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A view on Blu-ray by Gary W. Tooze

 

Harry [2 X Blu-ray]

 

(Peter Burger, Christopher Dudman, 2013)

 

 

Review by Gary Tooze

 

Production:

Television: Desert Road Television

Video: Acorn Media

 

Disc:

Region: 'A'-locked (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player)

Runtime: 0:46:01.350  X 6 =  4-hours, 40-minutes)

Disc One Size: 32,848,190,491 bytes

Episode One Size: 10,673,117,184 bytes

Video Bitrate: 27.06 Mbps

Chapters: 5 per episode

Case: Standard Blu-ray case

Release date: August 25th, 2015

 

Video:

Aspect ratio: 1.78:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Audio:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1688 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1688 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)

 

Subtitles:

English (SDH), none

 

Extras:

• Photo Gallery

 

Episode 1 Bitrate:

 

 

Description: Still grieving his wife's suicide, Detective Harry Anglesea (Oscar Kightley, Samoan Wedding) returns to Auckland's Major Crime Unit after bereavement leave in his native Samoa. Although he's eager to jump back into his job, his self-destructive behavior hints that he may not be ready. HIs 13-year-old daughter, Mele, is even less ready for life as usual and desperately needs her father's attention. But Harry and his boss, DSS Jim "Stocks" Stockton (Sam Neill, Jurassic Park), soon become engrossed in a high-profile case.

After a series of violent robberies turns fatal, the city clamors for the police to catch the killer. Harry traces the crime from a drug-crazed gunman to the street gangs that peddle methamphetamine, though there may be larger forces at play. But the investigations leads him on a downward spiral that could destroy his career and what remains of his family. Gritty and suspenseful, this award-winning drama probes the narcotics underworld of New Zealand's largest city and the toll it takes on those caught in its grip.

 

 

The Film:

Samoan-born, New Zealand-raised Harry Anglesea has been a policeman in the New Zealand force for 16 years, and a detective for over 10. Compared to his peers, Harry is somewhat of a maverick with a unique insight into the psychology of criminals. He has always trusted his gut instincts and reactions to people (good and bad), and his particular skill of seeing all angles of a case sometimes brings unexpected results.

Harry is renowned for his determination and capacity to be focused and single minded when pursuing a goal. Driven, hard-working and tenacious he’s a lone-wolf, who, when he’s onto something, won't let go. But Harry is a man with two very different faces: the public policeman, and the private persona – a flawed hero.

Personally, at the beginning of the series, Harry is in a private hell. A solo parent, he’s vulnerable, lonely, pained and angry - feelings he doesn’t know how to face up to, so he tries to bury them deep and pretend everything is going just fine. On the outside, Harry tries to pass off as the “same old Harry”, but inside, he is emotionally numb, broken, blinded to what he really needs.

Excerpt from Finished Screening located HERE


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

HARRY is a six-part crime drama series set in Auckland which follows the intense psychological journey of Detective Harry Anglesea (Oscar Knightley). It arrives on two dual-layered Blu-ray discs from Acorn Media who do a fair amount of British crime-related TV-to-DVD and this 1080P is just as competent. Each disc has 2-hours 20-minutes of content (3 X 45-minute episodes each of about 10.5 Gig a piece) and is transferred in the original 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Detail in close-ups can be impressive and overall it looks very consistent and viewable in-motion. There is a bit of natural softness and instances of depth - not the HD visuals of the year but clean and this Blu-ray supports the film with a clean, progressive presentation.

 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio :

A DTS-HD Master, 2.0 channel at 1688 Kbps. There are plenty instances of aggressive violence but it is usually quick and clean, and carries some punchy (no pun) depth. The score is by, relative newcomer, Karl Steven and sounds quite effective in keeping with the series' pacing.  There are optional English subtitles, which is good as there are some accents (and uncommon phrases) and my Oppo Blu-ray player has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.

 

 

Extras :

Only a photo gallery at the end of the second Blu-ray disc.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
Television has improved so much in the past few years with shows like Breaking Bad, Homeland and House of Cards and raising that bar seems to likewise raise the expectations of strong TV series like Harry. It is quite good but a bit sedate in comparison to what is presently available. It's strengths are its realism, and characters.  It didn't overly try to make any social statements. It was pretty good and my wife and I watched the entire 6-parts over two nights. The Blu-ray gave me some reasonable entertainment. My expectations weren't too high and in a few ways I was pleasantly surprised by how convincing the story was. If you like crime-series, this should suit you for a couple of nights of entertainment.

Gary Tooze

August 15th, 2015

 

 

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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