- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- Resolution: 1080p/24
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5., English Mono, French Mono, Portuguese Mono
- Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
- Region: A (B? C?)
- Rating: PG
- Discs: 1
- Run time: 100 Mins.
- Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment
- Blu-ray Release Date: February 7, 2012
- List Price: $22.99
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BestBuy.com:
Purchase Love Story on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:2.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3/5]
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]
For a picture encumbered with one of the most clichéd one liners of all time, and you know the one I mean, “love means never having to say you’re sorry,” a forty-plus year perspective does run the risk going counter to this axiom. Love Story and I do have a back story. I was an undergraduate at Harvard when this book was written and I audited a course in classic ancient literature taught in part by its author Erich Segal. That someone as erudite as Segal could write a novel and screenplay, best described in today’s vernacular as “chick-lit,” simply astounded me then and it does to this day. Of course, Love Story not only became a best seller (yes, I read it too, and cried at the ending), but a top box office film for 1970. Considering the often painfully trite dialogue and the I-think-we’ve-seen-this-one-before storyline, I came to this review with significant trepidation. As things turned out, seeing the beautiful young people of the day, Ryan O’Neal (Oliver Barrett IV) and Ali McGraw (Jennifer Cavalleri) a stunning screen couple, listening to the lush Francis Lai score, and, more importantly, getting to time-travel back to my alma mater made this an enjoyable if not Oscar-quality watch.
The story is well known to almost all living Americans of a certain age. A privileged Harvard student (O’Neal) meets an underprivileged Radcliffe student (McGraw).They fall in love. And, against all odds and familial disapproval (papa Barrett played by the estimable Ray Milland), they get married. If you have not seen this film, I won’t spoil the ending, but get the hankies out, you will need them.
Video Quality
[Rating:2.5/5]
Now, for the not so very good news.Unfortunately, the print is very grainy and no amount of post-processing was able to make it look any better. The camera work dwells on close-ups, particularly those involving the two lovers, and considering their eye-candy looks, this is not a bad thing. Most fans of this film will not avoid it for not being “high def” as few films of that era had such pretenses.
Audio Quality
[Rating:3/5]
The original soundtrack is 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio although it sounds more like reprocessed mono to me. The Oscar-winning score is given adequate sonic treatment, but no one will mistake it for a new recording. More importantly, the dialogue is clear and, while the script will make language fanciers cringe every so often, it will be well heard.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
We get a commentary from director Arthur Hiller, which is interesting if not tremendously illuminating. A retrospective featurette, Love Story: A Classic Remembered, will tell viewers most of the facts that they already know if they had been paying attention. Finally, as if you needed this, there is the original theatrical trailer.
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3.5/5]
Love Story does not need any apologies for what it is and what it is not. After all, this film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, eventually taking away the best score statuette. Love Story ranks among the American Film Institute top one hundred list for the best romances ever made. Seen in the cold hard light of day, this movie, while far from perfect, will surely appeal to the heart-on-sleeve romantics among us. Such viewers will not be deterred by this film’s less than stellar sights or sounds because they are already tearing up at the opening credits. For me, I enjoyed the trip down memory lane even if the calculated love and loss of Love Story can’t hold a candle to Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, Wuthering Heights or Now Voyager.
Additional Screen Captures
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[amazon-product]B006IRQTWM[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase Love Story on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:2.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
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