Amistad is another well made film from Steven Spielberg and features several good performances including Morgan Freeman, Djimon Hounsou and Matthew McConaughey who reminds you he’s always had the dramatic acting chops…
Amistad
(1997)
Genre(s): Drama
Paramount | R – 155 min. – $22.98 | May 6, 2014
 |
MOVIE INFO: Directed by: Steven Spielberg Writer(s): David Franzoni (written by) Cast: Morgan Freeman, Nigel Hawthorne, Anthony Hopkins, Djimon Hounsou, Matthew McConaughey, David Paymer, Pete Postlethwaite, Stellan SkarsgardDISC INFO: Features: Featurette, Theatrical Trailer Number of Discs: 1Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0) Video: 1080p/Widescreen 2.35 Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish Disc Size: 46.4 GB Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Region(s): A |
PLOT SUMMARY
Based on a true story, Amistad chronicles the incredible journey of a group of enslaved Africans who overtake their captor’s ship and attempt to return to their homeland. When the ship, La Amistad, is seized, these captives are brought to the United States where they are charged with murder and await their fate in prison. An enthralling battle ensues that captures the attention of the entire nation, confronting the very foundation of the American justice system. But for the men and women on trial, it is simply a fight for the basic right of all mankind… freedom.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.25/5
Not much here except The Making of Amistad (26:33; SD) EPK featurette and the Theatrical Trailer (2:38; HD).
VIDEO – 4.5/5
Presented in its original 2.35 widescreen aspect ratio and given a 1080p high-definition transfer, Amistad looks quite good on Blu-ray. Detail levels are relatively sharp, colors tend to be on the darker side but during daylight scenes they do have a certain pop and those dark shots are fairly stark and don’t show signs of compression or artifacts, though you do get some graininess which seems to be natural rather than a flaw.
AUDIO – 4.25/5
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track offers up clear and crisp dialogue levels and also has some depth between John Williams’ Academy Award nominated dramatic score and the ambient noises like in the courthouse, on the ship and other environmental elements.
OVERALL – 3.5/5
Overall, Amistad is another well made film from Steven Spielberg and features several good performances including Morgan Freeman, Djimon Hounsou and Matthew McConaughey who reminds you he’s always had the dramatic acting chops… The Blu-ray released by Paramount has good video/audio transfers but the features are much to be desired.
Published: 05/04/2014