The Young Victoria – Blu-ray Review

The Film:

Melissa: Love stories are plentiful within the realms of Hollywood, something that we see year after year in comedic and dramatic forms. Not so often does a true love story of sorts emerge into a film, which is handled like somebody gently descending down a staircase on the new GK Films feature, The Young Victoria.

Jon: The entire film is laced with elegance. From mannerisms, to the strict nature of her position, the film really reflects the order of the Royal Family, through routines and expectations. We’ve seen this before, but by having Julian Fellowes handle the script, it brings a real regal quality to it. It’s a costume drama, but the real heart of it is her political maneuvers, as she deals with her own brevity in politics, while battling greedy, opportunistic politicians.

Melissa: The balance within the film of her political dramas and the too-good-to-be-true love story, barely tango right with each other until it’s third act. That goes hand-in-hand with Prince Albert, played by Rupert Friend, jumping right into the background for some time thanks to the imbalanced dominance of the political story line. The direction from Jean-Marc Vallée was fine, but one of the things that was a little overdone was the focus-crazy cinematographer and the cut-happy editor.

The relationship between Victoria (Emily Blunt) and Albert (Rupert Friend) felt like a shaky landing. It’s rough, and a bit unsuspecting at first, but once it started to get into the groove of it and settled down it flowed fine and became quite natural. Production design and costumes were wonderful, bringing out the most attractive material aspects of the Victorian era out for us all to see.

Jon: I’ll disagree here. The direction is really good, and I have no complaints about the editing. I felt the love story did feel short-changed, but that’s to do with the script, as it tries, and fails to balance the love story, amongst her rise into the role of being a Queen. The third act is the film’s most problematic area, that for sure. I felt director Jean-Marc Vallée crafted a superb, gorgeous looking film. The jest of it is Victoria’s blossoming, long-last love affair with Prince Albert, but it’s the least interesting aspect. Much like Elizabeth, the film is at its best amongst the beautiful costumes and political dialogue.

Melissa: Even though the film is not entirely historically accurate, for attention grabbing reasons, the story still is pretty solid. The whole notion of love at first sight always seems so alien, something that is unobtainable and can only be reached through means of fairy tales, but as the story plays out, it grinds in the sweet reminder that the love they had for each other is real. The sturdy script, enjoyable cast, and sufficient direction bring together one of the more intriguing period pieces within the past decade.

Jon: The Young Victoria is Emily Blunt’s show, and she’s really good. I’ve always enjoyed here, especially in Sunshine Cleaning, but her mannerisms and restraint here, showcase a mature performance, yet one that is warming to follow. Melissa is right. The Young Victoria is one of the more intriguing period films in a while, certainly miles better than Fellowes own Vanity Fair and Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Even in an age, where we see the Royal Family as nothing more than a facade to a dying system, produced by Sarah, the Duchess of York, we see love and admire Kings and Queens.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: Sony Pictures offers up a superb looking film. Warm colors, sharp details, the production really benefits in HD. The DTS track is quite nice as well, as it never over powers with the music over the dialogue. We’re fully engaged into the story, thanks to this warm, sensual track.

Deleted Scenes: Here’s a huge offering of excised material, offering up some nice moments.

Making of The Young Victoria: Here’s a quick EPK look at the film.

Lavish History: A Look at the Costumes and Locations: I found this piece to be really good. Sarah Powell’s costume work gets a great look, especially since she won an Oscar for it.

The Real Queen Victoria: Short and sweet, we get a brief look at the real Queen Victoria. Yes, we wish this was longer, but it serves its purpose well.

BD-Live MovieIQ is offered and is a decent inclusion. Two featurettes on specific aspects of the production and Trailers finish out the extras.

For further information, re-read Melissa’s interview here with cast and crew of The Young Victoria.

Conclusion: A solid drama with some third act issues, but nonetheless, a solid watch. Sony’s Blu-ray is great.

The Film: Rating:

The Blu-ray: Rating: