Joy, sadness, sorrow and wonder these are just some of the emotions you will feel when you embark on the thoroughly engrossing journey that is Forrest Gump.
"Stupid is as stupid does" is the ideal we are given as we begin our journey, and over the following 2 hours we see how stupidity and innocence in the face of adversity can triumph joyously, if only real life echoed this sentiment. But this is Hollywood and make believe rarely comes better than this.
I personally felt that Pulp Fiction's fresh dynamics deserved the Oscar spoils at the 1995 awards but Forrest Gump is oh so Oscar friendly and stole all the main awards that year. People often forget that it also took these away from the Shawshank Redemption too.
This is a movie you feel as much as watch and Tom Hanks carries the whole film with a truly wonderful performance of real emotional punch and thoroughly deserved his 2nd Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Forrest and you will find it impossible to not feel an overwhelming sense of love for his every childlike moment on screen.
Director Zemeckis must of known that with the power of Hank's performance and this movies message he had a classic on his hands and he strives for greatness in almost every scene and he achieves it faultlessly.
1994/1995 was a great year for movies and Gump rules them all and you won't find me arguing with that!
The funny thing is that life really is like a box of chocolates, and life rarely tastes as good as this, tremendous!
The transfer..................
Paramount have granted this film with an MPEG-4 AVC encoded, 2.35:1 framed, 1080p transfer onto a 50GB Blu-ray disc.
Blu-ray transfers are also like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get and thankfully this is a great one and is well worthy of a DVD upgrade.
Detail is exceptional with lifelike textures and fabrics. Clarity is such an improvement and it was wonderful to watch this film in a way that it felt new again, with things I hadn't noticed before.
Colour does appear somewhat muted and the image lacks vibrancy at times but skin tones remain accurate and real. Blacks are inky and strong with no evident crushing issues. The contrast levels are superb.
The films grain structure has thankfully not been scrubbed so we have brilliant detail and sharpness. The grain is always fine and is never obtrusive and this results in a really filmic image which is at times spectacular.
We have no edge enhancement, digital artifacting or compression issues to worry about. Forrest Gump looks wonderful in HD and I strongly recommend it as a worthy addition to your Blu-ray collection.
Film 5/5 Transfer 4.5/5