Both packages share Masters of Cinema's meticulous dedication to detail in presenting us with this marvelous, multiple award-winning, film from Kiyoshi Kurosawa. The DVD image probably looks about as strong as SD can produce on that medium, but the 1080P eclipses it in all visual areas. Notably colors - especially reds - seem brighter and share a better balance on the Blu-ray while skin tones lose there yellow hue. Detail advances a fair notch - readily visible in close-ups. The frame carries no significant amount of additional information. Contrast is strong (brighter whites, richer black levels) and the hi-def image gives some occasional dimensionality. There are some very minor artifacts on a few scenes of the DVD that the glossless Blu-ray doesn't share. I can't really say much more than the screen caps will identify - both editions are impressive in their own right and support the film to the best of their capabilities but, obviously, the Blu-ray and its, more than triple, bitrate dignify Tokyo Sonata to a higher visual ideal in your home theater.

Where the DVD offers 1 audio stream - an original Japanese 2.0 channel at 256 Kbps - the Blu-ray gives 3 healthy 2.0 channel options which include both a TrueHD and DTS-HD Master. I chose the DTS for most of my viewing but when I did some tests, after comparing against the TrueHD, I couldn't easily identify differences although the former track may have been more buoyant with the infrequent background music exporting some tonal subtlety. The film wouldn't benefit from a dense, aggressive surround option and the 2.0 channel dialogue was clear and clean enough to adequately support the drama. Both discs offer optional English subtitles in a clear, non-intrusive, white font - and both are region free as identified by my Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player.

Extras are duplicated in both packages with the only difference that I could ascertain is that the Blu-ray's theatrical trailer is in HD and that booklet is 28-page as opposed to 24 - although it holds all the same material. And, of course, the DVD has a second disc to hold the extras where the Blu-ray is able to house them all, and the feature, on one disc.

First off is a, sometimes plodding, hour-long Making Of... with input from some of the cast and crew including director Kurosawa. Like all the digital supplements it is in Japanese with optional English subtitles. There is a 12-minute Q&A filmed in Tokyo, September 2008 prior to a screening where some, non-spoiler, general information is put forth. At the premiere, Kurosawa introduces the film and cast with some glad-handing and cast microphone participation lasting about 15-minutes. There is an 8.5 minutes DVD Discussion involves Kurosawa, Kyôko Koizumi and Teruyuki Kagawa. I found this kind of interesting although I wasn't always cognoscente of the points being made. Questions are posed like "Which scenes do you like watching again?" Finally we also get the British trailer and the booklet with essay by B. Kite.

I don't think you could ask too much more. Both packages are complete. The Blu-ray is running at about £3 more but I feel the transfer, both audio and video, are certainly worth at least that in creating a slightly more intimate and visually appealing viewing experience. Either way - it's a great film - my favorite, so far, by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. He's a director who certainly know how to keep you interested. This film, in either format, is strongly recommended!    

Gary W. Tooze