A Passage To India - Collector's Edition [Blu-ray]
(David Lean, 1984)
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Coming to Blu-ray in
the UK in September 2022 from Final Cut:

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Review by Gary Tooze
Studio:
Theatrical: Columbia Pictures
Blu-ray: Sony Pictures
Disc:
Region: FREE!
(as verified by the
Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)
Runtime: 2:43:57.828
Disc Size: 47,092,775,716 bytes
Feature Size: 36,402,094,080 bytes
Video Bitrate: 22.95 Mbps
Chapters: 16
Case: Standard Blu-ray case
Release date: April 15th, 2008
Video:
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Bitrate:
Audio:
Dolby TrueHD Audio English 1358 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1358
kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Embedded: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps)
Dolby TrueHD Audio French 1405 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1405 kbps
/ 16-bit (AC3 Embedded: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps)
Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
/ Dolby Surround
Subtitles:
English (SDH), English,
French, Spanish, none
Extras:
• Commentary by Producer Richard Goodwin
•
Beyond the Passage - Picture-in-Graphic
Track
Featurettes:
• E.M. Forster:
Profile of an Author
• An Epic Takes
Shape
• An Indian Affair
• Only Connect: A
Vision of India
• Casting a Classic
• David Lean:
Shooting With the Master
• Reflections of
David Lean
Promos: 'Blu-Ray disc is High
Definition' and 'The David Lean
Collection'
The Film:
A New York Times film critic Vincent
Canby wrote in 1985, “A Passage to
India is the kind of movie that people
think they are talking about when they
insist that ‘they’—meaning Hollywood in
the generic sense—don’t make movies the
way they used to.” Indeed, it is an
epic echo to the way movies used to be
made, as demonstrated by director David
Lean’s own previous epics, such as
Doctor Zhivago (1965) and
Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Based
on the novel by E. M. Forster, the film
is set in colonial India in 1924. Adela
Quested (Judy Davis), a sheltered,
well-bred British woman, travels to the
subcontinent to visit her fiancé, a
British magistrate posted in a small
town; her traveling companion is his
mother Mrs. Moore (Peggy Ashcroft). They
arrive in the fictional town of
Chandrapore, and soon wish to escape the
trappings of colonial Britain and hope
to experience the sensual sights and the
sounds of "the real India". Soon, Adela
and Mrs. Moore meet and befriend Dr.
Aziz (Victor Banerjee), who, despite
longstanding racial and social taboos,
moves with relative ease and freedom
amongst highborn British circles.
Feeling comfortable with Adela, Aziz
invites her and Mrs. Moore to accompany
him on a visit to the Marabar caves.
Leaving an overcome Mrs. Moore behind,
Aziz and Adela climb a mountain to reach
a more forbidden part of the caves. What
happens in the mystical caves touches
off a mystery that implicates Aziz in a
shameful crime, and brings to light the
shameful hypocrisy and racism prevalent
in the ruling British class.
Excerpt from Turner Classic Films
located HERE

Image:
NOTE:
The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.
This dual-layered
Blu-ray
looks absolutely fabulous. Part credit
to the sumptuous visuals and also to the
crisp 1080P -
MPEG-4 transfer.
It may very well be one of the best
looking hi-def discs for a film of over
20 years.
Colors are vibrant and lush without
overpowering (skin-tones true) and
detail shows some remarkably pristine
moments - approaching the 3-dimensional
quality we have come to expect from the
best of
Blu-ray
visuals. Background
noise eclipsed as textured grain.
Contrast is expertly defined within
the workable parameters of the original
film by exporting deep rich black levels.
This towers over my old, already strong,
SD edition (from 2001?) and I'm
extremely pleased with this, David Lean's
last film... but first to
Blu-ray.*
One word: 'Wow'!
* NOTE: We now have
Brief Encounter,
Dr. Zhivago and
Great Expectations on
Blu-ray as well - with
The Bridge on the River Kwai
coming in November 2010!
If you were to watch this film on DVD while traveling in India you'd probably need to bring a
India power adapter with you.
CLICK EACH
BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio & Music: We are given a
lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track (and
similar French DUB) that
although not extensively tested - does
the job well with some scattered
separation to the rears (as in crowd
jeers, train whistles, the echo sequence
etc.). It's, obviously, very clean and
clear (no pops, gaps etc.) and supported
by English, French or Spanish subtitles.
My
Momitsu
has identified
it as being a region FREE disc playable on
Blu-ray
machines worldwide.

Extras: Great job by Sony by
including this new commentary by one of
the producers;
Richard Goodwin
- who's most recent work would be as
executive producer on Brad Pitt's
Seven Years in Tibet (1997) and
before Passage producing some
Agatha Christie films; Evil Under the
Sun (1982) and The Mirror Crack'd
(1980). With over 30 years in the
industry he knows his stuff and although
I wouldn't begin to consider this an
academic commentary, as one might find
on a Criterion disc, he does his job
adequately and I genuinely appreciated
the effort discussing locales and sets,
plus some minor controversies. There is
an impractical feature -
Beyond the Passage -
Picture-in-Graphic Track (which one
can view while the film runs - exclusive
to the Blu-ray) and seven shortish
featurettes (about 10 minutes each) with
input from crew and cast - basically on
the 'Making of...'. There is lots
of justified glad-handing to Lean and
some interesting nostalgic anecdotal
information imparted.
I especially
enjoyed the Vision of India
segment. There
is enough to justify perusing them if
not simply leisurely sitting through and
soaking up the aura of the production.
Aside from that - we have a promo on
Blu-ray and another on 'The David
Lean Collection' with hints at more
of the master's work to surface in
high-definition.
Bottom line: Well folks, this is
all very positive and you want some more
good news? - it's less than $20 - making
it an essential purchase in my mind. The
film is a bona-fide classic infusing
expressions of pride, prejudice, respect
with a backdrop of cultural diversity...
and this
Blu-ray
exports the sumptuous image with grace
and precision. The perfect film for the
new format. It has our highest
recommendation.
Gary Tooze
April 8th, 2008
September 27th, 2010
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Coming to Blu-ray in
the UK in September 2022 from Final Cut:

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