- Aspect Ratio: 2:35:1
- Video Codec: AVC MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, PCM Stereo 2.0
- Subtitles: None
- Subtitles Color: Yellow
- Region: A (Region-Locked)
- Rating: Unrated
- Run Time: 84 Mins
- Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
- Digital Copies: N/A
- Studio: Umatik Entertainment/MVD Visual
- Blu-ray Release Date: September 25th, 2012
- List Price: $42.95
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Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Film
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
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:3.5/5]
Recoil: A Strange Hour in Budapest tells of the Recoil project. For those unaware, the Recoil movement was created by former Depeche Mode band member Alan Wilder in 1986. The kind of music uses synthesizers and samples ranging from music created by Depeche Mode to other non-pop genre samples. This particular ‘Strange Hour’ focuses more on a compiled presentation recorded in 2010 and 2011 in 52 cities (including Barcelona, San Francisco, Baltimore, Prague, and Oslo to name a few) across the world, mostly done to celebrate 25 years of the project itself.
The best way to describe a project like this is via a quote from Alan Wilder, found in an insert. “My aim is for the listener to be drawn in over a period of time – to be transported to a special place.” Focusing more on the visual aspect of the project, Wilder enlisted the help of a few different directors, Igor Dvorsky, Dmitry Semenov, Steve Fabian and Marcelo von Schwartz. Each of these Directors added their own unique touch to the project, not necessarily hitting just one visual note, but rather a wide range of styles.
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Recoil shows itself off with a 2:35:1 framed, AVC MPEG-4 encoded transfer, which looks quite good for the material at hand. Featuring a mixture of concert footage, as well as shots from and around Budapest, the film tends to have a kind of muted color palette. The colors, mostly focusing on the darker side of the spectrum, features solid, deep blacks. The lighter side of the realm is equally as impressive, particularly that of wider, exterior shots (see screenshot #1). Unfortunately IMDb has no technical information (nor a product listing) for the film, so I can’t comment on how the film was psychically shot. I will say that what these filmmakers have put together, is visually fine.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Featuring an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix as well as an PCM Stereo 2.0 offering, obviously I found the DTS-HD mix to be the preferred track. With a majority of the film featuring music, the atmosphere found here impressed me. In particular, the use of surrounds (whether audience cheers or deep synthesized effects) are perfect. LFE is also deep and immersive at times, causing low-end to ring throughout the room essentially placing us right in the middle of it all. For concert fans, and those of the material at hand, you may have just found your new background disc.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
The included supplements are featured in High Definition:
- Promotional Films – Three films, totaling 21 minutes, are included as a preview of sorts for the film. Want (Renegade of Noise 808 remix), Prey (Shotgun mix) and Allelujah (subHuman album version). All 3 of the pieces were directed by Dmitry Semenov.
- Live Projections – These bits, running 16 minutes, feature actual live concert footage. The one aspect here that I loved is we get to see a lot of audience interaction, specifically showing just how into the project they all are.
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3.5/5]
Recoil: A Strange Hour in Budapest won’t hit the right notes for every listener. Personally, I found this to be an interesting dive into the project, one that is well worth a look for genre interested folks.
Additional Screen Captures
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Purchase Recoil: A Strange Hour in Budapest on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
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[amazon-product]B0089AGRFK[/amazon-product]
Purchase Recoil: A Strange Hour in Budapest on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:2.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:2/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
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