Hugo (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray) (2011)

Martin Scorsese directs this family friendly tale set in Paris in the 1930’s released at the cinema in the US and the UK in November of 2011 the story about an orphan living in the walls of a train station who is trying to unravel a mystery left by his late Father concerning an automaton the cast is headed-up by Sir Ben Kingsley who is ably supported by Asa Butterfield Chloë Grace Moretz in the roles of the children in fact the whole cast do a superb job the only miscast role in my option is that of the Station Inspector who is played by English born actor Sacha Baron Cohen, he comes across as a man out of his depth I keep expecting him to start one his awful creations instead of the character of the Train Inspector who to my mind should have all the personality of the child-catcher in Chitty Bang-Bang with all his redeeming qualities.That being said Scorsese has an amazing job of bringing to life the sights and sounds of 1930’s Paris with all its characteristics and locations.This single 50 GB region B locked disc is encoded with the MPEG-4 AVC codec is in full 1080p resolution and in the original cinema release’s aspect ratio of 1.85.1 the picture is so clear I would say it is of reference standard and could be used to test audio equipment and TV’s with its marvellous palette of colours and range of blacks in the scenes where there a great deal of shadows the audio track is in English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, the audio track wonderfully recreates the sound and atmosphere of a 30’s railway Station with hissing from the steam engines to the whirring and clicking of the clocks with their complex gear wheels meshing together as the clocks keep time in the station all the while the actors dialogue is easily heard and is always clear but when needed the track delivery’s big bass sounds. There is also a 3D version of the feature, dual format disc is a great idea which if the film companies had done from the start of the 3D revival maybe more people would have embraced the format, I cannot comment on 3D as I do not have access to 3D playback at the time of writing there are only one set of subtitles in English for the Hard of HearingThe Bonus Material on the disc is as follows: - Shoot the Moon (The making of Hugo) The Cinmagician, Georges Méliès, The Mechanical Man at the Heart of Hugo, Big Effects, Small Scale, Sacha Baron Cohen: Role of a Lifetime.A great disc to watch with the kids and must have in a Blu-ray collection....

When I first heard the news that Martin Scorsese was going to make a family-friendly film it sounded like a terrible mistake or a bad joke, nobody expects the man responsible for Goodfellas to churn out the kind of movie that we take seven year olds too. But once I watched the film I realised that Hugo could have only been made by one of the big boys, someone that has devoted their life to cinema, someone who had passion for the medium and it all became clear why Scorsese had decided to bring this story to life.While there's a great deal of plot in Hugo, the movie is primarily a sensory experience. Scorsese's artful use of visuals turns the elaborate clockworks at the station into a labyrinth that Hugo traverses with a practised stealth that's amplified both by his age and his fear of being discovered. This is one of the most tactile films you'll ever see, smoke, snowflakes, and dust particles blow through the frame, adding depth to the images. If the film were any busier it would become exhausting to look at because there's just so much to take in, but right from the start, Scorsese balances all of the visual elements perfectly with a shot that compares the layout of Paris' streets to the gears of a clock.The visual splendour, of course, isn't all the film has to offer. It's employed to tell a story very close to the director's heart, a tale about finding and caring for old movies. Ben Kingsley's character turns out to have had quite the fascinating life before ending up at the station, and while it's unfair to spoil the surprise for those who don't know, it's reasonable to say that Hugo is Scorsese's loving tribute to the building blocks of modern cinema. It's a history lesson that allows the modern master director to re-create some of the most-memorable images from the art form's first decade, as well as craft a tender movie about creating a family.The thought of Martin Scorsese fashioning a family-friendly film is just as odd as Jean Claude van Damme winning an Oscar but after seeing it I can tell you it is a triumph. Ironically, Hugo is a movie that will probably appeal more to hardcore film nerds than to seven-year-olds, unless of course that youngster will grow into a movie geek. If that's the case, Hugo might even be the catalyst that starts it all off. Recomended.