47 of 48 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
A Hugely Disappointing Transfer Onto Blu Ray..., Mar 18 2009
By Mark Barry, Reckless Records, London - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Great Expectations [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
I hired this hoping that the BLU RAY format would do this acclaimed masterpiece the justice it has always deserved - but no such luck.
The print is uniformly awful all the way through - with scratches, blocking, lines, blurring of the image - it's clear that little or no restoration has gone into this. An old DVD version would be just as good.
When you view other fully restored titles on Blu Ray like "Zulu", "2001: A Space Odyssey", "Cool Hand Luke" and "Black Narcissus" (see reviews for the last two) and the wonderful job done on all of the Bond movies (especially the earlier ones) - you realise what a horrible let down for fans this version is. Unfortunately, too many companies are jumping on the BR bandwagon now with oldies, because of course there's a fresh new marketplace for them. Note how clean the image on the box is - when there isn't a single frame on the disc that looks so beautifully cleaned up.
Amazon reviews are there to inform customers - help them make an informed choice; well, one day the British Film Institute will finally get its act together and frame-by-frame restore David Lean's extraordinary works - thereby preserving them properly as the artistic National Treasures they are... But for now, unless you absolutely have to have this, avoid this shoddy reissue.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Best video quality available, May 23 2012
By FritzLang - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Great Expectations [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
To be honest, I have not seen this version of the film. However, I wanted to raise the rating level on this disc because it is the best quality disc available. If you go to dvdbeaver.com and check out their comparison review of this film, with two other DVDs, it is quite obvious.
The other reviewer is correct that this movie has not been fully restored. That should not prevent someone from buying the best of what is currently available. Too many people are focused on the technical aspects of the disc than the actual movie. Just because a movie is "cleaned up" that does not mean it has been restored. If you cannot enjoy the movie in this current condition, I wonder if you truly enjoy the movie.
Even though this is a British release, it is Region Free. The only "feature" on the disc is the trailer.