H D - S E N S E I

A view on Hi-def DVDs by Gary W. Tooze

 

Introduction: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 5600 DVDs and have reviewed over 3000 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.

Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction. So be it, but film will always be my first love and I list my favorites on the old YMdb site now accessible HERE.  

Gary's Home Theatre:
Samsung HPR4272 42" Plasma HDTV
Toshiba HD-A2 HD-DVD player (firmware upgraded)

Sony BDP-S300 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player (firmware upgraded)
Sony DVP NS5ODH SD-DVD player (region-free and HDMI)
Harmon Cardon DD/DTS receiver
Ascent (main) + Boston Acoustics (centre, rear, subwoofer) speakers (5.1)

Gary W. Tooze

 

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Michael Clayton [Blu-ray DVD]

 
(Tony Gilroy, 2007)

 

Production: Warner
 

Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1

Audio:
English: Dolby Digital 5.1, DUBs: French: Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles: English SDH, English, French, Spanish, none

Disc
25GB Blu-ray Disc

Runtime: 159:47

Extras:

• Commentary from director and editor with optional subtitles
• Additional Scenes with optional commentary

Disc: 25GB Blu-ray Disc
Release Date: February 19th, 2008
Standard Blu-Ray case

Synopsis: Michael Clayton is an in-house "fixer" at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York. A former criminal prosecutor, Clayton takes care of Kenner, Bach & Ledeen's dirtiest work at the behest of the firm's co-founder Marty Bach. Though burned out and hardly content with his job as a fixer, his divorce, a failed business venture and mounting debt have left Clayton inextricably tied to the firm. At U/North, meanwhile, the career of litigator Karen Crowder rests on the multi-million dollar settlement of a class action suit that Clayton's firm is leading to a seemingly successful conclusion. But when Kenner Bach's brilliant and guilt-ridden attorney Arthur Edens sabotages the U/North case, Clayton faces the biggest challenge of his career and his life. 

 

 

The Film:

Tony Gilroy, co-author of the superb Jason Bourne film trilogy, makes a stunning directorial debut with "Michael Clayton," an out-of-courtroom drama that helps solidify George Clooney's acting bona fides.

Gilroy's crafty original script is a legal thriller in the vein of Sidney Lumet's "The Verdict" and Sydney Pollack's "Absence of Malice." All three are about acts of malfeasance and the peeling away of their layered coverups, and with this performance, Clooney reminds me of no one so much as the star of those earlier films, Paul Newman.

It's no coincidence that Pollack co-produced "Michael Clayton" and snatched a fine supporting role for himself. He plays Marty Bach, the head of a Manhattan law firm that is heavily infested in defending an agrichemical company in a $3 billion class action lawsuit.

With the plaintiffs losing their resolve, a massive crisis erupts when Bach's lead attorney, Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), appears to have a mental breakdown during a deposition.

Clooney's title character, known as "the fixer" at the firm, is sent to Wisconsin to retrieve Arthur and get the case back on track. But when Arthur, who is manic-depressive and has documents proving his client's guilt, turns up dead, Clayton faces his own crisis of conscience.

Gilroy has already proven himself a strong developer of character and plot. With this, he shows he is a terrific actors' director as well. Every performance in this film is spot-on.

Excerpt from the New York Daily News located HERE

     

 

 

The Video:

I suggested in the SD review HERE that although I believed that this would be improved in a 1080P presentation - I'll still re-state that I don't consider an upgrade necessary based on the value and nature of this film which does not support dramatically beneficial visuals. Looking at the price differential - we have about $9 more for the single-layered Blu-ray which still exhibits some noise (a bit more than usual) in monochromatic black background scenes - of which there are a lot in this film - and although detail is improved, I wouldn't say that it is as vast as we have seen in many other SD->Blu-ray upgrades. The new Blu-ray does look superior in the usual areas - especially in terms of color and contrast. The film has an intentional grainy look at times and this doesn't seem to translate exceptionally well to DVD. Detail is strong and black levels pitch. I did enjoy the film much more than most people and certainly seeing it in Blu-ray is the best way to view it in your home theatre.

Comment from Leonard (who also owns the Blu-ray): 'My impression of the video for the Michael Clayton Blu-ray is, somewhat surprisingly different from yours. I found, as you did, a good deal of "monochromatic black" in the picture; and while I longed for more interest in those blacks, I saw no noise there, nor much of a distracting grain in general. There was a certain amount of noise in the bright areas, such as overexposed skies, but it was hardly anything I would have noticed if I weren't looking for it. I would have given the image an overall score of between an 8.5~9. I suspect that my results are different from yours (and from my own prior to a month ago) because I have installed a Crystalio VPS3100 video processor between player and projector, and while most of the improvement in my picture is revealed with SD material, I do get a cleaner picture even with 1080p sources.'

 

Screen Captures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio:

It's funny how things change as now we say that we only have a Dolby Digital 5.1 track that sounds very competent. Aside from one or two scenes, though, the 5.1 audio is fairly under-utilized - but sounds adequately separated once called upon. There are optional subtitles in English, Spanish or French.

 


Extras:
Duplicated from the SD - we have an optional commentary which discusses the formation of plot details (John Gilroy - younger brother of the director Tony) and some production attributes (chosen color pallets etc...). There are a few gaps. I really appreciate the optional subtitles for the commentary - BFI have been doing it for a while. I think it's a great idea (especially if you have sleeping kids around). There are some additional scenes not used in the final cut - as a matter of fact, all the scenes with Jennifer Ehle as Clayton's girlfriend were removed (you can see her here).    

Menus

 

BOTTOM LINE: The film? - I liked it more than a friend of mine. I especially would like to extol accolades of Tilda Swinton's work - her minor role is significant and she gives a fabulous performance. Ditto for Tom Wilkinson. I also saw a bit more range from Clooney than I have seen in the past. The film is a bit of a jigsaw puzzle that unifies fairly tightly in the finale - but we've seen this is the modus operandi of much modern cinema today. It is very competent but I think could have been more complete in another filmmaker's hands. I do recommend seeing this one and the decision to bump your viewing to Blu-ray will be a personal one. Come to think of it - it may be worth the extra $9 depending on how keen you are. The film is definitely worth a spin and this Blu-ray looked quite good on my system.

Gary Tooze

 

 

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