Source France | Publisher : The Jokers | Release date : 22 November 2023
Video format
2160p24 – Ratio 2.35
Dolby Vision / BT.2020 – HEVC encoding
Master intermediate 4K
Soundtrack
Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0
Subtitles
French
Rated 3.5 out of 5
Artistic : 8 | Video : 7 | Audio : 7
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. Moreover, the images in the article are not representative of the edition tested.
Test equipment and condition (Config. HP: 5.1.4)
Video broadcaster : Philips 65OLED908 (Dolby Vision Filmmaker)
Sources : Oppo UDP-203 Audiocom Reference | Zappiti Reference
Pregnant : Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar (DTS Neural:X), SVS SB-4000
WORK - The solitude of the superman
Back to the first adaptation of Zatoichi and The Trilogy of the Blade (Kill | The Sabre | The devilish blade) of Kenji Misumi, the thin blade of Japanese cinema that represented between 1962 and 1965 the Japanese spadassin through four ken-geki How black and nihilistic.
Ennobling the narrative archetypes of jidai-geki With a certain poetic abstraction and an aesthetic patina with distancing elegance (a sharp sense of purity where beauty arises from simplicity), these four films of the « Little master » Japanese cinema (master master being Akira Kurosawa) which followed the pace of the quarries Raizô Ichikawa and Shintarô Katsu, combine rapid estocades and social realism to depict not without sadness of the « samurai » Excluded from an ostracizing society because they carry a form of disability (whether physical or symbolic) that requires them to surpass themselves in order to exist (without however giving in to the vicissitudes of humanity). Absolutely inescapable!
IMAGE - The « Shuraba » of the epics
Derived from recent 4K restorations most likely from the original 35 mm negatives, these solidly encoded UHD Dolby Vision transfers (except for the pixels from there in The Sabre) blow hot and cold even if the positive outweighs the negative...
The images are stable, the cleaning was carried out with care (significant reduction of the last parasitic dusts), the colorimetric palette slightly desaturated of Kill and The devilish blade is admirable, the black and white Zatoichi and The Sabre is well nuanced, preserving the silver texture on Kill and The Sabre is rewarding, the gain in definition is evident and the light sources are displayed with a beautiful refinement.
Only here, while the level of detail is truly stunning on Kill and The Sabre, this is less the case on Zatoichi which has been moderately filtered and totally more the case at all on The devilish blade Who stands out for a contrasting softness (where did the textures of the background go?). Prejudicable, this more or less marked use of DNR comes which more is to degrease most plans with very little natural (a grain very attenuated sometimes frozen). It is a pity that the rightful person was tempted by this unrecommended practice even though the restoration work, fortunately still visible, was indeed there.
SON - Haunted by destiny
Seriously restored (the ravages of time are not heard despite an inevitably old-fashioned sound), these Japanese monophonic tracks faithful to the source show crystal clear clarity (dialogues, music and effects are clear) and appreciable purity (they do not seem stifled).
However, they seriously lack energy (The Sabre and the voices in Zatoichi are accompanied by a slight breath (due to the period recording).
CONCLUSION - Through the sword
Gathered in a collection box 4K Ultra HD (composed of a sublime five-part digipack with unreleased visuals by Tony Stella and completed by a 52-page booklet signed by Robin Gatto) limited to only 800 copies, these four immanquable cinema « the path of the sword » are accompanied by many very interesting bonuses and presented with globally sharp A/V performances. Great art... or almost (use of DNR on two of them) !
« There's only one truth: draw, kill, renegade. »
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