Miss Marple: Volume One [Blu-ray]

DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:

How very much I love all things Marple is humiliating. Moving on….

The high definition restoration on Miss Marple is nothing short of a digital miracle. The colors brightened to such an extent, I found myself remembering dull and drab locations and people practically dressed in burlap sacks as compared to what they were wearing, sitting on, walking past. Nothing is unnatural, not too bright, not neon, certainly not overly contrasted, but precisely what you would expect in terms of the coloring on objects, locations and people, if this were filmed today without any strange lenses or lights. It appears wholly natural, real, and beautiful. I didn’t expect such a high quality presentation. To add to that, the clarity is excellent, film grain was satisfactory to me, and I am never pleased with grain, and the aspect ratio is maintained. The only picture issue is the standard one for UK shows released on Blu-ray in America: this should be faster, by 4%, showing in the original PAL compatible speed at 1080i and, as a consequence of the films running slightly slower, because they were slowed down during conversion, the dialog seems a bit slow, to me and the films drag ever so slightly. Still, this is a beautiful set for video/picture quality and will not be beat.

For sound, the audio appears to me very well preserved. I did not notice significant flaws. Voices were clear and consistent and the music was as fun as ever.

I hope you find what you are looking for. As for this one, I absolutely recommend it for anyone who loves Marple and very strongly advise getting this one if you love a love of quaint English villages and murder mysteries.

– Rae

We’ve owned many iterations of the Joan Hickson Miss Marple series (VHS, DVD and now Blu Ray), so we were delighted to hear of the newly restored Blu Ray release.

First the stories:
The Joan Hickson versions of Miss Marple reflect a more genteel time. A time where the pace of life was slower and people acted with more respect and consideration toward others. (Except for the odd murder…) At first glance these stories may seem dull and boring when compared to the pacing of current movies. But on further viewings one starts to see how varied and engaging the characters are. Agatha Christie wrote murder mysteries that revolved around the psychological side of crime, not explosions, car chases and nudity. Thankfully, these movies leave something to the imagination and are mostly faithful to the books that they are based on, unlike the more recent Miss Marple efforts.

The restoration:
The restoration of theses movies was beautifully done. They lack the “pop” in color that a more recent movie may have but I feel that the softer hue that these Blu Rays have is perfectly fitting for the time period they represent. While watching these we couldn’t help but be amazed by all the things that the restored Blu Rays revealed that we couldn’t see in our DVD set. (Color and patterns of clothing and upholstery)

Overall, this was a great purchase and we can’t wait for the next set to be released.

-Monique J McNutt

DVD Wholesale Main Features:

Actors: Joan Hickson
Format: Blu-ray
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Region: Region A/1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 2
Rated: NR – Not Rated
Studio: BBC Home Entertainment
DVD Release Date: October 28, 2014
Run Time: 527 minutes
ASIN: B00NW10QRG