Source France | Publisher : Warner Bros. | Release date : 06 November 2024
Video format
2160p24 | Ratio 1.85
HDR10 | BT.2020
HEVC encoding | DI 4K
Soundtrack
English Dolby Atmos
English DTS-HD MA 2.0
Dolby Digital 1.0 English
Subtitles
English
French
Rated 3.5 out of 5
Artistic : 7 | Video : 7.5 | Audio : 8
It is brought to the attention of our dear readers that, in addition to the specified and used viewing equipment, the rendering may differ from one installation to another, whether or not it is calibrated, as well as personal preferences and expectations may influence notation. In addition, the images (extracted from a free image bank, from the site) Slowpoke Pics and our disk using PowerDVD 23 Ultra) serve as an illustration and cannot be considered representative of the edition tested.
Test equipment and condition (Config. HP: 5.1.4)
Video broadcaster : Sony Bravia XR-65A95L (Professional HDR)
Sources : Oppo UDP-203 Audiocom Reference | Zappiti Reference
Pregnant : Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Max (Dolby Atmos | Dolby Surround | DTS Neural:X), SVS SB-4000
WORK - Sleeping is dying
With his sharp claw glove, a disfigured murderer named Freddy Krueger turns the worst nightmares of his victims into reality. To stay alive, you have to stay awake...
Even though he has dreadfully aged (the effects are dated and any fear has disappeared), this pinnacle of the 80s slasher that explores the ailments of teenagers (launched here as a legacy by the previous generation) had come out of his horrible Freddy Krueger hat (and also Johnny Depp in its very first role), the sadistic croque-mitaine (the legendary Robert Englund) instantly recognizable since then. And then, while her female character makes the blows in a Puritan America where the parental figure is absent and/or failing, the bloody killing remains iconic in this Machiavellian maze (a trapous staging) where dreams and reality are telescopic.
« One-two... Freddy will cut you in two, Three-four... go up to your house four to four, Five-six... don't forget your crucifix, Seven-eight... especially don't sleep at night, Nine-ten... he's hidden under your bed. »
IMAGE - At the heart of dreams
This UHD HDR10 transfer, which is identical to the cinema version and is not censored (an additional nine seconds), is a striking upgrade to the Blu-ray (published in 2010 with VC-1 encoding) but, there is one but...
Moreover, let us start with the most boring, i.e. the management of the silver texture, much less pregnant than expected. Too fine and homogeneous (perfectly similar despite the differences in lighting) for 35 mm, there is no doubt that a degreasing passage was carried out before the addition of a grain under control. Curiously yet (and this is so much better), the dive does not seem to have been impacted.
The increased resolution is immediately visible (the streets like the facades of the houses of the American suburbs are otherwise sharper), the fine details reveal a very different finesse (textile fibres, decorative elements) and the whole, apart from a handful of original soft plans, displays with an accuracy never seen until then.
The 1.78 open matte ratio of the previous edition gives way to 1.85 format (small horizontal black bands are back) exploited when it is released in dark rooms. The scoping has however been revised with in most cases a significant loss of information (left, top and right), if this is at the bottom where it recovers a portion of the frame.
And despite a HEVC compression (a fairly fair average bitrate of 53.3 Mbps), the invading digital noise of its HD counterpart is not completely eradicated since still present (even if at low dose) in the dark. No doubt with a triple layer BD-100 (not a 66 GO disk), the problem would have been solved.
Then comes the technologies WCG and HDR (damage for the absence of Dolby Vision), certainly particularly flattering to the image but too generously exploited in places (an abusively dark plane here, another outrageously bright there). By the way, why does carnation sometimes turn yellow? Fortunately, it is the positive and not the negative that prevails...
The colorimetric palette which sees its primarys intensified (cf. the incredible saturation of the reds) calms the heat of the diurnal planes and accentuates in areas at nightfall, where the blue atmosphere makes a big leap forward. In fact, the world of dreams stands out more from reality, more neutral in its hues.
This is also demonstrated by the contrasts, which increase the clarity of the second and the darkness of the first. The blacks are deeper and the lighting is much more intense with dazzling days, bright lights and extremely burning flames. Average Peak Nits was measured at 572 cd/m2 and MaxCLL at 1480 nit.
SON - I have a dream
If it lacks delicacy and allows a certain revisionism (but it will come back) to fully convince, the VO Dolby Atmos (24-bit, 3057 kbps) creates a coherent soundscape that completely modernises the acoustic experience.
Powerful as it is, well distributed and wide, it delivers more enveloping atmospheres (the boiler room of the underworld, the wind's breath) where the backs (very active during nightmares with Freddy's calls) and the verticality of mixing (the fauna, the geyser of blood) do not fail to be heard. The directionality of the effects is excellent, the basses are deep at will and the score at the synth of Charles Bernstein (cold and agonizing sounds) permeates all, including high channels. However, dialogues are somewhat under-mixed.
On the other hand, the creation of sounds (such as bubbles rising to the surface in Nancy's bathtub) and the deafening of many others (like steps, running water and especially splashing during the fall of Tina in her room) will make the purists debate. Happily, Warner thought of them...
Proposed in DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual mono (24-bit, 1840 kbps), the « Original Theater Audio » has been perfectly cleaned. Immaculate, with no whistling or sibling, it benefits from a remarkable dynamic range for a monophonic soundtrack. Remains somewhat stifled voices and a low recording level (volume to increase by 15 dB to target the reference level).
For followers of Molière's language, the VF Dolby Digital 1.0 (192 kbps) gets pretty good with what it has. Caricatural, dubbing takes off too much from the rest of the noises. The old 5.1 track, horribly artificial and reminiscent of the Arkamys process, was not resumed.
CONCLUSION - Never Sleep Again
On the occasion of his 40th birthday, the Boogieyman (born from the imagination of the director) Wes Craven) that terrorized teenagers on Elm Street visiting their nightmares pays for a « Beautiful » lifting on 4K Ultra HD support (attractive A/V performances a hair too embellished) to better tackle the current youth. If your screams do not wake you, prepare to sleep with an eternal sleep!
[...] Children's accounts, distorted arms, increasingly fanciful nightmares, A Nightmare on Elm Street is brewing in the waters of supernatural horror, where Roger Christian's film remains [...]