The Bird With the Crystal Plumage appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. The movie came with a pretty good Dolby Vision transfer.
Overall sharpness appeared positive. At times, the image could be a little on the soft side, but it usually boasted appealing delineation and clarity.
I saw no issues with jagged edges or shimmering, and edge haloes remained absent. Print flaws failed to appear, and with a natural layer of grain, I didn’t suspect shenanigans connected to noise reduction.
With its fairly chilly palette, the colors of Bird didn’t leap off the screen, but they worked fine, and some striking reds occasionally impressed. The hues came across as reasonably full and well-depicted, with added impact and emphasis due to the disc’s HDR.
Blacks were fairly dark and dense, while shadows displayed solid smoothness. HDR brought power and range to whites and contrast. All of this led us to a better than average presentation.
The DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack of Bird seemed fairly average for its age. Speech lacked much depth or vivacity, but the lines remained easily intelligible and free from edginess. Typical for Italian productions, awkward looping marred the presentation, though.
Effects failed to deliver much life, but they also didn’t seem problematic. The elements were clean and acceptably accurate, and they showed only mild issues related to distortion.
Music seemed passable, as the score sounded decently distinct but they lacked much range and favored the treble side of the equation. Not much about the audio for Bird presented problems, but nothing about it stood out as impressive either.
How did the 4K UHD compare to the Arrow Blu-ray from 2017? Audio seemed virtually identical, as the 4K’s DTS-HD MA mono mix sounded very similar to the PCM mono of the Blu-ray.
As for the 4K’s Dolby Vision image, it almost certainly used the same transfer as the Blu-ray, so improvements related to the superior capabilities of the format.
This meant superior delineation, colors and blacks. The nature of the source limited growth, but the 4K nonetheless became the more impressive rendition of the film.
The 4K repeats the Blu-ray’s extras, and we open with an audio commentary from film historian Troy Howarth. He presents a running, screen-specific view of the film's roots and development, writer/director Dario Argento's involvement and its place in his catalog, cast and crew, locations and sets, music, cinematography and editing, and aspects of the giallo genre.
From start to finish, Howarth offers a fine commentary. He touches on a broad array of topics and does so in a thorough, scholarly manner. We get a great look at the film from this engaging chat.
A few featurettes follow, and we start with Black Gloves and Screaming Mimis. In this 31-minute, 54-second piece, critic Kat Ellinger discusses the project’s origins and story/character elements, comparisons to the novel on which Bird was based, social and thematic interpretations. Ellinger delivers a pretty good look at deeper aspects of the film and its genre.
Next comes The Power of Perception, a 20-minute, 57-second reel with author Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. She looks at themes and imagery across Argento’s filmography and makes this a fairly insightful piece.
Crystal Nightmare runs 31 minutes, 24 seconds and offers a 2017 interview with writer/director Dario Argento. He talks about aspects of Bird and its connection to his career. Argento provides a nice overview of these elements.
With An Argento Icon, we find a 22-minute, five-second interview with actor Gildo Di Marco. From 2017, Di Marco chats about how he got into films, working on Bird and other facets of his career. Di Marco offers a likable and engaging chat.
Lastly, Eva’s Talking fills 11 minutes, 26 seconds with a 2005 interview with actor Eva Renzi. She goes over her work in films, with a moderate emphasis on Bird. Blunt and outspoken, Renzi gives us a good chat.
In addition to three trailers, we get five Image Galleries: “Posters” (9 stills), “Italian Lobby Cards” (9), “French Lobby Cards” (19), “Spanish Lobby Cards” (5), “German Promotional Materials” (49) and “US Publicity Stills” (11). These offer a decent array of elements.
The set provides a few paper materials. We find a double-sided poster, six lobby card reproductions and a booklet. The last one includes essays from Michael Mackenzie, Howard Hughes and Jack Seabrook. All of these add value to the package.
A landmark in the Italian giallo genre, The Bird With the Crystal Plumage offers a solid thriller. The movie maintains a taut pace and creates a lively murder mystery. The 4K UHD provides pretty good picture and supplements along with mediocre audio. This winds up as a satisfying release for an entertaining film.
To rate this film visit the prior review of BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE
