Melody

When I saw this movie was going to be given a Blu Ray release, I was excited if not surprised. Just as it was in South America, particularly Argentina, MELODY (a.k.a S.W.A.L.K) has had a large cult following since the mid 70's and has seen several releases in the last few decades. I have owned just about every edition of this film, from VHS to Laser Disc to DVD and now Blu Ray. It was not until a few years ago that the original Widescreen edition was made available, which was already a huge jump from the early editions. However, quality of the film has always been up to Japanese standards, meaning, pretty great. I had no doubt this Blu Ray edition would look and sound good and I was not disappointed. Thankfully, Japan and the USA both share the same region and NTSC system, so I jumped to pre-order it and got it today, the release date. The Video quality is rather good, with some good sharpness overall and, at times, spectacular. There are, however, some instances where the picture is not as sharp, but it is generally OK. There is some dirt that seems to have surprisingly made it's way into the transfer during one scene and it shows up a couple of times, but when it is gone, that is it. The colors are true to the original and still retains that early 1970's feel of a misty, gray London. The sound is Dolby 2.0 and nothing to write home about. It is mostly clear except for being a bit muffled every so often, making some of the dialogue somewhat difficult to understand, particularly Ornshaw's heavy cockney. Still, I was generally pleased. The extras are not many, just the Japanese trailer. That is OK as most of us fans should be happy that this got a Blu Ray release to really care about any extras. I doubt this Blu Ray will ever get a US release, so getting this Blu Ray directly from Japan (I got it from CDJapan) is your best bet. The price is a bit steep, though it won't break the bank. If you are a fan of this film, even remotely, GET THIS. Japan has a tendency of releasing stuff in limited numbers and when stuff is gone, it is gone, so I would not hesitate.