4K Ultra HD – CH Edition – 20th Century Studios – 127 min – 13 April 2022
Video format
• Intermediate Master: 4K
• Standard HDR: HDR10
• Ratio: 2.39
Soundtrack
• English Dolby Atmos
• French (Parisian) Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
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 – A long river not so quiet!
During a luxurious cruise on the Nile, Hercule Poirot sees her vacation in Egypt turn into a hunt for the murderer when an idyllic honeymoon is brutally interrupted by a series of violent deaths.
Despite a disproportionate (summ-saving) staging in view of its subject and the exhilarating artificiality of its many embedded funds, this second adaptation of Agatha Christie by Kenneth Branagh (The East-Express Crime) remains a whodunit old school as effective (the convoluted narration never takes the water) as elegant (a real photo novel), carried by a five-star casting that manages to give birth to a wealthy aristocrat band that almost anything accuses.
IMAGE – On board the S. S. Karnak
This UHD HDR10 transfer of all beauty is a perfect expression of the visual atmosphere of the late 1930s in Egypt.
Adorning an exemplary definition and a surgical stitch (65 mm digitally scanned negatives to an 8K resolution), the image gives a perceptible increase in detail (the period outfits, faces, accessories, decorations) and even greater clarity than in 1080p (where textures cannot display such precision). It's very simple, everything is so clear (a hard blow for CGIs designed in 2K) that the result may destabilize some spectators.
Amplifying the contrast rate (cf. the dark interiors of the great temple of Abu Simbel only illuminated with torches) and the heat of the colors (where the sepia filter persists), the HDR / WCG combo exhibits more luxurious primaries (the red dress, the blue sky, the green grass), deeper blacks with better graduated shadows, more striking whites (the shirts worn by men) and light sources with increased intensity (the flashes of the cameras, daylight, the reflections on the water, artificial lighting of the boat, the sunrises).
SON – The jazz of Poirot
Restricted by its nature since essentially dilogued, this Dolby Atmos blending is all distinguished (in no way aggressive if you prefer) delicately exploits the enclosures that have been allocated to it when narration requires it.
Opening on a battlefield where dynamics (demonstrative), spatialisation (excessive) and lows (deep) show its capabilities, it calms down afterwards to give way to realistic voices, a measured surround presence (mainly environmental atmospheres), a discreet but salutary aerial scene (especially with the arrival of the storm and the fall of the stone block) and a score, signed Patrick Doyle, large and very well distributed.
If it does not sniff (a quality dubbing), the least open VF(F) does not « flair » of his sister. The acoustic rendering is less rich.
CONCLUSION – The cruise is fun?
To unravel the true of this false Cluedo (full of mysteries and twists) on a steamboat, the slime ends you are will have to look at the present 4K Ultra HD (gorgé d'informations visuels et auditives) to find the clues scattered on or around the crime scene!
Artistic note
7
Video quality
9.5
Audio quality
9
0
As much as I had found the first friendly but not exceptional (and quite vain), this second opus m Worse still, I found it missed on a lot of points. The casting already is not always convincing. MAis especially, it is predictable at wish and it was very easy to know what the ins and outs of the thing were (the blow of the red gouache that disappeared, we knew in advance that it was for a false death)
Predictable, clearly yes.