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The Review at a Glance: (max score: 5 paws)
# Film:
# Extras:

Audio/Video total rating:

( Max score: 100 )
77
Studio and Year: Sony Pictures - 1984
MPAA Rating: PG
Feature running time: 164 Minutes
Genre: Drama/Adventure

Disc Format: BD-50
Encoding: MPEG-4 (AVC)
Video Aspect: 1.66:1
Resolution: 1080p/24

Audio Format(s): English/French Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Subtitles and Captions: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Starring: Peggy Ashcroft, Judy Davis, Art Malik, Alec Guiness, Victor Banerjee, Nigel Havers
Directed by: David Lean
Music by: Maurice Jarre
Written by: David Lean based upon the book by E.M Forster

DVD Release Date: April 15, 2008












"A cinematic classic"
MY TWO CENTS:

Set in 1928, this film portrays an indelibly sardonic picture of British life in territorial India. The story concerns Adela Quested, who is a free-spirited British woman, played by (Judy Davis), who journeys from England with the free spirited Mrs. Moore (Ashcroft). Flouting convention, the two women accompany the handsome Dr. Aziz to the mysterious Marabar Caves. But things turn ugly when Adela returns injured from the expedition. As British authorities urge her to press charges against Aziz, The line separating truth and fantasy begins to blur.

Here is a film that I have certainly heard of but have never seen at all in the 24 years since its theatrical release. Man! What a good movie. I mean don’t get me wrong this is not to the level of a Dances with Wolves, Forrest Gump, The God Father etc. However it is considered by many to be a classic film and it received 11 Academy Award nominations and won two in 1984. After watching it I can certainly appreciate its appeal. It featured two distinguished screen veterans in Alec Guiness and Dame Peggy Ashcroft. Ashcroft received an Oscar for per portrayal of Mrs. Moore. She has wonderful onscreen presence and essentially stole every scene she was in. Alec Guiness played Professor Godbole, an Indian, and quite frankly I just didn’t get his character. I mean why have a white British actor portraying an Indian? In any event I felt that his character’s involvement in the story just seemed inconsequential and that his presence really had no impact. My favorite performances were by Judy Davis and Victor Banerjee who portrayed Adela Quested and Dr. Aziz. The heart of the story revolves around the two of them and they were brilliant.

The film touches on the subjects of racism, peer pressure, humanistic value, love, friendship and forgiveness. This is all wrapped up in a beautiful cinematic production shot on location in India.
Parental Concerns:

The PG rating is for thematic elements. Today this were garner a PG-13 rating.


AUDIO/VIDEO - By The Numbers:

REFERENCE = 92-100 / EXCELLENT = 83-91 / GOOD = 74-82 / AVERAGE = 65-73 / BELOW AVERAGE = under 65

(Each paw rating is worth 4 points with a max of 5 paws per category)

Audio: 64

# Dynamics:
# Low frequency extension:
# Surround Sound presentation:
# Clarity/Detail:
# Dialogue Reproduction:

A passage to India is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio in English and French languages that had an average bitrate of 1.8 mbps. This was not a dynamic presentation. It had a compressed sound field which made sounds that emanated from the front three channels seem to lose steam before reaching the listening position. Dialogue was reproduced with excellent clarity through the center channel but sounded a bit thin due to the overall anemic dynamic range. The surrounds were used to create a platform that enhanced the beautiful musical score as well various spatial elements in the film. This is essentially a dialogue driven film however there were plenty of opportunities where the use of the front and rear speakers was appropriate. This is a 24 year old film which needed to be re-mixed for discrete surround sound. There is essentially no use of the subwoofer within the mix which is a shame because it probably would have provided some much needed weight to the audio. Overall this was not a poor mix. It is simply one that shows its age. I have heard newer film mixes that did not sound as good as this one. It certainly got the job done.

**My audio ratings are based upon a comparative made against other high definition media/blu-ray disc.**

Video: 90

(Each paw rating is worth 4 points with a max of 5 paws per category)

# Resolution/Clarity:
# Black level/Shadow detail:
# Color reproduction:
# Fleshtones:
# Compression:

The 1080p MPEG-4 (AVC) encoding presented here had an average bitrate of 25 mbps and was near reference quality. It seems that lately I have reviewed a number of catalog releases from other studios that have failed to meet fan expectation in terms of overall image quality. There could be numerous reasons for this but in the end consumer opinion is what matter I guess. I have been impressed with the quality of Sony’s catalog release titles on blu-ray and A passage to India is no exception. The first thing that I noticed was the wonderfully vibrant yet natural colors present. There is what seems like an unlimited color palette. This came not only from the beautiful clothing worn by the Indian women in the film but the lustrous landscapes and vista views of the grandiose Indian country side. Detail was first rate with excellent resolve and fine minutia which was easily detectable from almost every perspective. Shadow detail was exceptional which really made the scenes shot at the darkened mosk appear three dimensional. Dynamic range in these scenes along with hearty blacks gave them even more depth. Flesh tones were natural and well delineated with wonderful distinctness among the varying members of the cast. Grain was plainly visible and heavy at times. A few of the panning shots of the daytime sky were a little noisy and banding was visible here and there. These are only minor complaints though in an otherwise superb video presentation.

**My video ratings are based upon a comparative made against other high definition media/blu-ray disc.**
SPECIAL FEATURES:

Sony has included a great set of bonus features here that fans will cherish. They look at the production through video clips and still photographs. There are interviews of Director David Lean which were shot shortly after the film‘s release. Several of the cast sat down recently and offered their insights into working with David Lean, Judy Davis, Dame Peggy Ashcroft and Alec Guiness. The blu-ray disc exclusive interactive Beyond the Passage feature adds production, background and interesting tidbits on the film which pop up while the movie is playing. I found myself disappointed when the last featurette was over as I really enjoyed them.

# Commentary with Producer Richard Goodwin

# E.M. Forster: A profile of an author - Featurette (HD)

# An epic takes shape: Featurette (HD)

# An Indian Affiar: Featurette (HD)

# Only Connect: A Vision of India - Featurette (HD)

# Casting a classic: Featurette (HD)

# David Lean: Shooting with the master - Featurette (HD)

# Reflections of David Lean: Featurette (SD)

# Beyond the Passage: Pictures-in-graphics track


WRAP-UP:

A passage to India is a poignant film that deals with issues that we all may encounter in our lives at one time or another. It is well directed, scripted and acted and has the feel of a timeless classic. Sony has brought it to high definition blu-ray in a terrific package that will surely please fans and novices alike. Highly Recommended.

Quick grabs from down-sized 720p x264 rencode









Ali

thanks ali, this does not reflect 9/10 rating, by any means for video, but nevertheless I never like 720P any ways! look forward to 1080p SS if any?

Why? Is there a zit missing on Art's face that doesn't show up in these screen shots? I'll see if any 1080p ones appear.

Ali

Well, show me 1080P the I'll show you boy! whats missing

One can not judge quality from 720p reencodes with unknown processing applied.
Also, this was an expensive restoration for a catalogue title. If you want to see more of that you go and buy the disk and do not download pirate versions instead. If this does not sell well it sends the wrong message to Sony.

I agree! must buy title!

I have BLU-RAY in my hand! It is amazing looking video, never looked better! I have seen this film, in HD 1080i transmission, and my display is 1080i only, but still, looks marginally better than HDTV transmission.must buy!imho, this 720p encode looks lousy comparatively! mhafner! sunny buy your self a copy to refer to how good an old remaster can look like. I wish sony the best to release LAGAAN AND MK in same galore!

I ordered it, of course. David Lean in good HD is not to be missed. Now we wait some more for "LOA".
Some excerpts are on this BD. How do they look?

I'll check and post! I would love to see GANDHI by CT in full galore soon!

Out of 3 of these great films, to my eyes, on preview BORK looks the best followed by LOA and PTI. But that might be the way films were shot originally. If PTI is Video 9/10, then you can imagine! LOA looks fantastic though!

highdefdigest.com review of the Blu-ray;

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/1357/pa ... india.html





Ali

HBO produced the film, so they probably made him shoot it in a TV-friendly ratio.

That is exactly what had happened. Lean who by then was ageing and did not have as much clout as before had to bow down to the wishes of HBO.

I saw this BD, not much detail in the picture quality... guess thats the way its been pictured!