Blu-ray Review: Hidalgo

THE MOVIE: 4 stars out of 5

Hidalgo is based on the true life story of Frank T. Hopkins who was a stunt rider in the old Wild BIll shows that brought the glamour of the wild west to cities all across America in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. His horse was a tenacious mustang named Hildalgo. Mr. Hopkins who had a white father and Indian mother, was advertised as the greatest rider the West had ever seen. In 1890, he came to the attention of a wealthy sheikh who was the breeder of pure Arabian horses and was invited to participate in the Ocean of Fire, a grueling race of 3000 miles across the desert through Arabia and Iraq ending in Syria. Not only does Mr. Hopkins and Hidalgo have to conquer the elements of the desert but the evil plots of competitors who will stop at nothing, including murder, to win this race.

I did not see this film in the theaters but enjoyed it immensely. The film is well written and fast paced and stars Viggo Mortensen as Francis T. Hopkins and Omar Sharif as the Sheikh. The film is rather topical as it explores the differences between western culture and the Islamic world which is a subplot to the film’s rather extensive action sequences. Recommended.

THE VIDEO: 4 3/8 stars out of 5

Encoded with AVC and presented in its original aspect ratio of 2:40:1, this is another fine encode from the folks at Disney. At the outset, I should note that this film is also running on HDNet Movies at this time. The presentation of this film on Blu-Ray far exceeds the video and audio quality on HDNet Movies. The film boasts very natural color and accurate skin tones. Black levels are good but not on the level of the best transfers I have seen. The film has a nice three dimensional image but appears a tad flatter than the best looking transfers. Detail is excellent as well in most scenes but does fall short in some of the darker scenes. I also noted some noise in the very dark scenes of the films which was a tad distracting. Fortunately it did not occur that often but was enough to drop the overall score of the film a couple of notches. However, fans of this film will be quite pleased with the quality of this transfer.

THE AUDIO: 5 stars out of 5

While I had some minor reservations about the video quality on this release, I had none at all with the audio, which in my opinion is reference in all respects and among the best I have heard in my home theater. The high rez track here is presented in uncompressed PCM encoded at 48 kHz/24 bit and is simply off the charts in terms of dynamics, clarity, detail and bass response. It should be noted that the audio level for this film from the analog multichannel outputs of my Panasonic BD10AK player is very hot and had to be reduced quite a bit from my standard listening levels. Once adjusted, I was simply floored by the audio on this release. Dialogue was beautifully recorded with excellent clarity. The music tracks were smooth and open with excellent bass, detail and overall fidelity. The music here is on the level of that in Immortal Beloved in terms of audio quality. As noted previously, dynamics here are off the charts with sound effects of stunning reality. The chase scenes have to be heard to be believed with thundering bass and the sensation of horses racing around you. The surrounds are beautifully used and are active throughout the film giving the film a totally immersive sound field, again, among the best I have heard. There is one scene in particular that I use as a reference and that is of a steam locomotive that comes straight at you and over your head. Trust me, it will have you ducking for cover it is so realistic.

IN CONCLUSION

Hidalgo is a fine film with a thrilling story and very good video with tremendous audio. I can recommend this film without reservation.

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