PictureYou know what this may well be the most superfluous review of a transfer that I've ever written. By now, almost all of you will be painfully aware of the problems this Blu-ray incarnation of Gladiator suffers. Forum frenzy had seemingly dictated that this transfer was a disaster on an epic scale even before most us had even clapped eyes on it. My own frustration at being way down the line to actually find out whether this was true or not inevitably led to my own expectations being woefully low. Having already got the original R1 and R2 editions, followed by the Superbit and the SD Extended Edition, the opportunity for a full-on, pixel-by-pixel comparison certainly offers itself, but there seems very little point, to be honest. Almost everything negative that you have heard about this transfer is actually true which hurts to admit - but what has rarely been taken into account are the things that are surprisingly rewarding about it. Yep, believe it or not, there are some good point, too, which I will get to in due course.
Firstly, folks, this UK region-free release from Universal carries exactly the same transfer as the US edition from Paramount, so don't get your hopes up for any revelations.
Anyway, let's look at the established facts.
This 2.35:1 AVC MPEG-4 transfer has clearly been obtained by combining two earlier masters. The first, and predominant one, culled from the film's initial 2001 DVD debut, and the second hailing from the 2005 Extended Edition's release. What was deemed appropriate for the much lower resolution of standard DVD the image artificially sharpened with edge enhancement is something that often appals us when seen on a high-def picture. We don't need edge enhancement on a 1080p transfer, but the fact remains that the overwhelming majority of Gladiator's footage now carries it, whilst the extended elements, taken from a master that was created, no doubt, with one eye on an eventual hi-def release, have none. Plus, that other visual blight that poisons the eyes (and minds) of some viewers, yet leaves others amazingly untouched yep, the dreaded smudge of DNR is apparent upon every scene from the original theatrical cut, yet kept away from those extended scenes, which tend not to suffer any undue extra processing. The result of this cut 'n' paste transfer is an image that clearly alters from smooth and artificial to textured and natural throughout the movie. Clearly this is horribly unacceptable from a technical standpoint and totally puts this prestigious release in the shade, catapulting it from its intended top-tier ranking and leaving its blissfully unmolested brother-in-arms, Braveheart, waving dismissively down at it.
Those opening scenes in Germania, although the most notorious parts of the transfer and held up by the mob for ridicule and scorn on both sides of the Pond, however, have always looked ropey. That washed-out, frost-filtered appearance was never intended to produce swathes of detail. Its black levels were meant to be intense, as was its decoration of grim haziness. Mud, blood and shadow it is a squalid image to be sure. However, it is the abject over-use of digital noise removal that has resulted in the loudest and most vociferous outcry. The now-you-see-'em, now-you-don't arrows that encounter the Bermuda Triangle whilst in mid-flight, the smeary trajectory of scratch removal leaving digital vapour trail are well-known causes for concern. But
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but, even knowing about the existence of these errant idiocies and reluctantly looking for (and finding) them, I didn't feel that they hampered the scene at all. In fact, in all honesty, I felt pretty stupid scrutinising such fast-moving frames for nano-second glimpses of digital black magic. Aye, it should never have happened, but I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of viewers aren't even going to notice it. Far more damaging, I would say, are the now-obvious CG elements, that look even more fake than they ever did before. Scott's insistence on cooking the distance travelled by the fireballs a little clearly blowing all physics out of the window, and the arrival of Commodus in Rome which never looked all that convincing now looks ridiculously artificial, both EE and DNR conspiring to rob the money-shots of any integrity.
The banding in the ochre swirl surrounding the titles is a disappointment, right from the get-go, you realise that something is wrong here. Bubbling away like one of Marvel's banding-plagued animated BD's, this is an immediate mistake that may be slight, but remains unforgivable and sets the tone for much of the disappointment that will follow. I could be wrong, but I thought I saw some more minimal banding taking place in the sky during one of Max's surreal landscape hallucinations, as well. Grain has not been entirely removed. Instead, it varies from scene to scene, though this very inconsistency can prove irritating. You will see it against the skies and during many of the more intense physical encounters, but it has a random quality that is very un-film-like. There is even a slight element of aliasing from time to time, though, on its own, this is barely noticeable and no major problem.
Maximus and Marcus Aurelius look startlingly processed during the early portion of the film, although I found that I quickly got used to this, and since a lot of other faces, later on, don't seem to suffer half as much, I was able to get by and, even, almost forget about it. That sound odd? Well, the thing is, the texture may have been altered (or stripped), but there is still a huge level of detail retained by the image. Yes, there is plentiful extra material to be found among the ranks of soldiery, and in the bigger, more crowded street scenes in Rome something that is easily overlooked in all previous versions is the people climbing the stone steps in the far background, middle of the picture, as Proximo and his men enter the city but the details found in the costumes, the sets, themselves, the rock and the sand, the jewellery etc, provide ample reasons why this transfer is not at all a complete loss. But, back to the unwanted processing just look at the scene when Juba and Maximus sit in reflective conversation atop the walls of Proximo's desert compound. See how fine Juba looks in close-up, how texture-less Maximus looks, and then how the two of them and, indeed, the entire vista and set appear when viewed in a longer shot - awful. And yet, there are the little tiny hairs on Crowe's ears (yeah, I know, I know how comprehensive do we need to get with this!) that define themselves even against the edge enhancement. Other scenes Proximo emoting to Max about the glory of winning the crowd, Commodus reluctantly adhering to the mob and the comical scene of Hagen playfully choking carry that fake waxy look of having been smoothed-over.
But, oh yes, the edge enhancement. Sadly, this seems to surround almost everything, not just figures silhouetted against horizons, or the edges of heads, shoulders and buildings but individual spears, swords, structures, wagons, arms and armour. Many of the bright sunlit scenes in the Colosseum, itself, look startling bad when seen in mid to long-distance shots such as the surrounding of a victorious Maximus and his men by the Praetorian after seeing off the chariots, or brightening the lines around the pillars, the walls and the statuary at virtually all times. Now, I'm not viciously bothered by EE usually, as once I've noticed it, I tend to just to get on with it, but this really is a pretty bad example of excessive haloing that has only been accentuated by the higher resolution.
Turning our attention to the transfer's handling of colour results in an altogether different outcome. I would say that the BD looks significantly better in its presentation of the spectrum. The pennants and flags of the Felix Legions now offer up some much more apparent purples and gold. Indeed, the purple of the Praetorians is also beneficially enhanced throughout. Scenes in the tents of the army encampment and the chambers of Commodus' palace have more intricate variance in colours. The earthy squalor of Germania is still accurately drab, overcast and miserable, the eerie sterile blue filtering of Scott's palette here remaining as cold as it always was. Yet the fires of the battle and the flickering lanterns still burn warmly. Once the darkness of the film's earlier act has subsided, the hot colours of Morocco and Rome (well, Malta) are beautiful in comparison. Flesh-tones have a lot of variance, although all tend to veer towards the hotter, more blushing end of the scale. Eyes reveal their colours keenly and finite contrasts in embroidery, tapestries and murals are well depicted. Blood is thick and dark, sand has some degree of variance and the tones and lustre of hard steel whether pitted and worn or spangling and new runs the gamut of shades and gleaming hues. Variety of colour in the Colosseum crowd is also well delineated and picked-out amongst the throng. The vivid red of the drapes, the paint and the blood-smeared on the ox before the chain-fight is also nicely saturated, as are the rose-petals (I mean poppies) showering the arena for the final duel. In fact, I have no problem whatsoever with the colour reproduction this transfer offers. Nor its very strong and consistent black levels and assured shadow delineation. Contrast, too, is typically put through its paces in a Ridley Scott film, but I would say comes up trumps here.
I must apologise if this write-up seems slightly schizophrenic, denouncing one minute, praising the next. But I can't recall encountering a transfer that provides such rich pickings, from one extreme to the other, that have to be examined. The image swings from mess to really quite appealing depending upon what element you are looking at. And, no matter how unsavoury the effects of the DNR, detail on this image is greater than on any previous home video release. This just isn't up for question. Even amidst the visually unholy squall of the Germania battle, we can see the advancing Roman lines with much more clarity the image, during some shots, noticeably brighter than before and individual faces, isolated pockets of skirmishing, foliage, armour and wounds are more readily apparent. Curiously, one shot during the melee that always looked quite glaringly speeded-up a couple of Roman soldiers running from right to left now looks evenly timed. It is brief, but I clocked that as an improvement. And there are many more little gems that crop up from time to time even things that I, who have probably watched this film more times than anybody else, have never noticed before ... a helmet sitting on a ledge or accidentally knocked askew on an extra's head, someone blundering into pots and urns, and all manner of activities in the crowd scenes. This release has already become historic for all the wrong reasons, but can you honestly expect to get another one any time soon? If you can wait it out and, believe me, I know how hard this wait, and its eventual disappointment have been, then I wouldn't dream of persuading you to do otherwise. But this edition of Gladiator, as stupidly flawed as it is, is still appreciably better looking than the SD editions that have come before it. It all depends on whether you can interpret any of this as being enough to warrant forking out for it.
With my review copy going astray, I didn't mind buying this edition at all. And nor would I contemplate taking it back and complaining about it. Personally, as aggrieved by this transfer as I am, I can live with it and will still enjoy seeing it splashed across the big screen in more detail than I've ever seen it exhibit before on home video.
Perhaps fittingly, the UK release, whether you opt for the steel-book or the regular version, features cover imagery that is embossed and raised from the background almost as though it has been sharpened with EE and glossed with DNR.
Picture score : 6
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