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A view on Blu-ray by Gary W. Tooze

 

Jackie Brown [Blu-ray]

 

(Quentin Tarantino, 1997)

 

Jackie Brown is also available on a French TF1 Blu-ray edition (but Region B-locked!) here:

 

 

Review by Gary Tooze

 

Production:

Theatrical: A Band Apart

Video: Benelux (Holland) / Lionsgate/Miramax

 

Disc:

Region: FREE! - Region 'A'-locked (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)

Runtime: 2:34:42.351 / 2:34:25.756

Disc Size: 24,861,147,597 bytes / 49,273,398,489 bytes

Feature Size: 24,509,908,992 bytes / 34,377,086,976 bytes

Video Bitrate: 17.99 Mbps / 23.98 Mbps

Chapters: 13 / 16

Case: Standard Blu-ray case

Release date: September 15th, 2009 / October 4th, 2011

 

Video:

Aspect ratio: 1.78:1 / 1.85:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Audio:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1958 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1958 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)

DTS-HD Master Audio English 3911 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3911 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)

 

Subtitles:

Dutch, none

English (SDH), English, Spanish, None

 

Extras:

Previews

 

Breaking Down Jackie Brown (43:49 in 1080P)

Jackie Brown - How It Went Down - Documentary (10-part - 38:55 in 480i)

A Look back at Jackie Brown - interview with Tarantino (54:42 in 480i)

Chicks With Guns Video (4:52 in 480i)

Deleted and Alternate Scenes (intro and 6 scenes15:29 in 480i)

Siskel and Ebert "At the Movies" - Jackie Brown review (4:46 in 480i)

• Jackie Brown on MTV (Promotional Contest - 1:03, MTV Live - 14:22 in 480i)

Galleries (Marketing and Stills)

Enhanced Trivia Track

 

Bitrate:

Benelux (Holland) - Region FREE - Blu-ray TOP vs. Lionsgate/Miramax - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

Description: Combining an explosive mix of intense action and edgy humor with a sizzling all-star cast, director Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction) scores with the entertaining Jackie Brown. What do a sexy stewardess (Pam Grier), a street-tough gun runner (Samuel L. Jackson), a lonely bail bondsman (Robert Forster), a shifty ex-con (Robert De Niro), an earnest federal agent (Michael Keaton) and a stoned-out beach bunny (Bridget Fonda) have in common? They're six players on the trail of a half million dollars in cash! The only questions are... who's going to get played... and who's going to make the big score?

 

 

The Film:

Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown , from a screenplay by Mr. Tarantino, based on the novel Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard, is too good an action movie to be dumped in Santa's bag with all the impossibly numerous movie bonbons and stale fruitcakes of this holiday season. Mr. Tarantino has returned after a long directorial hiatus with his wisest, warmest, subtlest and most suspenseful effort without sacrificing his patented outrageousness and his exhilaratingly clever narrative strategies.

For Pam Grier, it has been an even longer hiatus. Her glory days were in the lead roles in Coffy (1973), Foxy Brown (1974) and Friday Foster (1975) and as a female counterpart to Richard Roundtree, the title character in Shaft (1971), and to Ron O'Neal, the title character in Superfly (1972), both so-called blaxploitation thrillers directed by Gordon Parks and Gordon Parks Jr., respectively. Then a black-white liberal coalition of thought police began protesting the bad image of blacks purveyed by black filmmakers themselves. Since there were few opportunities to lure even black audiences to tasteful biographies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Bunche, the fledgling black producers were driven out of the lucrative action market, and gifted black actors were reduced to Tonto parts as sidekicks to the big-bucks white Lone Rangers. I still recall Leroi Jones denouncing me in The Village Voice for "romanticizing" the thuggish behavior of black action heroes.

Now almost a quarter of a century later, in a masterstroke of casting, Ms. Grier reappears on the screen as a 44-year-old stewardess on a two-bit airline with one last chance to make a score for her old age. All that stands in her way are an efficiently homicidal gun runner, played with terrifying authority by Samuel L. Jackson; his moronically single-minded associate, mumbled into existence by Robert De Niro; and the Federal Government's Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms unit, embodied in Michael Keaton's expert in sting operations. Jackie's only ally is an aging, love-struck bail bondsman, played with unobtrusive heroism by an almost forgotten 56-year-old actor named Robert Forster, who back in 1967 performed Stanley Kowalski on the stage in a production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, and that same year appeared as Marlon Brando's covert love object in John Huston's and Carson McCullers' Reflections in a Golden Eye. Bridget Fonda provides the final bit of sparkle as Mr. Jackson's sassy girltoy.

Excerpt from Andrew Sarris at the NY Observer located HERE

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

Jackie Brown looks acceptable on this European, region FREE, Blu-ray. It's single-layered with a modest bitrate and there are some compression artifacts noticeable in the 2.5 hour film. But detail has impressive moments in close-ups and I don't see any signs of extensive digital manipulation. It is 1.78 taken from the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Colors are bright and the occasional blockiness is infrequent enough to be forgiven. I expect that most systems won't be bothered by the slight imperfections. It is smooth and very clean with solid contrast. This gives an occasionally impressive presentation - one far superior to SD-DVD.

 

 

The Lionsgate/Miramax 1080P is technically superior being dual-layered with a higher bitrate. Colors (like Samuel L. Jackson's skin) seem superior but there are segments where I prefer the Benelux (that seems out-of-print now). The US edition is in the proper 1.85:1 and is slightly cropped beside the Dutch disc. The Lionsgate seems richer with more penetrating black levels and while there is still noise - it is less prevalent than on the Benelux. I think both look okay but the Region 'A' version has more depth and may be more authentic - despite being imperfect.

 

Lionsgate/Miramax - Region 'A' - Blu-ray subtitle sample

 

 

Benelux (Holland) - Region FREE - Blu-ray TOP vs. Lionsgate/Miramax - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

Benelux (Holland) - Region FREE - Blu-ray TOP vs. Lionsgate/Miramax - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

Benelux (Holland) - Region FREE - Blu-ray TOP vs. Lionsgate/Miramax - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

Benelux (Holland) - Region FREE - Blu-ray TOP vs. Lionsgate/Miramax - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

Benelux (Holland) - Region FREE - Blu-ray TOP vs. Lionsgate/Miramax - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

Benelux (Holland) - Region FREE - Blu-ray TOP vs. Lionsgate/Miramax - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

Benelux (Holland) - Region FREE - Blu-ray TOP vs. Lionsgate/Miramax - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

Benelux (Holland) - Region FREE - Blu-ray TOP vs. Lionsgate/Miramax - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

Benelux (Holland) - Region FREE - Blu-ray TOP vs. Lionsgate/Miramax - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

Benelux (Holland) - Region FREE - Blu-ray TOP vs. Lionsgate/Miramax - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

Benelux (Holland) - Region FREE - Blu-ray TOP vs. Lionsgate/Miramax - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

Benelux (Holland) - Region FREE - Blu-ray TOP vs. Lionsgate/Miramax - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

Benelux (Holland) - Region FREE - Blu-ray TOP vs. Lionsgate/Miramax - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

 

Audio :

Only an English lossless DTS-HD Master 5.1 track at 1958 kbps is offered. Like the image it is moderately impressive - if not overwhelming. I've never heard the film sound this good and that it a worthwhile positive. The music is fun and crisp. Decent depth and modest range are produced and there are optional Dutch subtitles by default - changeable via the Pop-up menu screens - which are in English. My Momitsu has, indeed, identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

 

Also DTS-HD Master 5.1 but there is a notable difference in the audio for those with discerning ears. The US track is a whopping 3911 kbps and correspondingly has more prominent depth. Both sound good but in toggling side by side scenes comparisons the US edition is more dynamic - the, infrequent, aggression is punchy and overall it is superior. The Lionsgate/Miramax also includes optional subtitles and it region 'A'-locked.

 

 

Extras :

No supplements at all aside from some European trailers.

 

Not hard to beat the bare-bones Dutch edition and the Lionsgate-Miramax has all the digital supplements from previous SD editions including a couple of hours of interviews via the documentary and 'A Look back', Deleted and Alternate Scenes etc. but we do get a new Breaking Down Jackie Brown which runs almost 45 minutes as a round table discussion in 1080P. There are also galleries, and an Enhanced Trivia Track that can run along with the film.

 

Benelux (Holland) - Region FREE - Blu-ray

 

Lionsgate/Miramax - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

 

BOTTOM LINE:
I really enjoyed revisiting this film in 1080P. The length is an asset as Jackie Brown is a film you can really relax to and let its Tarantino brusque-pulpy-charm sweep over you. There are minute details and interesting camera angles that give this abundant re-watchability. Grier is likeable as the anti-hero protagonist which can trace roots all the way back to Noir. The Dutch Blu-ray does a decent job although I'd expect that it could be improved upon when, one day, released in the US. The impatient and serious fan of the film may wish to indulge.

 

I enjoy Jackie Brown more each time I see it and the Lionsgate/Miramax is definitely the package to get - factoring in the ridiculously low price as well ($10 US!?!). Should be an easy purchase especially with the more robust audio and extensive extras.  

Gary Tooze

August 5th, 2010

September 23rd, 2011

 

Jackie Brown is also available on a French TF1 Blu-ray edition (but Region B-locked!) here:

 


 

About the Reviewer: 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 9500 DVDs and have reviewed over 3500 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:

60-Inch Class (59.58” Diagonal) 1080p Pioneer KURO Plasma Flat Panel HDTV PDP6020-FD

Oppo Digital BDP-83 Universal Region FREE Blu-ray/SACD Player
Momitsu - BDP-899 Region FREE Blu-ray player
Marantz SA8001 Super Audio CD Player
Marantz SR7002 THX Select2 Surround Receiver
Tannoy DC6-T (fronts) + Energy (centre, rear, subwoofer) speakers (5.1)

APC AV 1.5 kVA H Type Power Conditioner 120V

Gary W. Tooze

 

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