4K Ultra HD – Edition FR – Metropolitan Video – 151 min (long version) – 21 October 2022
Video format
• Intermediate Master: 4K
• Standard HDR: Dolby Vision
• Ratio: 2.35
Soundtrack
• French Dolby Atmos
It is brought to the attention of our dear readers as well as the viewing equipment specified and used by each tester of the MaG team, the rendering may differ from one installation to another, whether or not it is calibrated, as well as personal preferences and expectations may influence the rating. Moreover, the images in the article are not representative of the edition tested.
WORK – Man is a wolf for man
Delegated by King Louis XV, the knight Gregory of Fronsac, accompanied by his old friend Mani, an Indian of the Mohawk tribe, arrives in the country of Gevaudan to elucidate the mystery of the Beast, which bleeds the local countryside for more than a year. The knight's first investigations soon revealed disturbing elements...
At the crossroads of genres (of adventure, fantasy and horror) and lovingly mixing references (from western to Asian culture to video games), this hybrid work, including virtuoso staging, pharaoh casting, engaging investigation (with an unsolved myth as background) and memorable action scenes (from cape and sword version kung-fu choreographed by the great Philip Kwok) has revived popular cinema with great spectacle. In France, pop culture had just found its standard meter!
IMAGE – Welcome to the Beast Land Monsignor
Based on the telecinema made at the time of the DVD, the image of the previous Blu-ray was only a bad one. « Inflation » of the master SD and had high definition only the word. None of this today since all of it « reconstituted » In 4K from the original negatives (which it was necessary to sort and scan because not mounted), the present restoration carried out under the supervision of Christophe Gans and Sébastien Prangère (one of the assemblers with David Wu) is quite sublime.
The negative has been cleaned, the color graduation drastically reworked (with at the key a better integration of the Beast), the harmonized composite plans and a considerable mass of recovered details. Thanks to this, the image is finally up to the expectations of its designers (the director and his op-director Dan Laustsen)... This was not even the case in dark rooms since digital calibration was only in its early days.
By confronting him with his terrible counterpart « HD » in 2008, the present UHD Dolby Vision transfer is a huge improvement. The silver grain (a 35 mm capture) displays with a beautiful finesse, we win a portion of the image (a light zoom back), the gap at the level of the definition is incredible (it is now possible to enjoy the background), the piqué is otherwise more sharp (the sketches of the knight of Fronsac, the fur of the wolves, the textures of the costumes), the colorimetric palette benefits from a huge curing of youth (the greenish drift has left room for much more nuanced hues) with transfigured primaries (starting with rusty reds) and an assainous carnation (the dominant rose is more than a bad memory), the contrast rate is clearly reinforced with denser blacks (night scenes, the Indian grimage) and pure whites (the clouds are no longer burning), and the different lightings like the reflections, not to mention the increased clarity of the whole (it is less darker than in the past), exposes with a new intensity of the light (the torches of the day).
With the exception of a plan below (the colour banding on Monica Bellucci's bare body giving way to the mountains), we are indeed in the presence of a transfer of competition.
Comparative images
Thank you to our friend and colleague « Jay's lab » for comparisons extracted from sound video test.
👉 Clicking on images allows you to access your YouTube video directly.
SON – The province that cried wolf
Having stopped exploiting all available channels, this new Atmos soundtrack (reworked for the occasion by Cyril Holtz, the sound editor of the film) is as striking as it is immersive.
Very dynamic and using the need for physical bass (the steps of the Beast evoke those of the T-Rex of Jurassic Park), this 3D mix with clear voices (a special mention to the storyteller Jacques Perrin), with regular organic effects and extensive music (signed Joseph LoDuca), is provided with a particularly studied channel separation (especially at 62′, when Fronsac recalls the testimonies on the animal).
The noises appear everywhere, the rear scene is constantly exploited (the screams of the revolutionaries, the water projections, the presence out-of-field of the Beast, the explosions of pumpkins) and the upper layer, abundant it must be said (even the percussions of the score are entitled to it), is always justified (the beating rain, the thunder that roars, the movements of the animal over the muddy pit where there is a berger).
BONUS - The Beast
• An exclusive book reproducing the original storyboard
• 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray: 2 audio comments (Christophe Gans – Samuel Le Bihan & Vincent Cassel), Unpublished meeting between Christophe Gans and Jean-Baptiste Thoret (88)
• DVD 1: « The bowels of the beast » (a documentary on filming, 78) Interview with Michel Louis (historian, 17′), Eight Internet modules (11′)
• DVD 2: « Behind the scenes of filming » by Pascal Laugier (77) Five scenes cut (39)
• DVD 3: Telefilm The Beast of Gevaudan (turned in 16 mm as part of the emission) The impossible court) by Yves-André Hubert (1967), 100, Interview Christophe Gans and Michel Subiela (23) , Meeting Christophe Gans and Jean-Pierre Jackson (17)
CONCLUSION – Once upon a time the Gevaudan...
Initiated by Christophe Gans for the 20th anniversary of his iconic film, this 4K restoration (A/V) that embraces excellence is part of the adventure with an exceptional 4K Ultra HD edition (a luxurious packaging and a colossal interactive section). And for those who would have missed, a single disc edition is announced for December 09th. What to scream of happiness in front of this « Matrix In costumes », as Samuel Hadida, the producer of the film, sold it at its release!
Our exchange with Christophe Gans
The trailer
Artistic note
8.5
Video quality
9.5
Audio quality
10
0
All this is beautiful, still – he can get the box mentioned. Now, as often some "porcs" speculate, and someone from the Potemkine shop said her I quote: "We refused someone the order of four copies knowing that they would be resold" (with speculation and extortion it is I who add it). A Steelbook version 4K + BR seems to be expected to release on 02 / 11 before the individual editions planned they actually for the 09 / 12 .
It is true that today, it is necessary to preco from the opening to hope to obtain the editions collectors. 🙁
Fortunately, the publisher planned the hit with the next release of simple editions. 😉
[...] Dolby Vision from a DI 2K magnifies the sumptuously disturbing photo of Dan Laustsen (The Wolf Pact, Nightmare Alley, John Wick: Chapter 4) while the previous Blu-ray (published in 2016 [...]