Mar 132023
 

Justine arrives on 4K Ultra HD from Blue Underground on February 21. This drama was directed by Jess Franco and features include a new audio commentary, interviews and more.

 

 

Marquis de Sade’s Justine
(1969)


Genre(s): Drama
Blue Underground | NR – 124 min. – $49.95 | February 21, 2023

Date Published: 03/13/2023 | Author: The Movieman


MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: Jess Franco
Writer(s): Marquis de Sade (novel); Harry Allan Towers, Arpad
Cast: Romina Power, Maria Rohm, Klaus Klinski, Mercedes McCambridge, Jack Palance


DISC INFO:
Features: Commentary, Featurettes, Interviews
Slip Cover: Yes
Digital Copy: No
Formats Included: 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray
Number of Discs: 2


Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 1.0)
Video: 2160p/Widescreen 1.66
Dynamic Range: HDR10, Dolby Vision
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Codecs: HEVC / H.265
Region(s): A, B, C


 

PLOT SYNOPSIS


Justine (ROMINA POWER) is a nubile young virgin cast out of a French orphanage and thrust into a depraved world of prostitution, predatory lesbians, a fugitive murderess (MERCEDES MCCAMBRIDGE), bondage, branding, and one supremely sadistic monk (JACK PALANCE). It’s a twisted tale of strange desires, perverse pleasures and the ultimate corruption of innocence.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES – 4/5


This two-disc set is contained in an HD keep case and comes with an embossed slip cover with a cut-out on the front.

Audio Commentary — Film Historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howorth (NEW)

The Perils and Pleasures of Justine (19:58) are a set of interviews with Director Jess Franco and Producer Harry Alan Towers as they discuss the story, characters and actors.

Stephen Thrower on Justine (17:32) is an interview with the author of “Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jesus Franco”.

On Set with Jess (8:17) is an interview with star Rosalba Neri. (NEW)

French Trailer (3:46)

Poster & Still Gallery — This has been newly expanded from the previous release.

Deadly Sanctuary (1:35:41) is the shorter version released in the U.S.

 

VIDEO – 4¾/5, AUDIO – 3/5


Justine arrives on 4K Ultra HD where it’s presented in its original 1.66 widescreen aspect ratio and is given a new 2160p high-definition transfer, a 4K restoration from the uncensored original camera negative. Given the original Blu-ray release from 2015 already looked pretty good, this one does it take it up a good notch. Detail for the most part was sharp with the natural film grain and noise still being retained, although other shots were a bit soft focus, however presumably this was how it was shot and intended by Jess Franco. That said, the transfer was clean as I didn’t really notice an abundance amount of dust particles, scratches or other flaws.

The movie comes with a fine but flawed DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track which sounds fine yet does tend to top out and there were numerous instances of hissing and noise. However, like the picture, it was relatively impressive considering the film’s age and dialogue levels at least were clear enough.

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