The Bottom Line
Pros
- Excellent high-def video transfer.
- Excellent Audio and inclusion of multiple language surround sound tracks.
- Great disc to show off HD video and audio quality.
- Extensive subtitle options.
- Fun bonus feartures
Cons
- Story and script not as good as the original.
- No exclusive HD bonus features - standard def only.
- Blu-ray exclusive - not available in HD-DVD.
Description
- BD-50 (50 GB) Dual-Layer Disc
- Video Resolution/Codec: 1080p/AVC MPEG-4, 480p/i/MPEG-2 (Bonus Features)
- Main Feature Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- Audio Formats: English/French Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz/16-Bit) Spanish, Portuguese, Thai Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (448kbps)
- Subtitles/Captions: English SDH French, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Chinese (Traditional Mandarin), and Thai Subtitles
- Bonus Feature: Audio Commentary
- Bonus Feature (standard definition): Deleted Scenes
- Bonus Feature (standard definition): Multi-Angle Scene Deconstructions
- Bonus Feature (standard definition): Special Effects
- Bonus Features (standard definition): Stunts, Armand's Path (making of featurette).
Guide Review - The Legend of Zorro - Blu-ray Disc Review
Upon viewing Sony's release of The Legend of Zorro on Blu-ray, I found the video transfer to be excellent in both the lavish interior and period exterior shots. Facial closeups were also very good. In addition, special effects were seemlessly integrated into the film so well, that the extra scrutiny that HD allows did not reveal any glaring errors or shortcuts that may have been taken by the filmakers.
As far as sound quality goes, the surround sound imagery was excellent throughout the film. Sony's inclusion of a Dolby Digital TrueHD soundtrack really delivered the goods. In addition, Sony also deserves praise for including either Dolby Digital Plus, or standard Dolby Digital 5.1 combined with several languages.
However, the one misgiving about this disc is its lack of HD bonus features. With such a recent film, it would have been nice to see some of the added features in true high-def. The only high def extra is a trailer for the Blu-ray Disc release of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which has been available for some time already.
On the other hand, the content of the bonus features (minus the the lack of high-def) is very good and gives a good insight to the making of the film.
I give the The Legend of Zorro on Blu-ray Disc an overall rating of 4.0 Stars out of 5. This is definitely a disc that I will be using when evaluating Blu-ray disc players, Home Theater receivers, and Loudspeakers in the future.
Video Display used: Westinghouse LVM-37w3
Components Used: Sony BDP-S1 Player, Onkyo TX-SR705 Receiver, Klipsch 2-F2's, 2-B3's, 1-C2 speakers and Sub10 subwoofer.
