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    • BLU-RAY REVIEW

    Volver

    Featured In Issue 121, June 2007

    Picture3.5
    SoundNR
    WSR Score3
    Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
    (Studio/Distributor):
    Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
    (Catalog Number):
    19058
    (MPAA Rating):
    R
    (Rating Reason):
    For some sexual content and language
    (Retail Price):
    $38.96
    (Disc Type):
    Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
    (Widescreen Edition):
    Yes
    (Full Screen Edition):
    No
    (Running Time In Minutes):
    121
    (Color Type):
    Color
    (Chaptered/Scene Access):
    Yes
    (Closed Captioned):
    Yes
    (Regional Coding):
    A
    (Theatrical Year):
    2006
    (Theatrical Release):
    Yes
    (Direct-To-Video Release):
    No
    (Disc Release Date):
    04/03/07
    (THX® Digitally Mastered):
    No
    (Director):
    Pedro Almodóvar
    (Screenplay/Written By):
    (Story):
    (Music):
    (Director Of Photography):
    (Production Designer):
    (Visual Effects):
    (Costume Designer):
    (Editor):
    (Supervising Sound Editors):
    (Re-Recording Mixers):
    (Executive Producers):
    (Co-Producers):
    (Producers):
    (Academy Awards):
    (Principal Photography):
    (Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
    (Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
    (Disc Soundtrack):
    (Theatrical Sound):
    (Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
    (DTS Bit Rate):
    (Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
    (Additional Languages):
    (French Language):
    (Spanish Language):
    (Chinese Language):
    (Subtitles):
    (Cantonese Language):
    (Mandarin Language):
    (Japanese Language):
    (Italian Language):
    (German Language):
    (Portuguese Language):

    Raimunda (Cruz) has a full plate in front of her. Still saddened by the death of her mother and father so many years ago, she works as a janitor while her unemployed and unmotivated husband lies about their Madrid apartment, sometimes pestering their teenage daughter, Paula (Cobo). Plus she cares for her elderly aunt (Lampreave), who seems to be going senile, claiming she sees, and speaks to, Raimunda's long-dead mother on a daily basis. Volver, which means "to return," won best screenplay (Pedro Almodóvar) at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. (Jack Kelley)

    Special features are the same as on the DVD reviewed in Issue 120 and include commentary with Director Pedro Almodóvar and Actress Penélope Cruz, an eight-minute making-of featurette, three interviews (Almodóvar at ten minutes, Cruz at five, and Maura at eight), an 18-minute tribute to Penélope, a photo and a poster gallery, previews, and up-front ads.

    While the MPEG-2-encoded 2.35:1 Blu-ray Disc can look good, with vibrant, natural colors and decently captured details, contrast can be too high on the white end, which can wash out fleshtones and give everything an unnaturally bright look. In night scenes, contrast seems to be better balanced, leading to much more natural fleshtones. Source element artifacts can be noticed at times and details in the backgrounds can be lost. There are times when black levels are too high, leading to a flat-looking image. (Danny Richelieu)

    The uncompressed linear PCM 5.1-channel soundtrack features well-recorded dialogue indoors, but outdoors it is too obviously close-miked, with poor spatial integration. The character is also overly bright, which can become distracting. Both are heightened by the uncompressed encoding. (Danny Richelieu)

    Reason #112 Why Readers Love Widescreen Review:

    The first thing that grabbed my interest was the DVD reviews. But after I purchased that first issue and read the reviews, I got hooked on all of the other information contained in each issue. I had adopted the DVD format fairly early on, and I have had a strong preference for widescreen, dating back to my VHS days. The technical information is a godsend. I feel that I have saved so much money by avoiding inferior quality DVDs. I was very ignorant about the technology out there for home theatre and was not aware of the resources I had that were really going to waste. (5.1 in my movie collection) I read and read and read and finally updated my antiquated system. It is such a wonderful joy to turn down the lights, turn up the sound, and enjoy movies more than I ever could at a theatre. I knew it was worth it even more when my wife said, “Cool” as we watched The Others with true surround sound. Widescreen Review has actually helped improve my quality of life!

    James Thompson
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