- Aspect Ratio: 2.20:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, English Dolby Digital 4.0, French DTS 5.1, Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles: English SDH, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish (Latin American), Swedish
- Region: A
- Rating: G
- Discs: 3 (2 Blu-ray + 1 DVD Combo Pack)
- Studio: 20th Century Fox
- Blu-ray Release Date: November 2, 2010
- List Price: $34.99
[amazon-product align=”right”]B003VS0CX8[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase The Sound of Music: 45th Anniversary Edition on Blu-ray+DVD Combo Pack at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:4/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
The Film
[Rating:5/5]
It’s the most popular musical film of all time and every one of its songs is so well known that watching it is almost like sitting through a top ten list of standards. The famous Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musical, re-worked for the big screen in spectacular Todd-AO widescreen, has been entertaining audiences for generations, and now it makes a fantastic return on its 45th anniversary in this marvelous remastered edition from Fox.
Yes, there are changes from the original stage play, but they all are for the better in this sweet and uplifting film. We all know the story; Julie Andrews plays the bubbly, novice nun Maria sent to be the governess of seven children for the stern widower Baron von Trapp, played by a dashing young Christopher Plummer. Through music and charm, Maria brings life and joy back into the von Trapp household, and one of the screen’s most endearing romances between the Baron and Maria plays out against the backdrop of late-1930’s Austria, where the Nazi’s are coming into power and the von Trapps must soon flee their beloved homeland.
The songs are all classics, and almost every one of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s tunes is instantly recognizable, be it the title song, the biggest number the duo ever penned, “My Favorite Things,” the sentimental “Edelweiss” or the charmingly youthful “Do-Re-Mi,” there is at least one, and most likely more songs in this, the greatest of all Hollywood musicals, that anyone watching will recognize.
Video Quality
[Rating:5/5]
The Sound of Music arrives in a superbly rendered AVC/MPEG-4 1080p encoding from 20th Century Fox. The studio did extensive work restoring the film from the original Todd-AO 65mm camera negative, scanning it at 8K (8 thousand lines of resolution) before creating a new 4K master from which this new Blu-ray was produced. The extensive restoration process has resulted in a brilliant image with vibrant color reproduction, strong detail, and a clean source. Grain is still present and the image still retains a film-like appearance.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
The excellent sound and soundtrack for The Sound of Music has been remixed ad remastered in a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless mix that opens up the soundstage, and presents the musical performances with brilliant clarity. Dialogue and vocals are clean and instrumentation in the score is well delineated. There is a good spread of sounds across the front with strong directional panning.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:4/5]
This 45th Anniversary Edition comes with a plethora of extra materials, including the marvelous Your Favorite Things Viewing Mode and an entire bonus disc with nothing but extras. Fans of this beloved musical will have hours of film-related supplements to sift through with this package.
The supplements provided with this release are:
Disc 1:
- Commentary by Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Charmian Carr, Dee Dee Wood, & Johannes von Trapp
- Commentary by Robert Wise
- Live Extras:
- What’s New
- Live Lookup — Obtain instant access to up-to-date actor filmographies and information related to The Sound of Music via IMDb, the Internet Movie Database.
- Exclusive:
- Laura Benanti on The Sound of Music
- Your Favorite Things: An Interactive Celebration — Select this in-movie interactive viewing mode to see movie trivia, facts about filming locations, sing-along with the songs and more.
- Music Machine — Jump directly to the film’s popular songs.
- Sing-along
Disc 2:
- Musical Stages (1080p) — An interactive map of the von Trapp home will allow access to video clips, trivia, and interviews that delve further into the making of the Sound of Music and the lives of the real von Trapp family.
- A City of Song (1080p) — An interactive map of Salzburg allows viewers to explore the film’s famous locations.
- Vintage Programs: The Sound of Music:
- The Sound of Music: From Fact to Phenomenon (1.33:1; 480i/60; 1:27.22)
- My Favorite Things: Julie Andres Remembers (1.33:1; 480i/60; 1:03.18)
- Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer: A Reminiscence (1.78:1; 480i/60; 0:19.24)
- From Liesl to Gretl (1.33:1; 480i/60; 0:33.33)
- Salzburg Sight and Sound (1.33:1; 480i/60; 0:13.04)
- On Location with The Sound of Music (1.78:1; 480i/60; 0:22.33)
- When You Know the Notes to Sing: A Sing-along Phenomenon (1.33:1; 480i/60; 0:12.50)
- Rare Treasures:
- Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall: The Pratt Family Singers (1.33:1; 480i/60; 0:06.41) — Julie Andrews in a parody of the Sound of Music two years before she was cast in the lead role for the film.
- The Julie Andrews Hour: Julie Andrews and Maria von Trapp (1.33:1; 480i/60; 0:16.33)
- Screen Tests
- 40th Anniversary DVD Introduction by Julie Andrews (1.33:1; 480i/60; 0:02.10)
- Galleries (1080p):
- What Will My Future Be? (Pre-Production)
- Facing Adventure (Production)
- A Grand and Glorious Party (Promotion and Publicity)
- Publicity (1.33:1; 480i/60):
- Fox Movietone News Academy Awards
- Trailers and Teasers:
- Teaser Preview, December 1964
- General Release Preview, February 1965
- Academy Awards Preview, April 1966
- First Anniversary Preview, May 1966
- Reissue Preview, December 1972
- Reissue Preview, December 1973 with alternate audio track
- Testimonial Trailer
- TV Spots:
- 60 Second Reissue TV Spot, March 1973
- 30 Second TV Spot, March 1973
- Radio Spots:
- 60 Second Reserve Seat Engagement
- 60 Second 1973 Reissue
- 30 Second Reserve Seat Engagement
- 30 Second 1973 Reissue
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:4.5/5]
The hills are alive with Fox’s splendid reissue of The Sound of Music. The pristine picture, lively sound, and endearing film are bundled together with a hefty bit of supplements worthy of this classic.
Additional Screen Captures:
[amazon-product align=”right”]B003VS0CX8[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase The Sound of Music: 45th Anniversary Edition on Blu-ray+DVD Combo Pack at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
