- Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24
- Audio Codec: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; French Dolby Digital 1.0; Spanish Dolby Digital 1.0; English Dolby Digital 1.0
- Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, Portuguese
- Region: All
- Rating: PG
- Running Time: 119 minutes
- Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
- Studio: 20th Century Fox
- Blu-ray Release Date: January 15, 2013
- List Price: $24.99
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Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(All TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Based on Richard Llewellyn’ account of life in a tough Welsh mining town, How Green Was My Valley, is a sentimental recollection of the Morgan family’s life as seen through the eyes of youngest son Huw (Roddy McDowall). Amidst a plethora of great Welsh singing, a time-honored tradition in that country, a great story unfolds. We watch the beginnings of the union movement in Wales in response to mine owners’ cuts to their workers’ wages. Patriarch Morgan (Donald Crisp) resists the exhortations of his sons to stand up for their due but when a strike is called, Mama Morgan (Sara Allgood) becomes a tower of strength for the family. Huw is temporarily crippled in an accident and becomes a voracious reader, developing the very interests that enable him to compose his family’s story. The minister, Mr. Gruffyd (Walter Pidgeon), enters the family circle, helps to end the strike and becomes an item with beautiful daughter Angharad (Maureen O’Hara). However, the lack of jobs drives the younger sons to seek better opportunities in America. Along the way there is the accidental death of oldest son Ivor (Patric Knowles) as his wife Bronwyn (Anna Lee) gives birth to their first child. Matters heat up when Iestyn Evans (Marten Lamont), the son of the wealthy mine owner Evans (Lionel Pape) seeks and wins the hand, albeit given reluctantly, of Angharad. Huw goes off to school and gets bullied but learns important life lessons. The story concludes with a grim view of life in the mines and Huw sees his father die in a mining disaster.
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
This is another miraculous restoration of a film old enough to be compelled to withdraw its 401K funds. There is an astonishing minimization of grain, streaks or washouts. Not crisp and clean by the standards of today’s film world but still wondrous for what the restored positives can do.
Audio Quality
[Rating:3/5]
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, while boxy and a bit constricted, adds ambience that the original soundrack would have lacked. Dialogue is clear and the music, particularly the chorus, well reproduced.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2.5/5]
Extras include audio commentary by Anna Lee Nathan (Bronwyn), and film historian film historian Joseph McBride, a great backstory on How Green Was My Valley, and the original theatrical trailer.
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3.5/5]
Hollywood does not make movies like this anymore, a real pity. This film is a portrait of family life without embellishments or false pretenses. How Green Was My Valley won six Oscars and one can see how well deserved they were. There is an ideal cast, a great screenplay by Philip Dunne, and the masterful hand of director John Ford. Even more to the point, we get treated to continuous heart-on-the-sleeve movements. The final monologue delivered by Mr. Gruffyd is a brilliant statement about hypocrisy. What elevates How Green Was My Valley above the pack is the authenticity of the supporting cast and the realistic creation of time and place. This is an even more impressive achievement since the town was a Hollywood recreation, as Wales was believed to be too risky a location in the early days of WW II. The dangers of mining, the toll that it takes on families, and the incredible strength of the human spirit come front and center. In the end, this is a movie that latches on to our emotions and takes them for a ride that will not be easily forgotten.
Additional Screen Captures
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BestBuy.com:
Purchase How Green Was My Valley on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
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[amazon-product]B009EE1EN0[/amazon-product]
[amazon-product]B00A7OBJKY[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase How Green Was My Valley on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
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