|
Firstly, a massive thank you to our Patreon supporters. Your generosity touches me deeply. These supporters have become the single biggest contributing factor to the survival of DVDBeaver. Your assistance has become essential.
What do Patrons receive, that you don't?
1)
Our
weekly
Newsletter
sent to your Inbox every
Monday morning!
Please consider keeping us in existence with a couple of dollars or more each month (your pocket change!) so we can continue to do our best in giving you timely, thorough reviews, calendar updates and detailed comparisons. Thank you very much.
|
|
Search DVDBeaver |
S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
|
|
The Fabulous Baker Boys [Blu-ray]
(Steve Kloves, 1989)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Gladden Entertainment Video: Twilight Time
Disc: Region: FREE (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player) Limited to 3,000 Copies! Runtime: 1:53:52.575 Disc Size: 36,905,373,294 bytes Feature Size: 34,183,815,168 bytes Video Bitrate: 29.98 Mbps Chapters: 24 Case: Transparent Blu-ray case Release date: July, 2015
Video: Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio English 1573 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1573 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit) Commentaries:
DTS-HD Master Audio English 2050 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2050
kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 /
DTS-HD Master Audio English 1984 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1984
kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 /
Subtitles: • English (SDH), None
Extras: • Audio Commentary with Writer-Director Steve Kloves and Film Historians Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman• Audio Commentary with Director of Photography Michael Ballhaus • Deleted Scenes (21:16) • Theatrical Trailer (2:48) • Isolated Score • Liner notes by Julie Kirgo
Bitrate:
Description: Writer-director Steve Kloves made his spectacular directorial debut with The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), a music-drenched romance starring real-life brothers Jeff Bridges and Beau Bridges as Jack and Frank, a pair of tapped-out sibling lounge pianists. Looking to perk up their act, they take on a girl singer in the person of a tough little cookie, Susie Diamond (the stunning Michelle Pfeiffer). But even as the trio finds success, long-buried problems between the brothers rise to the surface, sparked by the wary romance between Jack and Susie.
The Film: Real-life siblings Beau and Jeff Bridges star as the eponymous Fabulous Baker Boys. Musical prodigies both, the Bakers have long been teamed as a twin-piano act, with the less talented Frank (Beau Bridges) coasting on the skills of his brilliant younger brother, Jack (Jeff Bridges). Their career dwindling to nickel-and-dime dates in second-rate clubs, the Bakers decide that they need a female vocalist to boost their popularity. They select auditioner Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer), who in addition to being a gifted songstress is drop-dead gorgeous. The newly renovated Baker Boys act scores a success, which is inevitably threatened by Susie's growing popularity and by Jack's insistence upon pursuing an affair with the girl. Excerpt from MRQE located HEREPiano duo Jack and Frank Baker (Jeff and Beau Bridges) have been gigging so long that their act has become a stale routine of schmaltzy intros and cocktail favourites. Auditioning for a singer to spice up the brew, they land themselves with Susie Diamond (Pfeiffer), a tough cookie if ever there was one. The new act is a success, but Susie's intrusion into the brothers' settled ways causes complications: family-man Frank, half-preferring things the way they were, is worried that womaniser Jack will seduce and drop Susie, while she wants a say in shaping the musical repertoire. If Steve Kloves' directing debut, from his own script, is hardly original, it does play fresh variations on an old theme. Much of the credit must go to the actors, with the Bridges brothers making a superb double act. Jeff, especially, manages with very sparse dialogue to convey a wealth of information about a less than sympathetic character; indeed, understatement is crucial to the script's success, keeping us puzzled about characters and situation for longer than one might hope. Sadly, Susie doesn't fully escape stereotyping (though Pfeiffer proves she can belt out a song). Otherwise, with more than enough witty, well-observed details, it's a little charmer. Excerpt from TiemOut located HERE
Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. Twilight Time have come out with a Blu-ray package of the wonderful 1989 hit The Fabulous Baker Boys. While it doesn't look exceptionally striking visually - I do believe that this is the an authentic representation of the theatrical presentation. It has an inherent softness indicative of a of of the 80s film and I think it was also an intentional style choice. This is dual-layered withy a high bitrate and shows itself consistently clean reflecting the condition of a strong source. Contrast has some layering and there are a few heavier and pleasing textures. There is no substantial depth, noise or gloss. The Blu-ray is decent with no major flaws - it gave me a solid 1080P presentation.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :The DTS-HD 2.0 channel track at 1573 kbps is authentically and tight sounding clean with a few more impressive moments in pushing the film's, relatively, modest depth through. Dave Grusin's (The Friends of Eddie Coyle, ...And Justice For All, 3 Days of the Condor, The Front) score sounds pleasing and crisp. This includes Jennifer Tilly's cutesy The Candy Man, plus Pfeiffer's The Look of Love, The Girl From Ipanema and other lounge hits. Twilight Time offer an isolated score via a similarly robust lossless track. There are optional English subtitles (sample above) and my Oppo has identified it as being a region FREE.
Extras : Twilight Time add two audio commentaries - the first with writer-director Steve Kloves and film historians Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman (quite informative) and a second, initially found on the DVD release with director of photography Michael Ballhaus giving input on his experiences shooting the film. There are also a pile of deleted scenes (21- minutes worth) in modest SD condition, a theatrical trailer, the aforementioned isolated score and the package has some liner notes by Julie Kirgo.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze July 27th, 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 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
Oppo Digital BDP-83 Universal Region FREE Blu-ray/SACD
Player APC AV 1.5 kVA H Type Power Conditioner 120V Gary W. Tooze ALL OUR NEW FORMAT DVD REVIEWS
|
CLICK PayPal logo to donate!
|
Gary Tooze
|
|
Thank You!
