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Star Trek - Into Darkness [Blu-ray]
(J.J. Abrams, 2013)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Bad Robot / Paramount Pictures Video: Paramount
Disc: Region: FREE! (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player) Runtime: 2:12:05.959 Disc Size: 45,381,287,535 bytes Feature Size: 36,668,841,984 bytes Video Bitrate: 26.26 Mbps Chapters: 16 Case: Standard Blu-ray case inside cardboard slipcase Release date: September 10th, 2013
Video: Aspect ratio: 2.4:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: Dolby TrueHD Audio English 4342 kbps 7.1 / 48 kHz / 4342 kbps / 24-bit (AC3 Embedded: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -4dB) Dolby Digital Audio French 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -4dB Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -4dB Dolby Digital Audio Portuguese 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -4dB Dolby Digital Audio English 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -4dB
Subtitles: English, English (SDH), French, Portuguese, Spanish, none
Extras: Featurettes (42:13 in total):
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Creating the Red Planet
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Continuing the Mission DVD of the Feature and code for digital copy
Bitrate:
Description: When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.
The Film: The Star Trek franchise continues with this follow-up to 2009's J.J. Abrams-directed reboot. Abrams returns to direct from a script by Damon Lindelof and the writing team of Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. The crew of the Enterprise engages in an epic battle of good versus evil after being summoned home, only to discover Starfleet in ruins, and they venture into a war zone to find the powerful villain (Sherlock's Benedict Cumberbatch) responsible for the devastation. Excerpt from MRQE located HERE
There's plenty of screentime. Into Darkness weighs in at over two
hours, and it doesn't mess about. We're into a ridiculous action
set-piece from the get-go, in a scene that effortlessly captures the
personality of the original series. Fan-pleasing references are littered
throughout, from minor character names to major plot points to the
aforementioned tribble, with some interesting role reversals and another
cameo from Leonard Nimoy. It's impossible to say much more without
spoiling the plot, but rest assured the film bounces along for the full
two hours, holding attention principally through the strength of the key
performances.
Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. Star Trek Into Darkness arrives on Blu-ray from Paramount to a much-anticipated army of Star Trek fans. The image quality isn't quite as robust (lower bitrate) as the first film but looks quite impressive nonetheless. This is dual-layered for the 2 1/4 hour film. Contrast exhibits healthy, rich black levels but there is a slight softness yet it does export depth. Effects are brilliant - as is the art direction. Close-ups exhibit pleasing detail. It is in the 2.4:1 aspect ratio. Colors, especially in the opening Red Planet sequence, are brilliant. Predictably, this Blu-ray has no flaws and provides a beautiful, rich presentation with so much effort going into the visuals of the film as evidenced by the extra featurette supplements. The battle sequences are riveting and even open space its hard not to stare at the glory of the visuals.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :Like the earlier Star Trek film we get a robust TrueHD but now bumped to 7.1 track at a monstrous 4342 kbps. It duplicated the first movie with aggressive bass and a crisp, sensitive high end. I think it is even more notable in terms of the overall presentation. Effect noises are abundant and coming at you from all angles with subtle and aggressive touches. Michael Giacchino (The Incredibles (2004), Ratatouille (2007), and Speed Racer - 2008) repeats his infectious score sounding noble and classic as the Enterprise comes into our view. The lossless rendering is, like the image, quite perfect. Mixed in is Alexander Courage and Gene Roddenberry's original theme from Star Trek. There are optional foreign language DUBs and subtitles. My Oppo Blu-ray player has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.
Extras : Extras include 7 production featurettes (running 42-minutes in total) about such details as all the work put into the opening on the Red Planet sequence, the Attack on Starfleet, the Klingon Home World and others with the cast and crew (Producers, actors, technicians etc.) giving input. It's very informative and worth the watch to those keen enough. There is also an oddly placed 1.5 minute advert for the military entitled The Mission Continues and the package includes a DVD of the Feature and code for digital copy.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze August 31st, 2013
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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 5000 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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