Rejoice Austen movie fans! April 14th was a monumental day heralding the release of the digitally restored Blu-ray edition of Pride and Prejudice (1995) and Lost in Austen (2008) Region 1 release in North America.Pride and Prejudice (1995) is one of the most popular and financially successful miniseries ever produced by the BBC and A&E, and one of our favorite movie adaptations of Jane Austen’s classic novel. In 2005 we were treated to the deluxe 10th anniversary edition that was touted as an improved edition from previously issued DVD releases. We were not impressed. The color and clarity had been distorted to a muddy mess in comparison to our old VHS tapes. We have waited patiently for this day and are happy to report that the technical restoration is a vast improvement to the previous editions and well worth the extra money.
New restored Blu-ray quality
Old muddy DVD quality
The trick is; do you have a Blu-ray player? They are not cheap and you must have an HD capable television to enjoy the benefits. I am not a techie, so you can get the lowdown on an industry review and the geeky stuff here. You can see by the before and after pictures what a remarkable job that they did restoring the original film negatives. It is not as fabulous as new movies on Blu-ray, but it is probably the best we will see for a while, or maybe ever! In addition to the two disc set of all five episodes, brand new bonus materials including a fascinating short film about the technical restoration process. Have fun, and enjoy!Cheers, Laurel Ann
