The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - DVD
Miramax / 2008 / 94 Minutes / PG-13 / Street Date: March 10, 2009
by Kenneth J. Souza
Jun 10, 2009
 
 
 
The Video: How Does The Disc Look?
 
The film’s original 1.85:1 aspect ratio is presented in a very good anamorphic transfer. Boasting a fine level of detail and a crisp and well-defined image, the picture quality here is surprisingly good for a standard-definition transfer. Color balance and saturation levels remained consistent; black levels were all deep, dark and inky; and there were no obvious signs of compression artifacts, macroblocking or edge enhancement. The transfer revealed no evidence of specks or blemishes on the source print while details such as the elaborate markings and decorations on Bruno’s father’s uniform and the scuffed and worn texture of Shmuel’s striped prison uniform all looked crisp and sharp. Flesh tones also looked natural and nicely-rendered and there was no indication of smearing or color bleed. Overall, a very good and pleasing video presentation.
 
The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?
 
The compressed English 5.1 track is solid but a bit center-channel heavy for the first two-thirds of the film. It isn’t until the final harrowing 20 minutes that James Horner’s sublime score gradually starts to grow in volume and intensity, delivering discrete content across all six channels. By this point the track boasts a sharp and clean high end with deep bass notes that began rumbling and kicking to life as the drama and tension, likewise, began to ratchet up. While there isn’t a lot of ambient sound used to fill out the rear surrounds, they do provide a nice depth to the aural experience with some occasional directional cues. The front stereo channels also provide similar cues such as the arrival of Bruno’s father’s stately Mercedes or the buzzing sound of electricity humming through the fence between Bruno and Shmuel. Dialogue, which accounts for the bulk of the film’s audio content, always remains clear and concise through the center channel mix. Overall, a good but not overly aggressive audio presentation.
 
The optional subtitles are in English SDH and Spanish.