Blu-ray Review: Baron Munchausen

THE MOVIE: 3 stars out of 5

This Terry Gilliam film involves a 17th Century aristocrat who comes rescue a town that is under siege by the Sultan of the Turkish Empire. Now an old man, he comes to the town and sets out on a journey to find his former henchmen all of who have strange and magical powers. HIs journey includes a trip to the moon in a boat, a dance with the goddess Venus, a trip inside the belly of a whale and an escape from the Grim Reaper. The film stars John Neville, Sarah Polley, Uma Thurman, Jonathan Pryce, Robin Williams and even a brief cameo by Sting. Needless to say, this is a very odd film and one that it not for everyone. Recommended as a rental only.

THE VIDEO: 3 1/2 stars out of 5

Encoded with AVC and presented in it original aspect ratio of 1:85:1, I can’t say that I was impressed with the look of this film at all. I found the image quality to be all over the map. On the plus side, there is plenty of image detail in this transfer with some very nice shadow detail. On the down side, this is one very grainy film. In some scenes, color reproduction is quite good. In others, the image is dull and drab. The image can best be described as looking dirty. Image clarity was below anything I have seen on Blu-Ray to date. The film also has a rather flat look as well. I came away with the impression that this film is in the need of a serious restoration and could have looked much better. Perhaps the 25th Anniversary addition will.

THE AUDIO: 3 1/2 stars out of 5

The audio on this track is presented with Dolby True HD and is a lackluster as the video. On the plus side, the musical score sounds quite good, surprisingly so given the lackluster presentation of the rest of the film. Dialogue is clear and distinct and easy to follow. The rest of the sound field is rather flat sounding and fails to pull you into the narrative. The action sequences sound just OK with the active involvement of the surrounds. Other than the musical score, the overall sound of the film is rather thin. I would have expected a better effort on the sound front on this release, given its designation as a 20th Anniversary edition.

IN CONCLUSION

As you can tell, I was disappointed in both the video and audio quality of this release. I am sure that fans of the film will enjoy its presentation as I am sure it is much better looking and sounding than the DVD. Unless you are a hardcore Terry Gilliam fan, I would recommend that you only rent this release.

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