Sherlock Holmes 4K Blu-ray Review & Comments

Casimir Harlow

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Only one Sherlock Holmes Basil Rathbone:thumbsup:


lol. As a kid I thought Basil Rathbone really was Sherlock Holmes, he was fantastic (loved him in The Adventures of Robin Hood as well). However, Jeremy Brett did a great job as well in more recent times - and I must admit, I quite enjoy Downey Jr in the role.
 
Classically, for me, it's Brett all the way.

In modern incarnations, I've got room for cabbage patch and Downey, but have certainly enjoyed revisiting Downey a lot, whilst The BBC series, for me, jumped the shark around the time of him meeting
and shooting
Magnus Magnusson and then going on a series of dream quests before fighting Hela, the Goddess of Death.
 
Enjoyed revisiting both of these films with the recent 4K releases. Cracking good yarns
 
Thanks for the Review Cas.
For me, Basil Rathbone was the perfect Holmes for that period.
Jeremy Brett was perfect for the 80's & 90's

They were so good, I have still not managed to fully warm to "Downey Jr." ("Don't cal me Junior!") as Holmes, even though I like him as an Actor usually.
 
Thanks for the Review Cas.
For me, Basil Rathbone was the perfect Holmes for that period.
Jeremy Brett was perfect for the 80's & 90's

They were so good, I have still not managed to fully warm to "Downey Jr." ("Don't cal me Junior!") as Holmes, even though I like him as an Actor usually.

I can understand that. I do, however, love the way the Ritchie movies (and as a result BBC show) offered some visual insight into Sherlock's mind. It was very innovative at times.
 
Thanks for the review.

I'm a bit of a Holmes snob ("Stop messing with the scripture; that's not right!") so didn't think I'd like these films but they were surprisingly enjoyable (the first one more so than the second). The TV series was okay for the first few seasons but then wore out its welcome. As an aside the first Anthony Horowitz book was okay too. So maybe there's actually some degree of flexibility, or perhaps hypocracy, in my Holmesian belief system.

Anyway another vote for Jeremy Brett here. Exactly how I imagined the character being portrayed when I read the books. And also a mention for David Burke/Edward Hardwicke - pretty good Watsons!
 
Classically, for me, it's Brett all the way.

In modern incarnations, I've got room for cabbage patch and Downey, but have certainly enjoyed revisiting Downey a lot, whilst The BBC series, for me, jumped the shark around the time of him meeting
and shooting
Magnus Magnusson and then going on a series of dream quests before fighting Hela, the Goddess of Death.
Agreed. Benedict is a wonderful actor but the writing got too full of itself. Basil, Jeremy, Nicol and to a lesser extent RDJnr have all done the character justice and brought something to it individually. JLM also good but it's always been Basil for me.
 
Thanks for the review.

I'm a bit of a Holmes snob ("Stop messing with the scripture; that's not right!") so didn't think I'd like these films but they were surprisingly enjoyable (the first one more so than the second). The TV series was okay for the first few seasons but then wore out its welcome. As an aside the first Anthony Horowitz book was okay too. So maybe there's actually some degree of flexibility, or perhaps hypocracy, in my Holmesian belief system.

Anyway another vote for Jeremy Brett here. Exactly how I imagined the character being portrayed when I read the books. And also a mention for David Burke/Edward Hardwicke - pretty good Watsons!
Ian Hart was a good Watson opposite Richard Roxburgh and Rupert Everett.
But I just think Ian Hart is generally awesome.
 
Ian Richardson was also superb in the role and brought an impish humour to his two outings. I believe he was to star in many more films but Granada's TV series put paid to that.
 
I like RDJ but these never really did anything for me.

I've found I dislike, with varying levels of intensity, anything by Guy Ritchie since Snatch.
Lock, Stock and Snatch were great, everything since has been average to steaming turd levels. Revolver and Legend of the Sword were massive stinkers IMO.

EDIT - I forgot RocknRolla, I quite liked it.
 
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I used to think Jeremy Brett all the way but I watched a few of the old old ones with Basil Rathbone and now I can't decide! I don't mind these remakes but not one for the collection for me.
 
I can understand that. I do, however, love the way the Ritchie movies (and as a result BBC show) offered some visual insight into Sherlock's mind. It was very innovative at times.
Yeah, I need to give them another try. My Wife likes both Movies so there would be no fight there! :)
 
I read all the books recently. And was surprised how the more sedate versions - Rathbone, Brett - weren't as close to the sources as I expected (but still great).

Whereas the Downy version with Holmes as an expert pugilist and Watson always making sure to go into action "tooled up" is in the books.

Anyway, enjoyed the RDJ versions and I'm glad they are making a third.
 
I've always enjoyed these films and I'm looking forward to the third. I think the second was better than the first but thenI like to see a series improve with each iteration. Probably a smart move to keep M's appearance in the shadows for an uncast role as gave them a chance to re-dub with Jarred Harris's voice for continuity as when watching them back.
 
Only one Sherlock Holmes Basil Rathbone:thumbsup:
Yes but Nigel Bruce is not as Watson should be - good as they are together - I believe they were good friends - well they seem it anyway - and for years after people assumed Watson was an idiot - Jude Law is superb as Watson - possibly my favourite Watson - in these - as in fact also were the 2 actors who played Watson in the Jeremy Brett shows (names temporarily escape me)
 
first 2 were belters, got reservations about the 3rd
 
It was certainly a while ago when I last saw this version of Sherlock Holmes, the film was a curiosity for me firstly because it was directed by Guy Ritchie, best known for his choreographed violence in London gangster movies, and secondly to see how well Robert Downey Jr. could handle a classic English literary character role, especially when some American actors like to make up their own English stereotype, believing that creating a classic Hollywood educated English accent is no big deal.
My impression was that this version of Shelock Holmes was intended to gain Guy Ritchie some box office cred in America and be part of Mr.Downey's own career revival as a box office star and the big pay cheques.
Downey's own intellect gave this version of Holmes some credibility helped along by Jude Law who made his Watson a bit too virile but perhaps that was Richies idea, he wanted a pair of action heroes to keep the pace going in James Bond style including a few set piece stunts just to keep the audience interest up, also promoting the fact that the film cost lots of money to make.
The movies action production style cant be compared with Steven Moffat's Sherlock, that TV series scriptwriters let Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman characters have their day bringing Holmes into the modern world, though Moffat's stylized storytelling did become far too complicated in parts.
My rating for Sherlock Holmes the movie is 7 out of 10.
 
Talking of audio, does anyone automatically enable Dolby Surround on their Dolby HD to get ceiling effects? (Or DTS X) Makes sense really.
 
All the time.

I was watching Edge of Tomorrow the other night which has a DTS-HD 5.1 soundtrack and in some scenes, the overheads were really coming alive and at the right moments. I don't understand how it does it, but it can be really impressive.

Also if only watching something in Stereo, if you enable them it helps tie the centre channel dialogue to the screen rather than coming from the sides.
 
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