I had this BD in the mail today, although it won't be released until Tuesday next week. In March we already got Fallen Angels on BD from Kino International, three months later, they give us Happy Together. Judging from the quality of the trailer for Happy Together on the Fallen Angels BD, I anticipated a great disc.
As expected, the HD transfer contains the remastered version that was published on DVD in 2009 (I blogged about the differences between the versions here). Fortunately, the disc is region-free and it is also double-layered (BD-50).
As expected, the HD transfer contains the remastered version that was published on DVD in 2009 (I blogged about the differences between the versions here). Fortunately, the disc is region-free and it is also double-layered (BD-50).
PACKAGING AND MENU
Many aspects of this release mimick the Fallen Angels BD. That's why it's no surprise that the amaray case is once again stored in a cardboard slipcase. It basically looks just like the DVD release from 2009, but this time, they managed to make the back cover look fine instead of cheap. It's no revelation, though. One thing I absolutely disliked about 2009's DVD release was the ugly menu. Whereas they managed to get it right on the BD of Fallen Angels, they fail this time. You can see the ugly background below. The Java animations are fine as always, Kino International actually put the same animations on all of their releases. They're simple and they work. Unfortunately, I can't take screencaps of these.
Many aspects of this release mimick the Fallen Angels BD. That's why it's no surprise that the amaray case is once again stored in a cardboard slipcase. It basically looks just like the DVD release from 2009, but this time, they managed to make the back cover look fine instead of cheap. It's no revelation, though. One thing I absolutely disliked about 2009's DVD release was the ugly menu. Whereas they managed to get it right on the BD of Fallen Angels, they fail this time. You can see the ugly background below. The Java animations are fine as always, Kino International actually put the same animations on all of their releases. They're simple and they work. Unfortunately, I can't take screencaps of these.
IMAGE AND SOUND
We get more detail here than on the Fallen Angels BluRay. Although Happy Together is also rather soft, it doesn't have that "nebulous" look that Fallen Angels has. Well, everything looks pretty well here, there are no damages and the new colors are nice. The only thing one could complain about is the fact that blacks sometimes appear rather greenish due to the new color palette. Still, the new color palette gives the movie more plasticity - therefore it was a good choice to change the movie in that way. Doyle's marvellous cinematography shines even more! The movie is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1,85:1, of course.
The sound is a pleasure too. The soundtrack of the remastered edition gives the impression that WKW recompiled it, that's also what he did with the soundtracks for Chungking Express and Fallen Angels. This time, WKW didn't change much. I have to confess that I didn't notice any changes (new sound effects for example) - except for the new 5.1 mix, of course.
Additionally, here are some technical aspects about image and sound:
Feature Size: 25,573,797,888 bytes
Length: 1:35:56.792
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 29841 kbps / 1080p / 23,976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1Additionally, here are some technical aspects about image and sound:
Feature Size: 25,573,797,888 bytes
Length: 1:35:56.792
Audio: Chinese / DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3831 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitle: English / 20,158 kbps
BONUS FEATURES
First of all, there are 2 HD trailers for Fallen Angels and Happy Together (AVC, 1080p). We've already got those on the Fallen Angels BD and at first I thought the new HD trailer for Happy Together was recompiled from the remastered movie, but it actually wasn't. The trailer's color palette was definitely adjusted, but in comparison with the main feature, it looks inferior (higher contrast, more grain):
First of all, there are 2 HD trailers for Fallen Angels and Happy Together (AVC, 1080p). We've already got those on the Fallen Angels BD and at first I thought the new HD trailer for Happy Together was recompiled from the remastered movie, but it actually wasn't. The trailer's color palette was definitely adjusted, but in comparison with the main feature, it looks inferior (higher contrast, more grain):
trailer vs. main feature
Just like on the Fallen Angels BD, there's also a collection of stills. You can't see the Java menu animations on this screencap, but this is one of the stills - they're not too interesting:
Additionally, we also get the documentary Buenos Aires Zero Degree (AVC, 1080i). It's kind of a making of and contains lots of deleted scenes. Unfortunately, the quality still sucks as it sucked on previous releases. I really hope to see a remastered version someday... And Kino International certainly don't improve the image by upscaling it to HD. Then again, they did a good job by inserting chapter marks here.
There's also an interview with WKW (AVC, 1080i): "In April 2008, Wong Kar-Wai sat down with David Schwartz at New York's Museum of the Moving Image to discuss his career. Director Ang Lee introduced the evening." The interview looks upscaled as well.
CONCLUSION
Great release for WKW fans! The main feature is presented in better quality than ever before and the selection of bonus features is pleasing. All that's left to hope is that we will get "Buenos Aires Zero Degree" in better quality one day...
Great release for WKW fans! The main feature is presented in better quality than ever before and the selection of bonus features is pleasing. All that's left to hope is that we will get "Buenos Aires Zero Degree" in better quality one day...
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