Attractive people. Beautiful costumes. Luxurious and ornate sets. Beautiful locations. It must be a lavish period costume drama in1560s England! Josie Rourke's Mary Queen of Scots, a retelling of England's rival queen siblings, plays very loose with facts and casting, but crafts a beautiful-looking romantic drama. While the history and politics may not be accurate, the terrific performances from Margot Robbie and Saoirse Ronan elevate the material and make the material fun. If you're after some fun costume melodramatics, you'll get your money's worth. For a more in-depth review, please check out our 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review.
Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Universal Studios brings Mary Queen of Scots to Blu-ray in a single disc Blu-ray + Digital set. The Disc is housed in a standard sturdy case with identical slipcover artwork. The disc loads to trailers for other Universal/Focus releases before arriving at a static image main menu with traditional navigation options.
Shot digitally, Mary Queen of Scots features an often-stunning 2.39:1 1080p transfer. It's an English costume drama so you know going in that details should be exceptional - and they are! Clothing, set design, the various locations, facial features, hairstyles, the intricate makeup - all of it looks fantastic in this Blu-ray release. Colors are robust but lean towards darker browns and greens leaving the primaries to do the accent work for ornate clothing and jewelry for extra pop. Red obvious plays a big role in the end. Black levels are my only slim quibble here as there are times they can veer from ideal deep inky blacks to being a bit murky and hazy - the first time Mary addresses her council upon her return to Scotland is a key example. Thankfully the rest of the image is often stunning with a terrific sense of three-dimensional depth. Aside from a little noise, there isn't any severe artifacts or other anomalies to report.
Read our 4K UHD Review for full details on the Dolby Atmos audio mix.
Read our 4K UHD Review for full details on the bonus features (there's also a list on the right-hand side of this page).
Mary Queen of Scots offers period costume melodrama romance fans something to chew on. History buffs will no doubt take umbrage at the many factual liberties this film presents. Certainly watchable, the cast is fantastic and the intricate production design work and costuming ensure that there is plenty to look at and appreciate. Universal Studios brings Mary Queen of Scots to Blu-ray with beautiful results sporting a great 1080p transfer and an engrossing Dolby Atmos audio mix. Aside from a commentary track, the bonus features are pretty worthless. Ultimately the film is a fun watch. Worth A Look.
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