Vincent and his father, Tomas, run the best glassworks in the country, but the onset of war turns their lives upside down. Vincent falls in love with Alliz, the daughter of a colonel, and they both must find the courage to confront their fathers.

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Video Quality

The Glassworker comes to Blu-Ray from Watermelon Pictures with a sumptuous 1080p transfer in its original aspect ratio. The animation techniques are replete with pleasing detail and texture. Every scene delivers a feast of dazzling imagery that makes you grateful there is still room for 2-D animation in the world, even if there are some digital enhancements. The colors are bold and brightly saturated with complex hues awakening the senses. Highlights are deftly maintained, and black levels are deep with no trace of compression artifacts or digital anomalies. This feature showcases rich detail in the setting, including unique facets that make the space feel more lived-in. The character designs are consistently rendered without a hiccup. The transfer handles every change in the environment with stability, including no jagged lines or color bleeding. This is what you want from a modern animated experience. It’s a worthy presentation that is handled with care by Watermelon Pictures.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless track presented here in an English-language version. While I have seen some sources list Urdu as the original language, since this was created in Pakistan, there is no trace of that as an option on this disc, and all of the behind-the-scenes footage shows the performers recording in English. The English-language track present on this disc sounds amazing. The film is presented with optional English SDH subtitles.

One of our favorite aspects of the film is the music, and the score adds powerful emotions to the story as it touches the audience with the surround sound presentation. The environmental detail in the surround channels is favorable as the sounds transport you into this narrative. The soundscape capitalizes on its narrative ambition with some natural texture to the world. Dialogue comes through clearly without getting clipped by any competing elements. Watermelon Pictures comes through for fans with a worthwhile presentation.

Special Features

Making-Of Documentary: A 90-minute documentary in which the cast and creative team dive into the enormous undertaking that went into creating this film from its initial concept to the development of the animation studio, the crowdfunding of the project, the vocal performances, the creation of the score, and more.

Storyboard Gallery

Final Thoughts

The Glassworker is a stunning visual spectacle, which is made all the more impressive when you learn that it is a feature debut from a country that has never released a hand-drawn animated feature before. There are a handful of rough patches in the storytelling, yet the narrative largely matches the quality of the animation. The story is moving with characters that are easy to love. Events are often heartbreaking, but you rarely give up hope that things could possibly be okay in the end. If this is the result of a first-time filmmaker, we can only imagine what future masterpieces Usman Riaz has to gift us. Watermelon Pictures has released a Blu-Ray featuring a top-tier A/V presentation and a valuable making-of documentary. Recommended

The Glassworker is currently available to purchase on Standard Edition Blu-Ray or with a Limited Edition Slipcover exclusively through Vinegar Syndrome.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Watermelon Pictures and OCN Distribution have supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.