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Secretariat [Blu-ray]
(Randall Wallace, 2010)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Disney Video: Disney Home Video
Disc: Region: 'A' (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player) Runtime: 2:02:58.996 Disc Size: 42,456,599,460 bytes Feature Size: 28,173,742,080 bytes Video Bitrate: 22.99 Mbps Chapters: 16 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: January 25th, 2011
Video: Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio English 3690 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3690 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) DUBs:
Dolby Digital Audio French 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 320 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 320 kbps
/ Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English (SDH), French, Spanish, none
Extras:
• Deleted scenes with optional audio commentary by
director Randall Wallace • Sneak Peeks • Discover Blu-ray 3D • DVD of the film included
Bitrate:
Description: Disney presents an astonishing true story
bursting with hope, heart, and courage. Diane Lane and John
Malkovich lead a celebrated cast in this inspirational
motion picture from the producers of Miracle, Invincible and
The Rookie. *** Based on the Novel "Secretariat: The Making of a Champion" By William Nack, "Secretariat" chronicles the spectacular... journey of the 1973 Triple Crown winner. Housewife and mother Penny Chenery agrees to take over her ailing father’s Virginia-based Meadow Stables, despite her lack of horse-racing knowledge. Against all odds, Chenery -- with the help of veteran trainer Lucien Laurin -- manages to navigate the male-dominated business, ultimately fostering the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years and what may be the greatest racehorse of all time.
The Film:
This whole movie feels authentic. Diane Lane, who is so good in so many
kinds of roles, makes Penny a smart woman with great faith in her own
judgment and the courage to bet the farm on it. Every hair in place,
always smartly turned out, she labors in the trenches with Lucien and
Eddie, negotiates unflinchingly with the Old Boys, eats the
stomach-churning meals at the diners where the track crowd hangs out.
She looked at the greatest racehorse in the world and knew she was
right, when all about her were losing their heads and blaming it on her. Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. Secretariat looks very impressive on Blu-ray from Disney. It doesn't really have any visual flaws. Colors are notably vibrant, detail is strong, there is some texture - it's a dual-layered transfer with the 2-hour film taking up over 28 Gig of space with a supportive bitrate. The resolution can be so perceptive at times you can see the heavy make-up to give Diane Lane some added years. Skin tones seem accurate - contrast exhibits healthy, rich black levels. The many daylight scenes are often beautiful with some brilliant cinematography with many static shots, tucked in here and there. The art direction supports the timeframe exceptionally well and this Blu-ray has certain scenes that make you stare open-mouthed at the screen. They certainly didn't scrimp on production.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :There are plenty of effect noises separated throughout your sound system via a convincing DTS-HD Master 5.1 track at 3690 kbps. It's more than galloping hooves and snorting horses - the gospel music that keeps finding its way into the film - sounds tremendous. Like the video - without a demonstrative flaw. There are optional subtitles and my Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked disc.
Extras : The enclosed DVD in the package offers only 3 deleted scenes with optional audio commentary by director Randall Wallace and an excellent featurette entitled Heart of a Champion running 15-minutes. These are included on the Blu-ray plus a bunch more. Director Randall Wallace offers a standard audio commentary discussing production details as well as history and adherence to Nack's book. It is entertaining if you enjoyed the film. We get about 7-minutes on the monumental task of Choreographing the Races plus more deleted scenes (optional commentary) and a quite interesting piece - A Director's Inspiration: A Conversation with the Real Penny Chenery which is a charming 20-minutes. You can see the video of AJ Michalka, "It's Who You Are" that is played in parts of the film and a 'Secretariat multi-angle simulation' as well as some sneak peeks and an advert for 3D.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze January 24th, 2011
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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.
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