The info on this page has been manually logged by me based on my firsthand observations of UK edition Blu-ray checkdiscs received for review on 7th September 2012.

VERTIGO - BD50 - R0 - Checkdisc date 13th August 2012
BD film length 02:08:27 / VC-1 / DTS-HD MA 5.1 Ch. 48kHz / Confirmed AR 1.85:1

There is no option on the menus for original mono, 2.0, or 5.1, just “English” which plays the 5.1 track (see pic). When you play the BD without a 5.1 speaker system, you’re getting the DTS-HD MA 5.1 Ch. track ‘folded down’ to stereo. All the other languages are plain DTS 2.0, except the Japanese track which is DTS 5.1.

The colours at the start have been altered. The VistaVision screen is b+w, the first shot after that is extremely drained sepia, and then it turns completely red. This is apparently more like it should be but there are concerns that the rest of the titles contain far too much colour.

There is unfortunately light sparkle throughout the film (tiny white specks). It could have been carefully removed without affecting the grain structure (MoC did it on DOUBLE INDEMNITY, SILENT RUNNING, etc - also Universal masters). It’s not terrible or particularly noticeable and it’s not a disaster - but it’s there, and nothing’s been done about it. I only mention it because Criterion/MoC/BFI would have very carefully removed it. Grain is very light, grain structure seems to behave itself, colours look astonishing, and there’s no detrimental processing/scrubbing, thank the heavens.

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Posted on Friday, 7 September
Tagged as: Vertigo Hitchcock Blu-ray