Whitney’s blu-ray review: A voice that became a legend: the Eagle product makes the most of the famous pop star’s songs and Naomi Ackie’s interpretation. Excellent video, satisfactory extras.
To rebuild the life, career and tragedies of Whitney Houston, the biopic directed by Kasi Lemmons was perhaps not the best film possible, resulting in many aspects of the singer’s life superficial and rather sugary. That doesn’t take away from that Whitney: A rumor that has become legend it is however a must for fans of the famous singer, if only because there is the possibility of hearing songs that have now become immortal, as well as for the extreme care with which the reconstruction of the video clips and some key moments of her story was carried out . And in this respect the excellent performance of Naomi Ackie does justice to the skill of the singer also known as The Voice.
If we underline this aspect, leaving out the weak parts of the film a little, we will then understand why Whitney: A voice that has become a legend deserves to be enjoyed and discovered on home video, above all if the technical rendering enhances the strong parts of the film, such as the songs, the acting of the protagonist and the reconstruction of some exciting phases of her career. And there is no better occasion than blu-ray out these days thanks to Eagle Pictures, the subject of our review.
An audio that excites between music and legendary songs
For once let’s start from the audio, a fundamental element in a musical biopic. Well the blu-ray of Whitney: A Rumor Became Legend (here the product link on Amazon) in this respect it does not disappoint expectations, on the contrary it ensures an exciting and engaging listen. We find the DTS HD 5.1 tracks in Italian and English, both with good dynamics, capable of offering an immersive mix and above all guaranteeing adequate spatiality in important scenes. The music and songs sound powerful from all speakers, the protagonist’s voice is crystal clear and travels well in frequency.
Furthermore, the rear axle adequately captures reverberations, echoes and above all the enthusiasm of the crowd in the theater or in stadiums, but also choirs, orchestral sounds and photographic flashes. Everything envelops the viewer with warmth, also because a very active sub is added to these factors, which shows off muscular and deep bass, but in any case never invasive. In short, the ideal track to better enjoy the songs and the most animated moments in terms of sound of the film.
Whitney: A Voice Became Legend, the review: Great songs… but why not make them a musical?
Brilliant video for detail and chroma
However, the video is also of excellent quality, being able to create a visual experience in line with what was seen in theaters and to enhance the production design. The picture is clear and clean, the feeling of depth is good, the detail always high, careful to reproduce all the looks, the make-up on the faces and the most showy costumes: just think of the brilliance of the wedding dress when Whitney marries Bobby Brown or the one of the final sequence full of sequins. Under the chromatic aspect, a palette of bright colors typical of the eighties is highlighted, with shades that recall that era, and then change tone over the years. Contrast is excellent and black is deep and solid, with detail coming through shadows well.
The extras: jukebox and then 30 minutes between deleted scenes and featurettes
Good, if not overwhelming extras, with about 30 minutes of contributions. First we find Whitney’s jukebox, to directly access the musical performances of the film, followed by six deleted scenes for a total of 8 minutes. So we find three featurettes. It starts with The moments of an icon (8′), dedicated to the accurate reconstruction of musical moments in the film to make them similar to what happened in reality. Continue with Becoming Whitney (8′), on Naomi Ackie’s excellent performance and transformation into the film’s pop star. Closing The personal touch (5½’), with many of color who knew or worked with Whitney Houston discussing the singer’s life and their love for her.
Conclusions
Concluding our review of Whitney: A Voice That Became Legend on Blu-ray, we confirm that Eagle Pictures’ product is ideal for maximizing the film’s musical performances with excellent audio, while the video has an effective look to follow the events of the pop star over the years. The extra department is satisfactory, but more could have been done here.
Because we like it
- The ability of audio to enhance musical moments.
- A quality video, faithful in its look over the years of the story.
- The extras present are undoubtedly interesting.
What’s wrong
- On the special content front, however, something more was expected.
