The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Blu-ray Disc Review

May 4, 2009 – 2:07 AM - Posted by: Justin Sluss

Tags: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Criterion Collection, David Fincher, Jared Harris, Julia Ormond, Paramount, Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton

has an average rating of 8.1 on IMDb
1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on a 50gb disc
Dolby TrueHD 5.1
are ALL in Hi-Def & very in-depth
–
– 2008
– 165 minutes
– Paramount
–
Disc 1 uses 44.2GB for the movie out of 45.1GB total.
Disc 2 uses 43.6GB total for bonus materials.
Street Date: May 5th, 2009

Overall Verdict – A MUST-OWN!

Buy it for $22.99 @ Amazon.com

— Review written by: Justin Sluss & Danielle Byington —

The Movie Itself is directed by David Fincher (director of “Zodiac“, and “Fight Club“), with the writing credits of Eric Roth (screenplay and screen story), and Robin Swicord (screen story), based on the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

The movie begins with a very elderly lady in a hospital in New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina is making its beginning strikes outside, however, the elderly lady, Daisy (Cate Blanchett), does not seem to be impressed by the upcoming horrific storm as she lies on her death bed in conversation with her daughter, Caorline (Julia Ormond). The elderly lady begins to tell her daughter the story of a blind clockmaker, whom takes on the task of building a massive fine clock for Grand Central Terminal in New York. While the man constructs the clock, his son leaves to fight in World War I, and is killed. Heartbroken with this loss, the man continues the work of the grand clock, and upon unveiling it to the public, it is revealed that the blind clockmaker has constructed it to measure time counterclockwise; obviously out of his grief in a desire to turn back time, thus preventing the loss of his son, and other soliders as well. Though she seems to have her reasons for sharing this story with Caroline, Daisy further instructs her daughter to take out a book; a diary, that she has brought along with her. From this moment, as Caorline reads aloud at her mother’s request, we are taken back to 1918, following the story of the life of Benjamin Button.

It is the end of World War I, and in the setting of New Orleans, Louisiana, there are endless crowds of people celebrating. However, under all of the fireworks and cheering, one man is frantically running to his home, where his wife is giving birth to their child. Walking into the house, it becomes clear at the words of the doctor, and the presence of a priest, that all is not well. The man, Thomas Button, realizes his wife is on the brink of death from a severe loss of blood during childbirth, and asks of him to make sure that their son is always safe. Either out of a state of fear for being a sudden single parent, or the ghastly unusual sight of his newborn son, Thomas snatches up the baby, and runs out of the house. He finally comes to the doorstep of a retirement home, where he rashly decides to leave his newborn son, wrapped in a blanket with eighteen dollars. The swaddled baby is soon discovered by Queenie (Taraji P. Henson), who runs the retirement home, and against the request of her husband to leave the baby to the police, she decides to keep him, declaring him “a child of God”, despite his unusual appearance. Queenie brings the child inside, first having him examined by a doctor, who diagnoses the baby with arthritis, cataracts in both eyes, and loss of elasticity in the skin, as well as predicting numbered days for the infant’s life. Queenie further introduces the baby to the folks staying in the retirement home, covering up his doorstep-tragedy by claiming he was born of her sister who could not care for him. When asked his name, Queenie pauses for a moment, and here the abandoned protagonist receives the name of Benjamin.

Benjamin‘s reverse-aging appearance does not strike much fear or chaos in the other residence of the home, as he looks just as they do; and he is only 5 years old. As time is passing backwards for Benjamin, he is slowly growing bit by bit younger, regaining some vitality, and eventually leaving his wheelchair behind in learning how to walk. While roughly close to his pre-teen years, though still baring a geriatric appearance in ways, he encounters someone who changes his life in more ways than others have; Daisy. Only a child herself, a few years younger than Benjamin‘s actual age, the two have an immediate like for one another’s company. However, Daisy‘s grandmother sees it unfit for the two to be friends, having no understanding for Benjamin‘s age condition, though the two kids still make discrete time to be together.

A few more years pass, and Benjamin is now biologically seventeen, and sees it fit to go out into the real world. Formerly having volunteered for work on a tug boat, he rejoins the crew, led by Captain Mike (Jared Harris), a very much-so rough around the edges man of the sea, who insists he is also an artist (a tattoo artist). After some intense life-experiences with Captain Mike, and a surreal run-in with the second war, and his first affair with a woman (Tilda Swinton), Benjamin returns home, again crossing paths with an all grown-up Daisy.

Overall, the “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” story told in this film is utterly moving. For those who have not yet seen this film, they will surely not mind a nearly three hour run time, as this movie continuously flows on multiple levels. The movie brings you a love-story quite different from others, that is not “star-crossed” in the typical literary notions we’ve seen before, accompanied by a “Forrest Gump” styled biography of a very special man’s life, showing us the film maker’s intent of how life experiences shape people. The formation of the story has practically grown in a “curious” way just as the main character, being 15-18 years in the making. As discussed in the intensely in-depth supplements, a set-back in production due to forces of nature, Hurricane Katrina, delayed filming of the movie for a bit, and with yet further revisions to the screenplay, it seems it may have impressed the story/themes in ways; whether intentional or not, it seems to be clever symbolism with the idea of the hurricane striking in the present setting, as it does represent both the character of Benjamin Button aging backwards through time, just as a hurricane flows counterclockwise, and the relationship between Benjamin and Daisy, only finding balance as a couple “in the middle”, just as the middle , or “eye” of a hurricane is peaceful. There is simply superb emotion conveyed in every faucet of this film, definitely qualifying itself for a “5 Star Rating” in closing, as general audiences will certainly look back at the viewing experience of this movie and feel its intent.

— Synopsis (above) written by: Danielle Byington —

Video Quality on this release is in full 1080p using the AVC MPEG-4 codec on a BD-50 (50 gigabyte dual-layered Blu-ray Disc) in the 2.40:1 aspect ratio. This was shot on the Arriflex 435 and Sony CineAlta F23 cameras but mostly the Thomson VIPER FilmStream camera. The cameras used mentioned above shot on both traditional Super 35mm film and HDTV digital source. A digital 2K intermediate source was the result that was used for this Hi-Def transfer. Despite the variety of source material, this does make for an extremely consistent Hi-Def visual presentation that shows no sign of any flaws.

One thing that is obviously important to mention when assessing the quality of this Hi-Def presentation is the use of make-up and CG visual effects which come through looking very convincing and don’t show any weak points or again, any sign of flaws. Fleshtones, speaking of the make-up effects, are accurate throughout and the amount of detail found in close-ups is extremely impressive. Especially in the first bit of the film when “Benjamin” is still in a wheel chair. His facial features that have been scanned from Brad Pitt‘s face look very convincing put along with the body of the other actor, even during close-ups in High Definition.

The black level is extremely solid, dark as ink throughout the film. The color palette, while for the most part subdued it does come across vibrant at times and possesses a very unique and fitting visual sensibility. The post-film effects done in CG by Digital Domain look wonderful here in Hi-Def and really show off all of the painstaking effort put forth by the folks there. Overall, it’s very safe to say that this Director Approved Criterion Collection Blu-ray Disc presentation is immaculate, 100% flawless and very much worthy of a “5 Star Rating“. This is definitely “Reference Material” and a release that any videophile will surely be in pure “awe” of.

— Video (above), audio and bonus (below) written by: Justin Sluss —

Audio Quality on this release is presented in DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio. I’ll start things off by saying the dialogue, which is very key in this film, comes across perfectly throughout and is never drowned out by other sound effects or the music. No volume adjustments to be made throughout your viewing of the film. Pick a volume and go with it and rest assured. Speaking of dialogue, the voice-over narration done by Brad Pitt sounds very nice and does a wonderful job of setting the vibe to the film in it’s own right. Another thing in the sound department that adds a huge amount to this film is the original music composed by Alexandre Desplat which sounds absolutely marvelous. Thanks to the original score the film has a very memorable melody for the “theme” of sorts that is heard throughout.

Sound effects are very impressive and are sure to grab your attention such as scenes when “Benjamin” is working on the tug boat. The loud monstrous fog horn on a passing ship has a huge bass presence that is sure to give your subwoofer a wake-up call if it feels it’s missing out. That being said, I feel nothing misses out. The use of the 5.1 to deliver a very realistic soundstage of sorts to the viewer (listener mainly, in this case) is very much the case here. Rear channels aren’t overly used nor discrete, they are just right. As I just finished by saying in the video quality (above), this is a Director Approved Criterion Collection Blu-ray Disc release, so I went into this with pretty high expectations. Overall looking back on it, my expectations were definitely met and this earns a very nice “Demo” worthy “5 Star Rating for audio quality.

Bonus Materials are for the most part on Disc 2 and ALL presented in 1080i Hi-Def (HD) using the AVC MPEG-4 codec and in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo @224kbps — except where noted otherwise, like the “Trailers” on Disc 2. As always, keep in mind that bonus materials are best left for AFTER the film as they contain obvious *SPOILERS*.

Disc 1 includes:

• Audio Commentary featuring Director David Fincher proves to be very enlightening and worth listening to about the second or third time you’ve seen the film in entirety.

Disc 2 features:

• “The Curious Birth of Benjamin Button” is split up into four parts, listed below. There IS a “Play All” (running 2 hours, 55 minutes and 24 seconds total) option here but it doesn’t include some sections listed below with (*) after their name. Those that don’t have a run time noted are navigational (interactive) features that allow you to browse Hi-Def still images in galleries using the left and right buttons on your Blu-ray Disc Player‘s remote control. And F.Y.I. — Hitting the middle (“ENTER“) button will bring you back to the menu if you feel you are stuck in a gallery.
“First Trimester” is split up into the following sections:

“Preface” (3:08), “Development and Pre-Production” (28:56), “Tech Scouts” (12:23 *), “Storyboard Gallery” (*) and “Art Direction Gallery” (*).

“Second Trimester” is split up into the following sections:

“Production: Part 1” (26:15), “Production: Part 2” (29:03), “Costume Design” (7:38 *) and “Costume Gallery” (*).

“Third Trimester” is split up into the following sections:

“Visual Effects: Performance Capture” (7:43), “Visual Effects: Benjamin” (16:55), “Visual Effects: Youthenization” (6:21), “Visual Effects: The Chelsea” (8:48), “Visual Effects: The Simulated World” (12:52), “Sound Design” (16:06) and “Desplat’s Instrumentarium” (14:53).

“Birth” is split up into two parts:

“Premiere” (4:20) and “Production Stills” (*).

• Trailers includes “Trailer 1” (1:49) and “Trailer 2” (2:42) which both receive full 1080p Hi-Def video and Dolby Digital 5.1 @640kbps Surround sound.
• “Stills Galleries” (*) are split up into four sections:
“Storyboards“, “Art Direction“, “Costumes” and “Production Stills“.

Overall, the bonus materials here are some of the most in-depth and thorough “making of” featurettes I have ever seen in my career as a reviewer. These all prove to be worth the watch. You will be amazed at how long this film has been “in the making” and how much went into the make-up special effects as well as CG visual effects and such. Director David Fincher does a lot of interview footage here as well as the film’s stars Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and even the supporting cast, Producers and even Screenwriters. This covers every single element of the film all the way up to it’s premier which serves as the finale of sorts to the bonus materials. It’s rare I give a perfect “5 Star Rating” for bonus materials but this earns it, very much so. Fans of the film will be extremely pleased with the supplemental material found here on the 2nd disc especially.

Blu-ray Disc packaging:

Screenshots:

NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Bare with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.

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