Why So Blu?

Into The Woods (Blu-ray Review)

I first was introduced to Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods when I was in eighth grade/middle school/whatever.  My school contained both high school and middle school grades in one building.  The high school was putting on this particular number for the annual spring musical.  I had no idea what I was in for when I got my ticket.  There was something to do with fairy tales and whatnot but I had no real idea.  I found myself pretty taken with it as it had a mix of fairy tale play and wonder along with a comedic mix of cleverness and adult humor.  That production furthered my interest in wanting to join the drama  department when I would be in high school, and I did just that.  Also, being a fan of this musical I sought out the taped performance I’m about to review today.  It was either a VHS rental or on PBS, one or the other, but I did see it long ago.  I imagine this release is tailored to Disney’s upcoming cinematic adaptation of the musical.

Film 

The plot of this production was stated best in the press release, so I’ll rehash it here.  A baker and his wife journey into the woods in search of a cow, a red cape, a pair of golden slippers and some magic beans to lift a curse that has kept them childless. Tony Award winners Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason and the rest of the original Broadway cast weave their magic spell over you in Stephen Sondheim’s masterpiece, directed by James Lapine, a seamless fusion of fairy tale characters and what happens after “happily ever after.” With oft-recorded songs such as Children Will Listen and No One Is Alone, Into The Woods is a music lover’s delight from start to finish—and will forever cement Stephen Sondheim’s unparalleled position as the giant of the American musical theater.

First of all, to the readers, this is not a film or television production.  It is a multicamera recording of a stage performance of Into The Woods from 1991.  So if you’re like “man, this feels like I’m watching a play”, its because you are.  You get all the grandiose big performances, sets and free movements you’d get from going and seeing any sort of big Broadway or even local theater production.  Though, I’d say the sets, outfits and props are all probably a little above what you’d get locally.

Its no wonder Disney is now getting to the Into The Woods movie as this musical plays in a realm that’s very popular nowadays; the shared universe.  This production is one that “teams up” a lot of the classic fairy tale characters like Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack (from Jack & the Beanstalk) and Little Red Riding Hood to name some.  They are all connected through a storyline featuring a baker and his wife that are cursed to not have children.  But a witch offers to lift it if they can acquire four magical items for her.  Those items happen to be belongings to some of the characters we know and love.  For instance, the cow Jack sells for the beans.  The beans happen to be what the baker has given him for the cow and his wife stretches the truth and says their “magical”.  Its fun little criss crosses and interconnecting that make this such an enjoyable ride.

Headlining this cast is Bernadette Peters who total kills it as the witch (the character that will be played by Meryl Streep in the upcoming film).   Peters is one who had a bit of a streak of being a know player in movies and television for a bit in the from the late 70s through the 90s, but probably isn’t familiar to modern audiences anymore.  She very much like Bebe Neuwirth was a bigger quantity on Broadway productions than they ever were film.  Bernadette to me has always had a real distinct voice that you could pick out from any crowded room miles away.  Not a bad thing, just one of her qualities.  Here in into the woods, she definitely is having a blast and chewing up every scene she’s in, not afraid to go big, but keeps a real harness on her character.

This 1991 production is a really great performance of the musical.  While being at home is no match for the real thing, it manages to capture the spirit of the material and engage you throughout the performance.  At two and a half hours, it actually blows by pretty quickly.  Much of that has to do with the great humor, wonder and intertwining of plots that works seamlessly throughout.  I was looking forward to the movie before, but revisiting this got me incrementally more excited.

Video 

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Clarity/Detail:  The source of this is likely some old PBS video, but it did not translate well here.  Detail is extremely light here.  The image is shockingly blurry and the furthest it could be from sharp.  Honestly, I think the DVD is probably very up to snuff with this, if not likely very equal.  No sort of restoration looks to have been done, it looks to be just a straight rip of a video source, maybe even VHS.

Depth:  This a very flat image.

Black Levels:  Blacks are ok, and the image features crushing throughout.  Detail is hidden among darkly lit scenes, surfaces and clothing.

Color Reproduction:  There is no opportunity for any colors to shine through.  There appears to be a limited palette and everything appears dingy in what I imagine was actually a colorful production in person.

Flesh Tones:  Consistent, but hard to make out the skin tone completely with how distorted and blurry the image is.

Noise/Artifacts:  Plenty of ghosting, blocking and artifacting issues throughout.

Audio 

Audio Format(s): English 2.0 DTS-HD MA

Subtitles: N/A

Dynamics:  The audio fares a little better than the video, but that’s not saying much.  Once again, we might be dealing with a case where A) This source doesn’t lend itself kindly to HD and B) Nobody has the money to put into making this look good.  This track sounds doesn’t sound very intricate, but does a good enough job of being clear enough and audible to enjoy the musical numbers.  Sound effects a bit neutered since they’re not the prime focus of the mic’ing and make much more of an impact live.

Low Frequency Extension:  N/A

Surround Sound Presentation:  N/A

Dialogue Reproduction:  Dialogue is decently displayed and center focused.  Volume is adequate.  Vocals on songs are loud and audible.  This track feels like its being held back a little, but it could be due to poor source material.

Extras 

Gene Wilder has stopped by Why So Blu to run down the extras on Into The Woods for us.  Here is his review.

Summary 

Well, I love the musical, but this disc is not going to bring in any new fans.  My final scoring is very skewed due to my rating of the musical itself.  I like the idea that this was brought to Blu-ray in time for the new movie, but this the most bare minimal of bare minimal jobs I think I’ve come into contact with.  I mean, its a Blu-ray menu short of just not caring.  The video and audio may not have had a source that lent itself to a good straight transfer or it may have not been in the budget to restore it, but in that case, just put out a DVD and not a Blu-ray.  There are no extras, which could have salvaged this release.  If you’re looking for this rendition, the DVD edition will suit you well enough.