Product: Brideshead Revisited [VHS] (1982)
Rating: 4.0
Good compromises, but disc 3 a little crowded
The restoration is gorgeous and overall the balance between material length and compression is great. But there's a slight hitch. BRIDESHEAD was 11 episodes long, with episodes 1 and 11 around 100 minutes each, and episodes 2-10 were around 50 minutes each. So, disc 1 (eps. 1-3) and disc 2 (eps. 4-7) hold ~200 minutes each, while disc 3 (eps. 8-11) has ~250 minutes crammed onto it. And it shows. The compression rate is so high that you can see wainscotting on the walls waver and flat patches of color. It *IS* ignorable and the episodes are watchable, especially if you're a regular viewer and not a hypersensitive resolution-junkie addicted to Superbit discs. :^) But if you are one of those poor sharp-eyed souls, realize that there has been a compromise.