vicious gangs.

Excerpt from TV Guide located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: 18 May 2002 - Cannes Film Festival

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Buena Vista - Region 2 - PAL vs. Panorama Entertainment - Region 3 - NTSC vs. Lionsgate / Miramax - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Peter Ax for all the screen captures!

1) Buena Vista - Region 2 - PAL - LEFT

2) Panorama Entertainment - Region 3 - NTSC - MIDDLE

3) Lionsgate / Miramax - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - RIGHT

Box Covers		Thinking of buying from YesAsia? CLICK HERE and use THIS UPDATED BEAVER PAGE to source their very best...
Distribution	Buena Vista Region 2 - PAL	Panorama Entertainment Region 3 - NTSC	Lionsgate / Miramax Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	2:04:24 (4% PAL Speedup)	2:04:00	2:09:42.483
Video	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.56 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 8.10 mb/s NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s	1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 33,572,984,471 bytes Feature: 29,692,508,160 bytes Video Bitrate: 24.91 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes
Bitrate: Buena Vista
Bitrate: Panorama Entertainment
Bitrate: Blu-ray
Audio	Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1	Portuguese Dolby Digital 2.0, 5.1 & DTS 5.1	DTS-HD Master Audio Portuguese 3930 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3930 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	English, English hard hearing & none	English, Chinese & none	English (SDH), English, Spanish
Features	Release Information: Studio: Buena Vista Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterboxed - 1.85:1 Edition Details: • News from a Personal War (56:41) DVD Release Date: Sept. 9, 2003 Keepcase Chapters 26	Release Information: Studio: Panorama Entertainment Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterboxed - 1.85:1 Edition Details: None DVD Release Date: Sept. 22, 2003 Keepcase with slipcover Chapters 12	Release Information: Studio: Lionsgate / Miramax 1.78:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 33,572,984,471 bytes Feature: 29,692,508,160 bytes Video Bitrate: 24.91 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • News from a Personal War (56:42 in 480i) Blu-ray Release Date: December 13th, 2011 Standard Blu-ray case Chapters 16

Comments

NOTE: These Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Lionsgate / Miramax - Region 'A' - Blu-ray (December 11'): Not too much to say - the Blu-ray is in the theatrical running time - so doesn't have the PAL speedup or ghosting phenomenon of the Panorama. It doesn't advance too dramatically in many scenes as the camera is so fluid it rarely focuses intensely on one object. However - it is obvious that the image quality is improved in the 1.78 (slightly opened-up) aspect ratio 1080P transfer. It is dual-layered and doesn't appear to have had digital manipulation. I imagine this is as good as City of God is going to look for Home Theater presentations. The contrast is the prime consideration for improvement.

We are supplied with a very healthy audio track. This DTS-HD Master 5.1 in original Portuguese at 3930 kbps makes gunshots sound like canons. Depth is power-packed and separation seems reasonably crisp. The original music by Ed Cortês and Antonio Pinto is lively - keeping brisk pace with the kinetic camerawork. The score and any effects are totally dynamic. There are optional subtitles and my Momitsu has identified it as being region 'A'-locked.

Extras consist of the hour-long News from a Personal War - a documentary about urban violence in Brazil, especially in Rio de Janeiro. Policemen, drug dealers, and shantytown dwellers get trapped into a daily war that knows no winners. This is also found in SD on the UK PAL DVD.

Intense film showing another side to a less-exposed culture. The Lionsgate / Miramax presents the film as competently in HD as we are likely to find and it amounts to a must-see experience that benefits from a cinema-like viewing. At this price - certainly recommended!

***

ON THE DVDs: The UK region 2 disc have superior image. The Panorama is taken from a non-HD source tape. The Buena Vista presents nice details, colors and sharpness. The image on the r3 is not bad, although it is taken from an non-native source (PAL), has prevalent 'ghosting' and it can't compare with the R2.

The Hong Kong disc gives more options for the sound (3) and its DTS has an edge in details and presence over the DD 5.1 track on the UK release.

As for extras Panorama offers us nothing, really nothing. The Buena Vista disc at least have one, a documentary on police and dealers in the favella, clocking in just under an hour.