QUICK THOUGHTS: I love both of these movies. In 2005 Pride and Prejudice was #3 on my top ten for that year and in 2007 Atonement came in at #2. Joe Wright had hit the ground running and delivered two fantastic period pieces with some fantastic performances and a pair of Dario Marianelli scores that were absolutely must owns. To go along with that, and the one thing that makes the idea of these two films on Blu-ray even more enticing, is just how beautiful both of them looked on the big screen.
SUPPLEMENTS: Now the reason I am limiting my review of both of these releases to one capsule review is because neither includes anything new in terms of features that hasn’t been available before and since none of those features have been upgraded to high-definition here what’s the point of discussing them any further? If you love these movies you already watched those features and are now just wondering if the high-definition transfer and audio makes them worth upgrading. Right?
Well, I would say if you are looking to upgrade, Atonement is worth considering. The picture here is fantastic and the audio matches it all the way. I also think it is a slightly better film than Pride and Prejudice, if only by a tiny, tiny margin. The picture on the Pride and Prejudice Blu-ray isn’t as noticeable an improvement, but I personally think this has less to do with the transfer than it has to do with the misty presentation of some of the more beautiful outdoor locations, because for what it’s worth this transfer still looks great.
Each disc comes with a Joe Wright commentary and a few featurettes while Atonement also has a few boring deleted scenes.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Like I said, if you are interested in upgrading look toward Atonement first, it benefits from the upgrade more than Pride and Prejudice. However, if you don’t own either film as of yet this is an excellent way to start, both films are worth owning and should be in most any collection.
