Little Women (1994) - 30th Anniversary 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

It’s the heart of the U.S. Civil War. The able-bodied men have been called to combat the Confederate rebels in the south leaving the wives and women to fend for themselves and their children. For the March family, life is relatively simple. Precocious Jo (Winona Ryder) fancies herself an author concocting plays and stories for her and her sisters Meg (Trini Alvarado), Beth (Claire Danes), and little Amy (Kirsten Dunst) to perform. The sisters do their best to help their mother (Susan Sarandon) through the financially strapped difficult times. As the girls grow and mature, their interests and goals in life diverge stretching thin their familial bond. But when the men return from war, they carry with them the plague of the living dead! Men with gangrenous festering wounds soon turn to mindless flesh-hungry zombies devouring their loved ones wholesale. Tested and exhausted, Jo and her sisters will have to find a way to come together if they hope to survive the onslaught and enjoy a peaceful, and merry Christmas. 

Okay, those last two sentences don’t happen, but that’d be a hell of a movie wouldn’t it? No, what we have with 1994’s Little Women is a straight and true adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s timeless novel and it’s a wonderful production. It’s wild watching this movie and realizing that Director Gillian Armstrong never made much career headwind after this. Oscar and Lucinda was a fine film and I particularly enjoyed Charlotte Gray, so it was a surprise to me that she never really saw the same kind of career highpoint again. 

Such as it is, this adaptation is a wonderfully entertaining effort. Perfectly cast, Winona Ryder was at the height of her popularity and deservedly earned her Oscar nomination as Jo (she lost to Jessica Lang for Blue Sky so that’s a bit of a toss-up). Trini Alvarado plays the marriage-longing Meg well without her seeming like a society climber as seen in some other adaptations. Kirsten Dunst was the perfect bratty Amy, you can easily see her burning someone’s manuscript in real life. Claire Danes was the perfect choice to play the fragile lovable Beth. Grounding this terrific cast is Susan Sarandon’s wise mother Mrs. March. 

Rounding out the rest of the cast we have Eric Stoltz taking a break from selling heroin to Travolta long enough to turn in a studious performance as John Brooke. Mary Wickes is delightful as the acerbic Aunt March. John Neville has a nice if brief appearance and Gabriel Byrne turns in a terrific love-consumed shy Fredrich Bhaer. Oh yeah, young Batman also stars as the willfully romantic Laurie. With impeccable production design, amazing Oscar-nominated costume design, and an Oscar-nominated score from Thomas Newman (one of my favorites), these great actors bring the characters to life. 

As a guy who weaned on science fiction and horror movies, and learned to read from an extensive collection of comic books, I realize I’ve oddly become something of a connoisseur of Little Women adaptations. Part of that is my mother’s fault as she was a fan of the George Cukor-directed version from 1933 starring Katherine Hepburn. We also owned a tape of the 1949 production starring June Allyson and a young Elizabeth Taylor, but we rarely ever watched that one. My sister was the one responsible for making me see this 1994 version in the theater. She claimed it was because she loved the book oh so much, but I know it was actually because she was crushing on the dude from Newsies. But surprisingly enough, even at twelve years old, I found I really enjoyed the film. I already knew the story, but I felt the impact of the heavy emotional plot beats like they were fresh first-time experiences. 

Leaving out the numerous mini-series and TV movie adaptations, I’d personally peg Gillian Armstrong’s 1994 film as the second-best Little Women adaptation. Growing up with it and seeing it so many times, it’s hard to top Cukor’s 1933 film. With Hepburn in her prime, an excellent appearance from Joan Bennett as Amy, and a fine turn from Jean Parker as Beth, but the highlight is Edna May Oliver bringing the same kind of Drums Along the Mohawk energy and sas to Aunt March. Now, as I mentioned in other reviews, I think the recent Greta Gerwig-directed Little Women from 2019 is good, it just can’t match up. I still have a hard time with that film’s weirdly fractured structure. Also, I think it’s odd that Florence Pugh plays Amy as a child and an adult - my brain just doesn’t buy it when she’s playing a 12-year-old girl and she’s obviously in her 20s. 

As a whole, this Little Women might not be perfect, if I’m going to knock it, it’s for how swiftly paced it is. Some scenes are staged and play out in mere seconds like they're intended to be edited into the trailer and marketing soundbites. Nevertheless, it remains a favorite. I don’t often return to it, but when I do it’s suitable for some relaxing holiday viewing. It’s perfect for the Christmas season so this was the right time for Sony to give the film the 4K upgrade it deserves. 

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 
1994’s Little Women celebrates its Pearl Anniversary with a new single-disc 4K UHD + Digital release from Sony. Pressed on a BD100 disc, the disc is housed in a standard black case with an identical slipcover. The disc loads to a static image main menu with basic navigation options.

Little Women arrives on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray with a winning 2160p Dolby Vision transfer that perfectly captures this ornate and detailed period film. Why wasn’t this Little Women included in the Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Vol 5 set over those other Little Women? While I don’t have an answer, the plus side in this case is you don’t have to purchase a set with five other films just for this one film. From the opening snow-covered landscape of Concord to the lush spring gardens of Orchard House to the vivid colors of Paris, this is an often striking filmic presentation. Facial features, costuming, makeup, hairstyles, and impeccable production design are all on display with a fine layer of cinematic film grain. The Dolby Vision grade is judicious, highlighting the strong primaries, especially around the several Christmas sequences, while keeping skin tones healthy and human. I feel this grade also corrects the slightly overly bright appearance of the previous Blu-ray that seemed to suck some of the warmth out of the image. For all of the candlelight writing scenes or moments where the family gathers by the hearth, this is a lovely and warm-looking film and the HDR grade maintains that feeling throughout. Black levels are spot on with nice deep inky blacks. Skin tones are spot on and healthy… well… at least for the cast members who are supposed to be healthy anyway. 

[UPDATE: After being made aware of a situation with the 5.1 track, I dove back into this. Turned out my receiver was kicking on the Neural:X function automatically when I selected the 5.1]

On the audio front fans can choose from a splendid DTS-HD MA 5.1 track or an equally impressive DTS-HD MA 2.0 surround track. Both are worth the attention depending on your tastes. The 5.1 mix spaces the various elements around the soundscape nicely so channels are active and present without sounding overly forced into a bigger surround container they don’t belong. Main elements mostly keep to the front/center channels but Newman’s score does fill the spread nicely.

So after being made aware of the issue on this disc and double checking, there is an authoring issue on the 5.1 track where the Front Left and Right channels have no activity. Sides and rears don't seem to have any issues and because my receiver likes to kick on Neural:X automatically, I didn't notice the problem when I played back key sequences. Making sure Neural:X is firmly and truly off, the issue is glaring and instantly noticeable as soon as Mrs. March comes home and the kids run down the stairs in those opening scenes. Apologies for not catching that in the initial writeup. For the bulk of the viewing, I kept to the 2.0 track which sounded fine (and still does) and is a very very good way to watch the film.

With that, I think I have to lean more toward the 2.0 surround track. Since this is such a personal and intimate story, I felt this mix sounded a little warmer and more natural to the film. Dialog for both tracks is clean and clear without issue. Again, this is another fantastic Thomas Newman score, but I do feel it also plays better on the 2.0 letting those emotional swells resonate a little more closely. 

So to score this:

DTS-HD MA 5.1 - 0/5
DTS-HD MA 2.0 - 4/5

On the extra features side of things, we have an overall very nice little package of bonus content. Not an earth-shattering amount by any means, but it’s enough to pass the time once the main feature is over. The commentary is the main draw as everything else skirts around the edges of brief EPK leftovers. The trailer is a doozy, I’d forgotten how so many films like this were marketed in the ‘90s. 

• Audio Commentary featuring director Gillian Armstrong
• Making of Little Women (SD 6:54)
• Deleted Scenes w/ Optional Commentary  (SD 1:47)
• Costume and Design (SD 8:10)
• Theatrical Trailer (HD 2:59)

There have been many adaptations of Little Women. Too many to fully catalog or keep up with. Since 1918 (at least) Louisa May Alcott’s story has graced the big screen and televisions in one form or another. Different directors bring a new cast and a fresh take to each edition. So it is a bit difficult to pick favorites. After the 1933 version, I’d have to say Gillian Armstrong’s 1994 effort is among the best of the pack. The cast was right and the screenplay and direction were perfect for this telling. Now we have 1994’s Little Women on 4K UHD and we get to enjoy it for the holidays with a lovely Dolby Vision transfer, One strong audio option, and one that needs serious attention and a slim but worthwhile collection of extra features. After rechecking the 5.1 audio, the front left and right channels are virtually silent which is obviously wrong and shouldn't be that way. I leu of that, I'm pulling back my "Highly Recommended" rating - in fact, I'm pulling back any recommendation at all until Sony addresses the issue with a disc replacement. I still love that 2.0 audio track, but this disc shouldn't be left as is.