East Of Eden 4K Ultra HD

"East Of Eden" takes place in the Salinas Valley in and around World War I. Cal Trask (James Dean) feels he must compete against overwhelming odds with his brother Aron (Richard Davalos) for the love of their father Adam (Raymond Massey). Cal's life is further complicate by his love for Carl's girlfriend Abra (Julie Harris). Carl is frustrated at every turn, from his reaction to the war, to how to get ahead in business and in life, to how to relate to his estranged mother Kate (Jo Van Fleet). (Gary Reber)

Special features include commentary by Richard Schickel and a Movie Anywhere digital copy.

The 2.55:1:1 2160p HEVC/H.265 Ultra HD HDR10 picture, reviewed on a VIZIO Quantum X P85QX-JI UHD/HDR display, was photographed on 35 mm color film stock in anamorphic CinemaScope® and sourced from a 4K master Digital Intermediate format. The CinemaScope format was in its infancy during the late 1950s when this film was shot. Picture quality is dated exhibiting fine grain structure that appears as light noise. The color palette is nicely saturated with vivid hues that appear warm and rich. There is a preponderance of brownish and earth-toned hues. The production design exhibits soundstage sets, and of course, exterior settings of a long ago era. Generally, the appearance is natural. Flesh tones are rendered naturally. HDR contrast is excellent with natural black levels and revealing shadow delineation. White levels also appear natural. Image depth is nicely defined. Resolution is genera;ly good though closeups reveal grain structural movement, which somewhat softens the imagery and distracts. Facial feature detail is generally good nevertheless. Overall, this is the early age of CinemaScope and in this case Warner Color, which displays warmth and richness. (Gary Reber)

The repurposed Dolby Atmos/Dolby TrueHD 7.1-channel soundtrack sounds very much "produced." The included DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0-channel soundtrack represents the original theatrical soundtrack without the added surrounds and height sonics. Without the orchestral music, the focus is frontal with dialogue essentially contained to the center channel rather than split between the left and right channels. Surround envelopment is provided by the orchestral score with a wide soundstage and aggressive surround. Fidelity is dated and harsh, but dialogue sounds intelligible, though often ADR produced and lacking spatial integration.

The Immersive Sound element is limited to an extension of the orchestral score and some instances of subtle ambiance, such as crowd noises, bar ambiance, some Foley sound effects, train whistle, door slams, shower water, carnival sounds and other minor sounds.

While dated in sonic realism, this is still an enjoyable holosonic® repurposed soundtrack. (Gary Reber(