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STEEL MAGNOLIAS (1989)
35th Anniversary 4K Ultra HD + Digital
Label: SPHE
Region: Region-Free
Rating: PG
Duration: 118 Minutes 14 Seconds
Audio: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Compatible), English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English, French 2-Channel Surround DTS-HD MA, Spanish Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Dolby Vision HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Herbert Ross
Cast: Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, Julia Roberts, Tom Skerritt, Dylan McDermott, Kevin J. O’Connor, Sam Shepard
Steel Magnolias (1989) stars Sally Field (Heroes), Dolly Parton (9 to 5), Shirley MacLaine (Terms of Endearment), Daryl Hannah (Blade Runner), Olympia Dukakis (The Wanderers) and Julia Roberts (Flatliners) in a heartwarming story of life, love and loss in a small Louisiana parish in the 1980s.
At the center of the group is Shelby Eatenton (Roberts), newly married to Jackson (Dylan McDermott, Hardware) and newly pregnant, which frustrates her doting mother because she has debilitating diabetes which doctors have warned could make childbirth a life-threatening. The wonderful chick-flick is chock full of Southern lady melodrama and humor, and I am a particular fan of Maclaine's sarcastic "Ouiser", a wonderful grouch who feuds with Shelby's father Drum (Tom Skerritt, The Devil's Rain). Other melodrama includes Annelle (Hannah) finding love again after a disastrous marriage, and Parton's salon proprietor Truvy trying to reconnect with her at times too distant and often unemployed husband Spud (Sam Shepard, The Right Stuff).
It's quite a wonderful ensemble piece, if a bit saccharine for me, especially when I saw it on a date in '89, but it's aged well and I like a good tearjerker I can watch with my wife every now and again, and this certainly fits the bill, especially later in the film when Field's launches into a "it's not fair" tirade about suffering an unimaginable loss. I am not embarrassed to say that its always gets a little bit dusty in the room when we get to that part of the flick. Directed by Herbert Ross (T.R. Baskin) and based on a stage-play from a few years earlier the Southern melodrama does not do a lot of world building, it's very concise in it's scope, a small tight-knit group of friends who all apparently from the same street, beautifully shot by John A. Alonzo (Harold and Maude, Chinatown) with soft pastel highlights and plenty of Southern small town charm filling the screen.
Audio/Video: Steel Magnolias (1980) makes it's 4K UHD debut from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in 2160p Ultra HD widescreen (1.85:1) looking quite splendid, sourced from 4K scan from the original camera negative, with Dolby Vision HDR10 WCG color-grading. Grain is present and well-managed, the soft pastel colors shine with the Dolby Vision enhancement, and white are crisp and the blacks are deep. Fine detail and textures looks terrific as well. Sadly no Blu-ray accompanies this 4K UHD, not even a recycled disc from the previous HD release.
Audio/Video: Steel Magnolias (1980) makes it's 4K UHD debut from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in 2160p Ultra HD widescreen (1.85:1) looking quite splendid, sourced from 4K scan from the original camera negative, with Dolby Vision HDR10 WCG color-grading. Grain is present and well-managed, the soft pastel colors shine with the Dolby Vision enhancement, and white are crisp and the blacks are deep. Fine detail and textures looks terrific as well. Sadly no Blu-ray accompanies this 4K UHD, not even a recycled disc from the previous HD release.
Surprisingly we get a new Dolby Atmos audio upgrade, as well as DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo, with optional English subtitles. It's largely a dialogue driven flick, but surrounds do offer atmospheric accents that were appreciated. Dialogue is always well-defined, and the score from Georges Delerue (Joe Versus the Volcano) and soundtrack selections that include Ry Cooder, Wayne Toups and Zydecajun, and Hank Williams among others sounds quite wonderful as well.
We get archival extras by way of the Audio Commentary with Director Herbert Ross; the 22-min In Full Bloom: Remembering Steel Magnolias; 10 Deleted Scenes that run about 6-min, and the 88-sec Theatrical Trailer. New to this edition, and perhaps it's first time on disc is the 1990 TV pilot based on the film which picks up a year after the events of the film, starring Sally Kirkland (Two Evil Eyes) and Cindy Williams (Laverne & Shirley). This has been on YouTube for a number of years, but I do love having it on disc after all these years.
We get archival extras by way of the Audio Commentary with Director Herbert Ross; the 22-min In Full Bloom: Remembering Steel Magnolias; 10 Deleted Scenes that run about 6-min, and the 88-sec Theatrical Trailer. New to this edition, and perhaps it's first time on disc is the 1990 TV pilot based on the film which picks up a year after the events of the film, starring Sally Kirkland (Two Evil Eyes) and Cindy Williams (Laverne & Shirley). This has been on YouTube for a number of years, but I do love having it on disc after all these years.
Special Features:
- NEW! Steel Magnolias 1990 TV Pilot (22:48)
- Audio Commentary with Director Herbert Ross
- In Full Bloom: Remembering Steel Magnolias (22:20)
- 10 Deleted Scenes (6:03)
- Theatrical Trailer (1:28)
Buy it!