Sleeper [Blu-ray]
(Woody Allen, 1973)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Rollins-Joffe Productions Video: Ar row Video
Disc: Region: 'B' (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player) Runtime: 1:27:27.325 Disc Size: 28,277,398,949 bytes Feature Size: 27,438,201,216 bytes Video Bitrate: 37.62 Mbps Chapters: 9 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: October 3rd, 2016
Video: Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 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
Subtitles: English (SDH), none
Extras: • Trailer (2:21)
Bitrate:
Description: In Sleeper Woody Allen satirises seventies dystopianism whilst resurrecting the slapstick comedy of the silent era, if Interiors was Allen's Bergman film, and Stardust Memories his Fellini film, then Sleeper could be thought of as his Buster Keaton film.
After a hospital mishap puts health-food shop owner Miles
Monroe (Woody Allen) in a coma, he wakes up 200 years later
to find himself in a very different and not exactly brave
new world. All women are frigid, all men are impotent, and
everyone lives in a police state run by a mysterious leader
who hasn t been seen in months. But why?
The Film:
All of his original skills and humors remain intact. A fantasy in which
Woody wins the Miss America contest, and another in which he plays
Blanche Dubois to Diane Keaton's Stanley Kowalski, are vintage Allen. She: 'You haven't had sex in 200 years!?!?' He: '204, if you count my marriage'. Woody Allen's Rip Van Winkle movie, in which his Greenwich Village jazz musician /health food faddist awakes from an accidental cryogenic immersion to find that he's in 2174, cast reluctantly in the role of Little Man against the Fascist State. Plenty of one-liners, and it has the best banana-skin joke in film history. Excerpt from TimeOut located HEREImage : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. Sleeper gets an impressive transfer to Blu-ray from Arrow Academy in the UK. It's dual-layered with a max'ed out bitrate for the 1.5 hour feature. It's not particularly dynamic, but neither were the film's original visuals in terms of color depth - although it is richer than SD could relate - crispness but there is no noise in the darker sequences. The 1080P supports solid contrast exhibiting healthy black levels and some minor depth in the 1.85:1 frame. It's clean showcasing some pleasing detail in the close-ups with the film's textures are well supported and there are really no flaws with the rendering. This Blu-ray probably looks very much like the theatrical version of the film Sleeper. Again, I doubt it can look more accurate unless it goes 4K one day.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :The Sleeper Blu-ray uses a robust linear PCM 2.0 channel track at 24-bits. The score is credited to Woody and you can also hear Richard A. Whiting and Ray Egan's Till We Meet Again - performed by Woody. A few effects but its a lot of Benny Hill-esque bouncy sequences with occasional slapstick. Sounds authentic and flawless. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'B'-locked.
Extras : Only a trailer - no liner notes but exclusive to the Woody Allen: Six Films - 1971-1978 [Blu-ray] collection are Annie Hall and a 100-page hardback book featuring new and archive writing on all the films by Woody Allen, Michael Brooke, Johnny Mains, Kat Ellinger, John Leman Riley, Hannah Hamad and Brad Stevens.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze September 8th, 2016
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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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