Death on the Nile appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Across the board, this was an appealing transfer.
Sharpness looked strong. If any softness appeared, it remained negligible, so the image gave us a tight, well-defined presentation.
Jagged edges and moiré effects remained absent, while edge haloes also failed to appear. Print flaws stayed absent as well.
Because much of the film took place in the Egyptian setting, Nile opted for an amber/orange tone as well as some teal. These tones seemed predictable, but they worked fine within the movie’s design parameters and showed good delineation.
Blacks were dark and tight, while shadows showed nice clarity and smoothness. I thought this was a consistently well-done image.
I also felt pleased with the film’s DTS-HD MA 7.1 soundtrack. Though it concentrated mainly on environmental information, the mix used the channels in a reasonably involving manner throughout much of the film.
Not that anything here dazzled, as most of the soundfield stayed with ambience and music. Still, the track opened up the settings well enough, and a few livelier shots – like WWI combat at the movie’s start or some violent events – created a nice sense of impact.
Audio quality always satisfied. Music was dynamic and full, and effects followed suit, so those components came across as accurate and well-developed.
Speech seemed distinctive and crisp, without edginess or other issues. This became an appropriate soundtrack for the story.
A few featurettes appear, and Novel to Film runs 15 minutes, 30 seconds. It provides notes from novelist Sophie Hannah, director/actor Kenneth Branagh, screenwriter Michael Green, executive producers James Prichard and Mathew Prichard, Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks author Dr. John Curran, and actor Tom Bateman.
“Film” examines the source and its adaptation as well as story/characters. We get a smattering of insights but not a lot of depth here.
Travel Can Be Murder spans five minutes, 53 seconds with info from Branagh, Curran, Hannah, Mathew Prichard, James Prichard, and actor Annette Bening.
“Travel” looks at the work/legacy of Agatha Christie, with some specifics related to Nile. Like “Film”, we find a decent but unexceptional program.
Next comes Design on the Nile, an 11-minute, one-second program that features Branagh, Green, James Prichard, Bening, Bateman, production designer Jim Clay, hair/makeup designer Wakana Yoshihara, costume designer Paco Delgado, director of photography Haris Zambarloukos, and actors Gal Gadot, Russell Brand, Dawn French, Rose Leslie, Letitia Wright, Jennifer Saunders, Sophie Okonedo, and Emma Mackey.
“Design” covers sets and locations, costumes, photography and other stylistic choices. This offers another mix of facts and fluff.
Branagh/Poirot goes for five minutes, 35 seconds and provides comments from Branagh, Gadot, Brand, Bateman, Okonedo, Green, Leslie, Bening, French, Wright, Mackey, Saunders, and producer Judy Hofflund.
We learn about Branagh as both actor and director. Plenty of praise results.
In addition to the film’s trailer, the set concludes with eight Deleted Scenes. These occupy a total of 10 minutes, 45 seconds.
One scene allows for more development of the Poirot/Salome relationship, and it offers probably the most useful of the bunch, though we also get a little more of that pair elsewhere. Most simply bring us brief expansions and they lack much to add to the characters or narrative beyond a little exposition/depth.
While not one of the all-time great murder mystery movies, Death on the Nile provides a satisfying affair. It comes with enough verve and panache to become a lively little tale. The Blu-ray boasts excellent visuals along with pretty good audio and a small set of bonus materials. Expect a fun thriller.
