DVD Reviews

Breakfast At Tiffany's: 50th Anniversary Edition (Blu-Ray)

Breakfast at Tiffany’s has become well known for its fantastic music and the song Moon River has become a true classic. Unfortunately I find that it is too sexist and racist to truly enjoy. Sure it has historical significance and for some, it's a nice romance film but I don't exactly think a party scene makes a good movie.

Holly Golightly delights audiences as the carefree ingénue searching Manhattan for a dream millionaire to marry. She meets a “sponsored” young writer who gets swept away in Holly’s chaotic yet enchanting lifestyle.

Audio for this release comes in the form of a DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack.  While I could go on and on about how the dialogue is clean, clear, front centric and never drowned out by the music or sound effects that should be a no brainer. Don’t expect a lot of work from the surrounds which are exclusively used for the score. Bass is also non-existent but that shouldn’t come as a surprise for fans of the film. What is nice about this 5.1 track is just how much it enhances the music in the film (which took home both the Academy Award for Best Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture and Best Music - Song for “Moon River“ in 1961 thanks to the composing of Henry Mancini). The track brings the music to a natural sounding balance that surrounds the viewer without being overwhelming. There is also a mono track available for purists which sounds really good but is not a lossless track.  There are also language tracks in French, Spanish, and Portuguese as well as subtitles in English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese for those that need them.

The video is presented in full 1080p and while I’d guess it’s at the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 my setup would only let me see a 1.78:1 ratio. The transfer itself is more hit than miss. Considering this is supposed to be “meticulously restored” I was surprised to find that the video quality wasn’t perfect. It was darn close though and it does look fantastic for a film that’s over 50 years old.  Print damage is minimal and the film has a softness I like to call the classic Hollywood look. While soft, it is a sign of the times and not of the transfer (mostly). Black levels are deep and muddy while still holding detail. There is some natural film grain throughout the film. Sometimes it’s stronger and more apparent and at times it’s clear that Digital Noise Reduction (DNR) was used pretty extensively. This unfortunately has affected the detail but I didn’t notice it much on my first viewing of the film. It only became truly apparent when I was analyzing the video. You can see clear changes in detail when you look for it. Edge Enhancement also shows up from time to time. All in all this is a very good transfer. It’s just not what I would call a “meticulous” one.

If you like your Blu-rays with lots of extras rejoice, Breakfast at Tiffany’s comes with a diverse and interesting bunch of supplemental material. While it is ported over from a previous release, some of it is in HD for the first time. First is the audio commentary with Producer Richard Shepherd. This commentary isn’t all that great. Not only does Mr. Shepherd spend lots of time watching the film rather than talk about it but when he does talk, he often doesn’t say anything interesting. In fact, he often just comments about what we see on the screen. Stating that typewriters are outdated isn’t really something new and yet Mr. Shepherd feels the need tell that to us. I’d say skip over this commentary unless you’re really curious. This is followed up by a bunch of different featurettes. “A Golightly Gathering” runs about 20 minutes in length and brings together many of the actors who were involved with the famous party scene from the film during their own little modern get-together. They reminisce about the scene, the film and the stars while sharing a few drinks to boot. Was interesting to see what was essentially a bunch of extras looking back at an important part of their past. “Henry Mancini: More Than Music” also runs around 20 minutes in length. This is a retrospective piece looking back on the life of the famous composer via interviews with his two kids and widow. You could almost say it’s a mini documentary of sorts. “Mr. Yunioshi: An Asian Perspective” is a bit over 15 minutes and looks at the controversial role played by Mickey Rooney through interviews with a few select persons of Asian background. The piece starts off ok but gets sidetracked via Japanese internment camps and such. Not a fantastic piece but the basic message still manages to come through. “Breakfast at Tiffany’s The Making of a Classic” is a shorter piece at about 15 minutes in length. While there are a few behind-the-scenes photos and a small amount of talking about difficulties shooting and other pieces of interest, most of the piece is about the actors. More specifically, though most the main cast is touched upon, this piece is about Hepburn. There is also plenty of general reminiscing about the film again. In fact, much of the information is the same as from “A Golightly Gathering” including the fact that some of the same “party guests” are interviewed for this featurette as well. Next up is “It’s So Audrey! A Style Icon” which runs a little under 10 minutes. This piece is obviously about Miss Hepburn but not just about Breakfast at Tiffany’s. It touches on her style, her relationship with Givenchy and how clothing was so important to her that it is no wonder she became a style icon. “Behind the Gates: The Tour” runs less than 5 minutes and would have been a nice little tour of the Paramount Pictures Studios. The piece does show a few interesting places at the studio but it’s more of an advertisement to actually visit Paramount Pictures Studios and take a tour in person. “Brilliance in a Blue Box” is a little over 5 minutes in length. This piece is a short historic look at Tiffany & Co. and why they are sometimes referred to as an American institution. “Audrey’s Letter to Tiffany” is the shortest of them all running around 2 minutes long. Tiffany’s Design Director John Loring reads what Audrey Hepburn’s wrote for the store’s 150^th anniversary back in 1987.  The last of the supplemental materials include the film’s theatrical trailer and 3 image galleries. “The Movie” contains 26 stills from the film in colour and B&W, “Production” 29 behind-the-scenes pictures in both colour and B&W, and “Publicity” 22 images again in colour and B&W including some modeling shots of Audrey Hepburn.

While I’m not the biggest fan of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, there are plenty of you out there that are. You’ll be pleased with this presentation from audio to video, this film has never looked better. Combined with a slew of bonus material and this 50^th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray is sure to find a happy home in many collections. While the film could have used some more in depth restoration for a film with this kind of history, what restoration that did happen was good quality and this release of Breakfast at Tiffany’s is sure to win over new and old fans alike.

Review By Rob Harding