Chinatown 4K UHD [Blu-ray] [Region A & B & C]

Perfect just what I wanted

Paramount really stepped up their 4k game, with the release of John Carpenters Escape from LA. Before then, a paltry set of releases set all hopes for its fantastic catalogue, to be deep dived for a 4K disc release, aside. After Escape, we have seen a slurry of great releases - some better than others in terms of picture quality (the underlying restorations are always fantastic, the compression on disc being the culprit).And now, finally, we have ChinatownSorry folks, I’m going to have to be boringThe film looks and sounds amazing.The 4K HDR Dolby Vision presentation is brilliant, not too harsh in overextending the colours.Considering the film stock and speeds used, there is a great deal of dynamic range seen here (the difference between the darkest and lightest parts of the image, compared with the increased information [more discrete shades of colour being revealed]); when compared to the Blu Ray and DVD in SDR.So your getting more then you’ve seen since the theatrical release in the US (as long as you saw a pretty pristine, brand new or around 4th/5th generation print).The soundscape in 5.1 matches the integrity of the picture, for the range it covers; I would recommend it over the Mono in Dolby Digital. But the Mono is a welcome addition.If you haven’t seen the film, your about the have an experiance that will stay with you foreverIf you have seen it, you don’t need me to reiterate.Please support this release, I doubt we will get its sequel in 4K (it deserves to be seen more, the Two Jakes - starring and directed by Jack Nicholson, how could anyone say No?), but we can hope to see many more classics released in the future

I thought the picture quality was a little disappointing after I attempted to upgrade from the DVD for my 4K TV. I might have to try the 4K disk which is pricey.But the film is an absolute classic and a must-see for anyone.

The film itself probably requires little said, in its story of a 1930’s private eye hired by a rich socialite to investigate a supposedly unfaithful husband. From that simple beginning spins off a dizzyingly labyrinthine plot that gets darker and darker all the way to its famous final moments…Picture quality seems excellent and you get the 4K disc plus the standard Blu-ray.Extras are plentiful but most are ported over from previous editions. You get a multipart series of featurettes on ‘Chinatown’ itself through production and legacy, you get the fascinating (though now a little out of date) documentary ‘Water & Power’ which covers the history of the city of Los Angeles and the ‘water wars’ with the Owens valley/Mulholland aqueduct which contextualises the story of ‘Chinatown’, plus a commentary by writer Robert Towne and David Fincher and a trailer. There’s also a new shorter featurette that runs about 15 mins but isn’t all that useful in comparison.The set also includes several posters and art cards (the set of 6 postcards on their reverse you can use to create a map of the area of Los Angeles where the finale takes place).The five stars is for the film and picture quality and the extras would warrant that as well if they weren’t all historical material.

Chinatown remains one of the great 70s films of all time, alongside such perfect works as The Conformist, The Godfather I&II, Badlands, Shampoo, Mean Streets, Network, The Last Picture Show, The French Connection, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest & The Deer Hunter. Penned by key New-Hollywood screenwriter Robert Towne (The Last Detail) & directed by Roman Polanksi, it recreates a knowing take on film noir. This is done by updating the colour scheme, moving from the chiaroscuro experimentation of film noir such as The Big Heat, Out of the Past & In a Lonely Place to a lush colour scheme utilising orange-filters in an intrigueing manner. The film recreates an era with John A Alonso's cinematography- which sits next to the perfect recreations of era in colour such as Reds, Days of Heaven, Barry Lyndon & Heaven's Gate.Towne's screenplay is complex & knowing, so many twists & parallels it is as good as the genre to which it refers- most notably the roman-noir writings of Raymond Chandler (The Long Goodbye) & Dashiel Hammett (Red Harvest). It makes the film adaptation of LA Confidential look a joke compared. Great to see a lack of voiceover, Towne can easily do the droll-Bogart quips- as is seen when Jake talks to the cops- but the images are left to do the talking. And when the twists come, they come- & are as powerful as those in films such as Vertigo.The cast are brilliant- one of Nicholson's key performances (so why did he win an Oscar for As Good as it Gets?), alongside brilliant turns from Faye Dunaway, Diane Ladd & a creepy John Huston (there's also a top cameo from Polanski & an appearance from John Hillerman, familiar to those who watched Magnum PI!).The film starts off as a simple detective story, a local politician is accused by his wife of having an affair, Jake Gittes- who used to work for the D.A. until an undefined event in Chinatown- takes on the case & starts to tail the man in question. The backdrop of politics appears to be related- 1937 LA has not yet expanded to the valleys & is experiencing a water shortage; add to this politicians who wish to build a new dam. Enter Faye Dunaway, an extension of the femme fatale who is more of a victim than a spiderwoman, who informs Gittes that she is the real wife of the man he's tailing (so who was the woman who originally hired him?). Complexities abound when said man turns up dead in the LA water system & it turns out saltwater was in his lungs. Enter a web of modern corruption, leading to Noah Cross (John Huston), who was involved with the dead man & wants to track a girl seen by Gittes during surveillance. Enter more complexities & revelations...Chinatown is a simply brilliant film, one that can definitely be called perfect- it slowly reveals a portrait of a changing LA- where modern life is taking over (the Okies recalling those in Grapes of Wrath are being destroyed by the politicians & the police are in cahoots with Cross)- preceding the world James Ellroy takes up with books like The Black Dahlia & LA Confidential. It also has a brilliant score from Jerry Goldsmith, which William Goldman believes saves the film (see Which Lie Did I Tell?). A masterpiece of 20th century cinema that is great value at this budget price...

In my opinion It was ok but not that great.The acting was excellent and the settings as 1940s ish very good and the music (including incidentals) all well placed - and it had my interest for about 1/2 of the film - but overall I found it slow paced and convoluted, losing my interest and ultimately I found it unsatisfactory.