4K Ultra HD – Edition EN – Paramount Pictures – 175 min – 23 March 2022
Video format
• Intermediate Master: 4K
• Standard HDR: Dolby Vision
• Ratio: 1.85
Soundtrack
• English Dolby TrueHD 5.1
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 (original band restored)
• French (2008) DD 5.1
• French (1972) DD 2.0
Subtitles
• English
• French
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 – Taking care of your family
The Second World War has just ended. In New York, « sponsor » Don Corleone, one of the respected mafia leaders, feels old. He refuses to adapt to his time and to engage, like his peers, in drug trafficking. A chill that hinders the smooth running of others' affairs « families » And it is worth being the target of an attack. Don Corleone survives his wounds, but remains very diminished. Mike, his youngest son, who until then stood away from his father's business, became the most devoted of his heirs. More effective than his brothers, Sonny and Fredo, he avenges his father and organizes the elimination of his opponents...
Family tragedy to the sovereign staging, to the incredible casting (the almost-beginning at the time Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, James Caan, Robert Duvall and many others) and to the complex plot that humanizes the mafia, the first part of the famous eponymous trilogy remains a monument of the 7th art almost fifty years after its release. Since 1972, « sponsor » Gangster movies rule the throne!
IMAGE – Times have changed
Supervised by Coppola in person from the restoration done in 2007 by Robert Harris, this new presentation (a 4K scan in 16-bit) arrives at us in an absolutely magnificent UHD Dolby Vision transfer. Maintaining a certain sweetness inherent in the source and preserving its film grain (a 35 mm capture), this glorious image is generally well defined and carefully recalibrated and is more refined than in the past.
Presented in 1.85 and no longer in 1.78 full frame format (with a slight loss of frame key), it has a greater cleanliness (the film dusts are rare), a less coarse silver texture, greatly improved details (cf. the increased finesse of close-ups, clothes and backgrounds in the background), a fundamentally more realistic colorimetric palette (the shades are less golden) where the heat has been revised downwards and the carnation assaine, contrasts seriously corrected (off-white burned and black clogged) and revivified light sources (the many reflections, the light of the day that pierces the windows, the interior lights or the lights, a neon sign) that manage to recover elements in the high luminances.
SON – The law of silence
Approved by legend Walter Murch in 2007, the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix already in action on the previous Blu-ray returns here. Little worn on the surround scene (discreet atmospheres of this one) and marked by a preponderant front, this felted and balanced soundtrack surrounds a properly robust dynamic, dialogues of beautiful clarity and a score (the unforgettable score of Nino Rota) well detailed.
Less well spatialized and decredible by a new unnatural dubbing (the voices of 2008 are too clean), the VF Dolby Digital 5.1 based on the same restoration as the 2007 VO suffers from its compression. The VF Dolby Digital 2.0 mono has at least the merit of presenting the dubbing of the era.
CONCLUSION – The offer that it is difficult to refuse
Eclipse with ease previous video releases, this trustworthy 4K Ultra HD can proudly sit alongside Don Vito « Corleone » Andolini!
Artistic note
10
Video quality
9
Audio quality
8
0
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