Gandhi (1982) in 4K and in Dolby Atmos

[Barry]

Gandhi (1982) in 4K and in Dolby Atmos
 
Gandhi is one of the six movies in 4K that is in the Colombia Classics Collection.  As with Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, A League of their Own, Lawrence of Arabia and Dr. Strangelove, there are political and social themes at work throughout these pictures.
 
Although made nearly 40 years ago Gandhi really reflects many of our current struggles in the U.S., especially with the current Black Live Matter Movement. It was amazing to me and fascinating how similar these issues and conditions are. So this remains an important and compelling movie. ( I would speak more of the plot of the film but I am trying to  avoid politics although with this movie and Dr. Strangelove that a bit hard to do completely.)
 
It does remind me of Lawrence of Arabia in that this is a throwback to those epic movies, Lawrence, Ben-Hur, Spartacus among others.  It is over three hours long, deliberately paced, and even has an intermission.
 
The 4K images are picture perfect.  The flesh colors are rich and the scenery is gorgeous.  Today, the crowd scenes and settings would be CGI this is real and it looks fantastic.  A+. The settings, scenery, and huge crowds, are real, and on  a large screen you feel as if you were there. The movie is slightly letterboxed. (I am watching it on a LG 77 OLED set)
 
I have trouble rating the Atmos soundtrack. That is, the audio is perfect and well done, but, made during a era when surround was really new. There is not much “Atmos,” meaning there is not much surround in it.  Most of the sound comes from the front and it clear and well done.
 
Ben Kingsley is just great and totally believable. This is just a well done movie that is far too relevant today.  I did see it in the theatre when it first came out and I am enjoying even more today.
 
 

[tripplej]

Thanks Barry. For an epic historical movie, this movie is just fantastic. I remember seeing this in the theater when it came out originally. Happy to hear the update here is very good. Will have to check it out. Did you do one night or you broke it down into two days?

[Barry]

       
We could not resist and saw it all in one night.
 
I did something else.  The movie is available for streaming with Showcase on Demand and I turned on the  last 15 minutes just to compare it to the 4k.
 
Now if this was 5 years ago, I would have said that the Showcase version was fine, it was close to a DVD version, not Blu-Ray or 4k.
 
The detail on the 4K was just incredible compared to the Showcase. You saw details on the faces that were washed away on the Showcase versions. More so in large crowd scenes, where you saw real faces in 4K.  Also the scenery looks real in 4K, not in the Showcase version.
 
Of course the colors were more vibrant and more real in 4k. People looked real in 4k, on the Showcase version the skin color were not realistic at all. And faces in the crowds looked so much better.
 
The Audio was worlds apart.  People spoke clearly on the 4K disc and the music was tremendous. Not so on the Showcase version where everything, including the dialog, seemed muddled.
 
But Candice Bergen looked great in both versions!

[tripplej]

Great. I suspect, I will also watch it in one viewing. lol. Good to know the differences. Thanks again.