A Christmas Carol [Blu-ray]
by Brian Desmond Hurst
![A Christmas Carol [Blu-ray]](/images/A-Christmas-Carol-Blu-ray-B002EXW7DY-L.jpg)
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Blu-ray details
Actor: Alastair Sim, Hermione Baddeley, Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison, Mervyn JohnsDirector: Brian Desmond Hurst
Brand: Video Communications Inc.
Blu-ray: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Dolby, Full Screen, NTSC, Restored
Picture Format: 1.37:1
Running Time: 86 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: 2009-11-03
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: 9001
Studio: VCI Entertainment
Blu-ray Reviews of A Christmas Carol [Blu-ray]
Blu-ray Review: The definitive Scrooge comes to Blu-Ray
Summary: 5 Stars
This has always been my favorite version of this classic story, with apologies to George C. Scott, Jim Carey, Patrick Stewart, and even Scrooge McDuck. All the other versions are fine pieces of work as well (I enjoy all of them) but somehow this version always seemed the best to me - in large part due to it being in black and white and the very stark, cold look the director imbued the film with. Alastair Sim does an absolutely terrific job in bringing the viewer into his character; he plays the role in such a way that even in the very early scenes he elicits just a trace of sympathy (perhaps pity?) from the audience which allows one to immerse oneself in his adventure to a great extent. Now this classic comes to Blu-Ray.
The quality of the Blu-Ray is certainly not what some who have reviewed it were expecting and though I respect those opinions I suspect this is more a matter of source material rather than a poorly implemented transfer. This movie was shot in a very dark, high-contrast way which I am certain was intentional and is quite appropriate as this adds to the foreboding mood. The dark sets clearly required the director to "push" film technology to the limit which resulted in much more film grain than is seen in most features. This film grain is clearly visible on this Blu-Ray and this is not a look familiar in other discs. The lack of perfect definition does not seem to be an artifact of a poor transfer but a limitation in the 35 mm negative which was reportedly used to produce this disc. The only alternative is to digitally remove the film grain with DNR (digital noise reduction), and I am VERY happy they did not do that!
I do not have a DVD version with which to compare but there are several scenes which looked totally different from what I have seen in the past on television. The best example was the scene when Scrooge has arrived home and is locking his doors (he double or triple locks both his front door and his bedroom door!) - during this fairly extensive scene I vividly recall wondering what was going on in the past since in versions shown on TV there is sometimes almost nothing visible except for Scrooge's almost ghostly face along with the candle he is carrying. In the Blu-Ray, by contrast (pun intended), the scene is full of interest with the bannister and stairs and shadows from windows in a fan-shaped pattern on the floor. Much later, after Scrooge's "awakening" (literally and figuratively), the snow-filled scenes on Christmas morning also look better than ever with a vibrancy which I have not seen on past views. I got the feeling watching this disc that this level of definition has not been seen since this was in the theaters in 1951.
I have read a couple criticisms of this disc including an automatically-running advertisement for other releases by the same company which follows the words "Don't touch the remote" or some such as soon as the disc is inserted. Some noted that they were forced to watch this presentation as their remotes would not forward past it. I found that at least on my Sony Blu-Ray player I could simply select menu and was able to immediately play the feature. I also read about some subtle video anomalies at certain points in the film on the informational site blu-ray.com (this is not a sales site). I actually checked out the spots they referred to and to say the least the anomalies are very subtle, I would never have noticed them without the heads-up. They may be more visible on a PS3 (as the author of that review noted).
In summary, I am very pleased with this purchase and recommend this film without reservation.
Description of A Christmas Carol [Blu-ray]
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