A Star Is Born appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie offered a quality presentation.
For the most part, sharpness worked well. A little softness occasionally hit some wide elements, but the majority of the movie boasted accurate delineation.
No signs of jagged edges or moiré effects materialized, and I witnessed no instances of edge haloes. Print flaws also failed to mar the proceedings.
In terms of colors, Born largely emphasized teal and orange, though stage settings contributed some deep reds. Within the design parameters, the hues came across appropriately.
Blacks seemed dense and deep, while shadows offered appropriate smoothness and clarity. The Blu-ray reproduced the film well.
Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the film’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack heavily emphasized music, as the nearly omnipresent score and songs filled all the channels. Effects took a backseat but they added some involvement, mainly during concert sequences.
Audio quality appeared good, with speech that came across as natural and distinctive. Effects also seemed accurate and tight, with clear reproduction of these components.
As noted, music turned into the most prominent component, and the songs/score boasted solid range and dimensionality. This became a more than satisfactory track for the film.
This package includes both the film’s theatrical version (2:15:45) as well as an extended Encore Edition (2:27:32). How do the two differ?
The longer cut makes a slew of changes. We find some added songs as well as expansions to the Dave Chappelle character, a few longer scenes and some new sequences.
Do these offer any radical improvements? No – they’re complementary and nothing crucial appears.
That said, the “Encore” version does work a wee bit better. It manages to give some of the story points a little more breathing room, and it fleshes out supplemental character domains.
Some extended cuts clearly beat out the shorter ones, but I can’t say that happens here. Still, the “Encore” Star Is Born seems moderately superior when compared to the theatrical edition.
On the Blu-ray, only one “extra” appears: Musical Moments acts as an alternate form of chapter search, as it allows the viewer to jump to any of 13 performances. It’s a decent addition.
The included DVD copy only features the movie’s theatrical cut. It does provide two music videos though: “Shallow” and “Always Remember Us This Way”.
Both present the songs accompanied by a montage of movie clips. They’re decent but it’s too bad none of them get unique performances.
The original Blu-ray didn’t offer a slew of extras, but it’s a disappointment few reappear here. We lose a half-hour featurette, “Jam Sessions and Rarities” and two music videos.
Arguably the best version of the story to date, 2018’s A Star Is Born delivers a bracing, emotional character drama. Abetted by an understated tone and terrific performances, the movie offers a vivid experience. The Blu-ray brings very good picture and audio with insubstantial bonus materials.
If you don’t own the original Star Is Born Blu-ray, I’d recommend this “Encore Edition”. While it loses some extras from its predecessor, those weren’t great, and I like the longer cut of the film.
I find it more difficult to recommend the “Encore” release for those who do already own the film, though, as it’s not an enormous change. It’s fun to see as a fan but the theatrical cut works well on its own.
To rate this film visit the prior review of A STAR IS BORN