New to Blu: September 7-13 > Movies

Two Helen Mirren movies, two back-catalogue classics and a slew of direct-to-disc titles dominate this week’s Blu-ray slate.

Mirren can be seen in Brighton Rock and Arthur, and many of her contemporaries star in Another Year.

A British reviewer said comparing the Blu-ray of Brighton Rock to the DVD was “almost like watching another movie altogether. The DVD was bland, soft and positively hazy in places, but the HD transfer is a whole different story.”

Arthur has a “bright, colourful and attractive image that usually appears quite sharp, nicely defined and dimensional”, although some loathed the “ludicrously pumped-up colours, steep blacks, and noisy sharpness”.

Given its low budget, Another Year surprised by shining “from start to finish” with its sharp image and strong colours: “The flesh tones are accurate and the level of detail in the faces, so important to conveying the subtle avalanches of emotion, is exceptional.”

Cronos fans who were frustrated they couldn’t access Criterion’s acclaimed Region A-locked edition will be delighted to learn the local Blu-ray release looks “practically identical” while the “exceptionally strong” Metropolis: Reconstructed and Restored comes with DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and 5.1 mixes that “provide beautiful sounding, lifelike ambience, a wide soundstage, strong instrumental separation and smooth high frequencies”.

The rest of the week’s newcomers bypass cinemas for Blu-ray bows: Freight, Middle Men (“fairly disappointing”) and the 3D options, Drive Angry (“fantastic depth”) and Super Hybrid (“decent enough for a low-budget horror”).