'Kramer vs. Kramer' - High-Def Digest Review

[Attebery]

David has reviewed 'Kramer vs. Kramer.' He says you have to go back and see this one again, or see it for the first time if - GASP(!) - you've never seen it! This Blu-ray has five star video, strong audio, and limited, but meaty supplements.This is a MUST OWN!


Full review here:
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/1991...rvskramer.html

[Luv Blu's]

It's been awhile since i've seen this film. I really liked it growing up and i'm looking forward to sitting down and watching it again, especially now with the glowing review on the picture quality. This movie made me afraid of jungle gyms when I was a kid and also eating ice cream when I knew I wasn't suppose to.
Thanks for the great review,and sounded like you had a When Harry Met Sally moment with the picture quality.

[Daytripper]

David's review was spot on. Not only is the PQ for this BD a 5/5 rating, but the film still packs an emotional punch in the gut after 30 years (!) My God, has it been that long since this came out!? I was a teenager when I saw this in the theater. I remember walking out seeing grown men with their wives/girlfriends/dates in tears. Never before have I seen that. I just rented this BD release from Netflix, and I hadn't seen the film in over 25 years. And while it was dated (of course), it's still a classic. And so deserving of all it's accolades. Back to the picture rating. It's really rare to see older title on BD that are worthy an upgrade from SD to BD. This is one. It's not demo material like, say, recent films. But I defy you to find a better looking film from the 70's on DVD. The recend "Godfather" movies aside.

[Attebery]

This is a perfect movie to consider when looking at what's been done to The French Connection on Blu-ray.

[Verbal]

Wow...great to see this one get such a high video score. And I couldn't agree more with David's assessment of the film itself. It is damn near perfect, and probably the best thing Dustn Hoffman has ever done.

[The_10000th_Steve]

Great review! I'm happy to see that the movie and video both got 5/5.

The movie really has that 70's feel to it; more than many of the other 70s flicks I've seen. The video score doesn't really surprise me--the DVD looked excellent as well.

The BD came in the mail just two days ago. Can't wait to see it next weekend.

[CaptainArcher]

Why can't all catalog titles look like this? This is why I wait for reviews before buying older movies.. there is no need in buying/rebuying a movie if it's a marginal upgrade or if it looks like hi def junk.. hopefully this is a trend. The Breakfast Club, Fletch, and Smokey and the Bandit could use this type of attention..

[dmarvin]

Awesome review, David. I agree with your 5-star assessments of both the film and the PQ, which I've seen twice on BD since it came out. I was floored with how beautiful this 30 year old film has held up both in terms of content and transfer quality. Props to Sony for this -- please give us more quality classics that look this great!

[skywalkr2]

Good movie, no doubt. However, I have no desire to own this movie.

"MUST RENT" is a better recommendation, I think. I have no desire to watch this movie again.

[terpfan1980]

It can look and sound perfect and it still won't get me to watch it again. It was fine for viewing once, but it is not something I'm going to watch repeatedly, nor would anyone that I know (friends/family, well, except for one friend that I know did buy this) sit and rewatch it. The story did what it was supposed to, tugging on heart strings more than sufficiently enough, but it also worked too well and leaves viewers like me not wanting to watch it again.

Never mind that I've also grown to personally think of Meryl Streep as one of the most over-rated actresses of all time. On the story alone, this one remains a pass for me as I think once is/was enough. That being the case, my own recommendation for this one would max out at rent it and see it, not must own. But... to each their own. I'm sure many will enjoy it and treasure it, but I'm not going to be one of them.

[terpfan1980]

Originally Posted by skywalkr2

Good movie, no doubt. However, I have no desire to own this movie.

"MUST RENT" is a better recommendation, I think. I have no desire to watch this movie again.

See my comment above (where I missed your comments, but agree wholeheartedly).

[Rich86]

I am so glad to see the Kramer vs. Kramer blu-ray get top pq/aq ratings because this is a truly wonderful film, and I happened to come across a great deal on the BD the day it came out and snagged it. This puppy may have to have its shrink wrap torn off and meet my home theater some evening this week. I agree with the folks who expressed sentiments about "why can't all catalog titles get top treatment when being released in high def"? Wasn't significantly improved video and audio quality the primary objective of all this?

[WetLight]

Man, i am netflixing it now. 5 stars pq and it is a great movie. I saw it about 20 years ago when i was a kid!!

[FXRH]

I just finished watching KRAMER VS. KRAMER on Blu-ray and, while I was impressed by the overall picture quality, especially for a film this age, I noticed a puzzling graininess in several scenes. For example, when Dustin Hoffman takes his son to visit his new office, there are black speckles and streaks in the clouds/sky outside the window.

This is the second time I've noticed this same defect in a Columbia title, and I now wonder if it is being introduced during the high-def transfer process.

I first noticed it in another film, THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, during the Roc scenes. I wondered at first if it was related to the special effects in that film, but I checked the same scene on the standard definition DVD and there was no problem. It's exactly the same defect -- black speckles in the sky background. I also remember a reviewer mentioning the "grungy-looking sky" during this same scene in his review of the SINBAD Blu-ray.

I think that these artifacts are associated with an off-white coloration as I started to look for them elsewhere and spotted them in a few other scenes, always associated with a white or slightly off-white object in the background.

I know it's a long shot, but I wish Columbia would look into this matter and determine if their transfer process is somehow inadvertently introducing these artifacts, as their transfers in general are stellar.

[RoadLizard]

Originally Posted by skywalkr2

Good movie, no doubt. However, I have no desire to own this movie.

"MUST RENT" is a better recommendation, I think. I have no desire to watch this movie again.

Im with you here. Its a very good film and it looks great too. But, its one of those "seen it once, done with it" films. It did bring back memories from many years back when I watched it as a young kid.

And...Jobeth Williams butt shot is pretty neat too....