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Brighton Rock [Blu-ray]
(John Boulting, 1947)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC) Video: Optimum Home Entertainment / Kino Lorber
Disc: Region: 'B'-locked / 'A' (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player) Runtime: 1:32:17.041 / 1:32:44.183 Disc Size: 29,873,874,914 bytes / 30,523,702,354 bytes Feature Size: 16,676,413,440 bytes / 29,068,455,936 bytes Video Bitrate: 32.09 Mbps / 37.91 Mbps Chapters: 12 / 9 Case: Standard (UK - thicker) Blu-ray case / Standard case Release date: February 28th, 2011 / May 5th, 2020
Video (both): Aspect ratio: 1.33:1 matted to 1.78 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
DTS-HD Master Audio English 1554 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1554 kbps / 16-bit (DTS
Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles (both): English, none
Extras: • Interview with Rowman Joffe (20:11 - 576i) • John Boulting and Richard Attenborough interviewed at BFI 1954 (audio only 1:07:57)
•
NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Tim Lucas
Bitrates:
Description: In this vivid adaptation of Graham Greene's novel about the seedy British beachfront underworld, Richard Attenborough appears in top form as petty gangster Pinkie Brown. The manipulative thug rashly commits a murder and uses a waitress (Carol Marsh) to provide his alibi, with unexpected consequences.
The Film:
The film is so densely plotted (unsurprising given its source material)
that it is difficult to describe. It concerns a 17-year-old gang leader,
Pinkie (Richard Attenborough - a much better actor than he is a
director) who seeks revenge for the murder of a gang member, once the
retaliation is complete he spends the rest of the film making threats,
double crossing and being double crossed, in the course of which he
marries a waitress (Carol Marsh) who saw things she shouldn't have,
since a wife is unable to give evidence against her husband. Excerpt from Stephen Cox Edinborough Film Society located HERE
Beginning with a thrilling chase sequence in which newspaperman Kolley
Kibber is hounded by a gang of razor-blade carrying spivs through 30s
Brighton, John Boulting's adaptation of Graham Greene's classic novel
stakes its claim as one of the darkest films ever to be made on these
shores. Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. With the existing and best elements available for Brighton Rock this is the highest level it is likely to look on Blu-ray without a (further) restoration. The hour and a half film is dual-layered transferred with a high bitrate. Contrast is modest reflecting the density of the print but detail has some impressive moments. There is some reasonable grain but also a bit of noise. Infrequent speckles remain but they are not overly prevalent and Optimum's image quality here looks good - but not great. There is a smattering of depth but while this is a step beyond SD and easy to judge as HD giving a solid 1080P presentation - it is not a pristine standards due to limitations of the source. The grain textures helped my appreciation of the presentation as more film-like. I doubt it will be looking any better in the foreseeable future.
The image quality of Kino's 1080P seems exactly the same as the Optimum. It has a max'ed out bitrate and in-motion may gain a less-discernable edge. The pixels have simply moved around - this looks as good as the UK edition.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
More Blu-ray Captures
Audio :The track is faithfully flat using a linear PCM stereo channel at 2304 kbps. Even lacking crispness or depth I can't imagine is sounding much better. It is clear without distracting hiss or flaws, but it, predictably, lacks any dynamic substance. Optimum have seen fit to include optional English subtitles and m y Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'B'-locked.
Kino take a step
back with a 16-bit DTS-HD Master track that still sounds fine if the
technical transfer is less-robust. The score by the Viennese composer
Hans May sounds impacting in subtle ways throughout the film. The Kino
Extras : Supplements include a 20-minute interview, in 576i PAL, with Rowman Joffe the director/writer of the 2010 version of Brighton Rock and an hour long audio only interview with John Boulting and Richard Attenborough at BFI from 1954. I should note that there are some pretty cool menus with a revolving carousel of post cards with live action scenes from the film. A nice touch.
The defining difference in the two editions is
Kino's addition of a new commentary by Tim Lucas. He remains, in my
mind, the most prepared commentator working today. As well as
lesser-known stories of the performers, crew and production Tim has
utilized the website
ReelStreets
making him able to breakdown which Brighton streets are filmed as Alan
Wheatley's Fred is evading his pursuers. Lucas also references character
descriptions (ex. Hermione Baddeley's "Ida Arnold") in Graham Greene's
novel. It is worthy of repeat viewings to catch all the data Tim
exports. There are also trailers although none for Brighton Rock.
Optimum
- Region 'B' -
Blu-ray
Kino
- Region 'A' -
Blu-ray
BOTTOM LINE:
I loved revisiting this - especially
with the new commentary.
Brighton Rock remains a great film - with plenty of Noir
charm (possibly the 'best' Brit effort of that cycle
complete with its version of femmes fatales). Greene's novel
has a rough edge that is reflected adeptly in the film and
Attenborough is in career-enhancing form as cold,
morally-compromised, 'Pinkie Brown'. With the inclusion of
the Tim Lucas commentary - this gets our nod as the
Blu-ray edition to own. Don't hesitate.
Gary Tooze
July 15th, 2011
April 30th, 2020
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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.
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. 60-Inch Class (59.58” Diagonal) 1080p Pioneer KURO Plasma Flat Panel HDTV PDP6020-FD
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Gary Tooze
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Thank You!
