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    • BLU-RAY REVIEW

    To Kill A King

    Featured In Issue 130, April 2008

    Picture3
    SoundNR
    WSR Score3.5
    Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
    (Studio/Distributor):
    Starz Home Entertainment
    (Catalog Number):
    ZN3028
    (MPAA Rating):
    Not Rated
    (Rating Reason):
    (Retail Price):
    $29.97
    (Disc Type):
    Single Side, Single Layer (BD-25)
    (Widescreen Edition):
    Yes
    (Full Screen Edition):
    No
    (Running Time In Minutes):
    102
    (Color Type):
    Color
    (Chaptered/Scene Access):
    Yes
    (Closed Captioned):
    Yes
    (Regional Coding):
    Not Indicated
    (Theatrical Year):
    2003
    (Theatrical Release):
    Yes
    (Direct-To-Video Release):
    No
    (Disc Release Date):
    02/26/08
    (THX® Digitally Mastered):
    No
    (Director):
    Mike Barker
    (Screenplay/Written By):
    (Story):
    (Music):
    (Director Of Photography):
    (Production Designer):
    (Visual Effects):
    (Costume Designer):
    (Editor):
    (Supervising Sound Editors):
    (Re-Recording Mixers):
    (Executive Producers):
    (Co-Producers):
    (Producers):
    (Academy Awards):
    (Principal Photography):
    (Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
    (Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
    (Disc Soundtrack):
    PCM 24/48 5.1
    (Theatrical Sound):
    (Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
    (DTS Bit Rate):
    (Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
    (Additional Languages):
    (French Language):
    (Spanish Language):
    (Chinese Language):
    (Subtitles):
    (Cantonese Language):
    (Mandarin Language):
    (Japanese Language):
    (Italian Language):
    (German Language):
    (Portuguese Language):

    When Britain's King Charles the First's (Everett) monarchy is overthrown, two heroes emerge—Lord General Thomas Fairfax (Scott) and his good friend General Oliver Cromwell (Roth). After three years of a divisive and violent civil war, the two valiant conquerors embark on a new mission—to reunite their country and its citizens. Their friendship is threatened when Fairfax and his wife (Williams) plot to return the fallen King to power, but Cromwell instead issues the orders "To Kill A King" and seizes control of the country. (Stacey Pendry)

    Special features limited to a six-minute Behind The Scenes featurette and previews.

    The anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1 DVD shows qualities of a source much older than it is, with poor black levels, relatively heavy grain and noise, dated-looking colors, and noticeable source element artifacts. While black levels can be fairly deep at times, night scenes can look washed-out with poor definition in the shadows. Colors have a desaturated appearance and fleshtones look pallid. Resolution is fairly sharp, but there are times when the image can have a digitized appearance. Edge enhancement is not much of a problem. The VC-1-encoded Blu-ray Disc has similar shortfalls as the DVD, with a washed-out look and poor black levels. Resolution can be good, but it is not as nicely detailed as the best high-definition releases. Fleshtones look pallid, and source element artifacts are recognizable throughout. (Danny Richelieu)

    The Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel soundtrack can be nicely mixed, with a good use of each available channel to create a believably expansive soundtrack. The soundtrack is rather bright sounding, though, with dialogue that often reaches sibilance. Dialogue also can sound forward with relatively poor spatial integration. Still, the soundtrack is nicely recorded with good articulation. A high-pitched ringing can be heard from time to time, but it is not overly distracting. The uncompressed linear PCM encoding on the Blu-ray Disc doesn't have the same level of fidelity as the better uncompressed soundtracks, and dialogue can still sound somewhat forward and sibilant. The high-pitched ringing can still be heard from time to time. (Danny Richelieu)

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