Film 

When I saw the trailer for Cop Out in the theater, I thought the film looked like one to avoid completely. It looked like a terrible film with an insipid plot with mail it in performances by the cast, especially Bruce Willis. Well, having now seen the entire film, my impressions from the trailer were spot on. This is one stupid film with a lame plot and an awful performance by Bruce Willis, who looks like he is sleepwalking during the entire film. Tracey Morgan gives his usual annoying performance as does the most annoying actor in Hollywood, Seann William Scott. I guess you can say that I am not a fan.

You can essentially describe Cop Out as a buddy cop film with Bruce Willis and Tracey Morgan playing twp Brooklyn cops. After an investigation into a drug buy goes bad and the informant is killed, Bruce Willis’ character is suspended for a month. It is terrible timing as his daughter is about to get married. His character wants to pay for the wedding, in part because his ex-wife’s new husband wants to pay for it. Without receiving any pay, Bruce decides to sell a rare and very valuable baseball card which will more than pay for the wedding. However, the card is taken from him during a robbery and the robber in turn turns over the card to the leader of the drug ring that was the subject of the investigation that lead to the suspension. It turns out that the drug kingpin happens to be an avid collector of sports memorabilia. Needless to say, the pair moves to retrieve the card from the drug kingpin and in the process, bring down the drug operation.

Given that the film was directed by Kevin Smith, one would normally have expected a better film. However, you can’t turn lead into gold and the script here is nothing but a hunk of lead. If you are a masochist, give the film a look. The rest of you should just skip this film entirely.

Video 

At first glance, Cop Out boasts a what appears to be a fine looking transfer. However, initial appearances can be deceiving. What first leaps out at you is the level of detail which is extraordinary. From facial details such as skin pores and blemishes to clothing fabric and background details, I can’t imagine wanting more detail in a picture. The color palette is quite natural, showing the gritty look of Brooklyn with excellent skin tone rendition. While I was impressed with the level of detail of this encode, the encode was plagued by excessive noise in some scenes as well as some motion artifacts which becomes distracting on larger screens. Since I didn’t see the film in the theater, I can’t say whether the noise was in the original. However, the rest of the issues I saw appear to be related to the encoding process. Had this been a great film, I would have been a lot more disappointed with the overall video quality of the release. Given it is such a bad film, I will have no problem getting over my disappointment.

Audio 

Even worse that the video presentation is the audio which is lackluster at is best. In short, the film’s audio is very flat, lacking any degree of depth. Transparency and imaging, for want of a better word, suck. This is probably one of the worst sounding lossless encodes I have heard in terms of transparency and imaging. I also found the bass to be too punchy, especially the music score, which features bloated and flabby bass. On the plus side, at least the numerous gun shots have plenty of heft. However, that is about the only positive note I can sound in regards to the audio presentation on this release. it is almost as bad as the film itself.

Special Features 

The best part of this release are the extras which is faint praise indeed. Cop Out With Your Glock Out Edition is a two disc combo pack, including a DVD copy as well as a digital copy of the film on a separate disc. The main extra is Warner’s Maximum Movie Mode which is renamed Maximum Comedy Mode on this release. The Maximum Comedy Mode features over 40 minutes of extended scenes and outtakes, picture in picture commentary featuring Kevin Smith and Seann William Scott. The best parts of the Maximum Comedy Mode are the walk-ons by Kevin Smith. The rest, you can have.

Final Thoughts 

If you are a masochist, give Cop Out a look. Otherwise, do yourself a favor and skip this one in its entirety.

Film 

Watching this film, I kept asking myself why would an actor like Liam Neeson want to get involved in this project. It must have been quite a payday. The plot of Clash of the Titans is about as thin as it gets and is just an excuse for some battle sequences and some pretty nifty CGI.

The film’s premise is that Zues and the rest of the Greek gods, are upset that their people are no longer worshiping them and are in fact, in open rebellion against them. This infuriates Zues who created man for the sole purpose of worshiping him and the rest of the gods, thereby somehow increasing their power. In comes Zues’ brother Hades, who is naturally quite upset over Zues’ relegation of him to the underworld.

Playing on Zues’ sensitivity and anger, Hades concocts a plan to force man into dropping their rebellion and return to their worship of the gods. Unbeknownst to Zues, Hades was really using this opportunity to strike back at his brother and wrest control of Olympus from him. Into this family squabble comes Perseus, who is part god and part man, being the son of Zues after he essentially raped the wife of the king of the rebels. Perseus, discovering his true identity, wants no part of divine nature and wants to live his life as a man and wants to strike back at Hades for Hades’ killing of his foster family. Before Hades can complete his plan to crush man, Perseus joins a ban of warriors who journey into forbidden worlds, including the underworld itself, looking for the key to foil Hade’s plot.

While the plot sounds like a good idea, this film spends far too long on battle sequences and fails to delve into the feelings and true nature of both Perseus and the gods themselves. I would have liked to see more of a focus of the gods and their true role of Greek mythology in shaping Greek society and less on CGI. In short, a more thoughtful film. Far too often, CGI is used just for its own sake and as a substitute for a plot. Such is the case in this film. Is Clash of the Titans a terrible film? No, but is one that you will only want to see once and certainly not a film you would want to add to your collection. Therefore, if you must see this film, I would recommend that you do so on the basis of a rental only.

Video 

With the exception of a handful of dimly lit interior shots, the video quality on this release is excellent. The film has a nice natural looking color palettte with excellent skin tone rendition. The film’s locales vary from lush green locations to brown and tan deserts, and volcanic landscapes and are rendered beautifully here. Blacks are deep and stable and together with the high level of detail, produce an image of very nice depth. While this release is not 3D, it is clear where the hokey 3D effects were placed throughout the film and it is also clear why the theatrical 3D release was so poorly received.

While there is a bit of DNR and Edge enhancement visible in the image, they are minimal and not really noticeable on a screen size under 60 inches. Even with the application of some DNR, overall detail is excellent, including facial detail and skin texture, backgrounds, clothing and the like. The only real issue I had with the release were a few interior shots which looked very soft and a bit washed out and flat and having a very processed look. With these minor exceptions, I found this to be a very pleasing transfer. I wish the same could be said for the film.

Audio 

If you are looking for a film with a bombastic soundtrack, Clash of the Titans is the film for you. it will certainly give your subwoofer a workout. The film features excellent overall fidelity and dynamics. The fight sequences with the giant scorpions are true reference material for bass junkies. Not only will your entire room shake, but you may also shake the rest of the house and may have you scrambling for the remote if it feels like your house is about to crash on top of you.

The dialogue track is also well recorded and well placed in the mix, never getting drowned out or obscured by the cacophony of the battle sequences. The only real issue I had with the audio was the sound design itself which I would have preferred to be a little more immersive throughout the film and a little more refined. Don’t get me wrong, the film’s action sequences are certainly very immersive. It is just that I would have preferred the quieter interior sequences to have that same immersive feeling as well. This is a rather small complaint and one which did not impact my viewing experience to any significant degree.

Special Features 

The Blu-ray edition of Clash of the Titans is certainly packed with many extras. The release is a combo pack so it includes a second disc containing a DVD copy of the film as well as a digital copy.

The extras contained on the Blu-ray disc feature deleted scenes and an alternate ending of the film. Also included is a featurette on Sam Worthington entitled “Sam Worthington: An Action Hero for the Ages”.

The best and longest of the extras is what Warners calls maximum Movie Mode which runs concurrent;y with the film where Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and director Louis Leterrier discuss various aspects of the making of the film. As it runs concurrently with the film, you really should watch the film first and then rewatch the film with the Maximum Movie Mode enabled. The only downside to this approach is that it will result in you having to watch the film twice.

The Maximum Movie Mode focuses on a number of areas including Sam Worthington is Perseus, Harnessing the Gods, Zeus: Father of Gods and Men, Enter the World of Hades, Calibos: Te Man Behind the Monster, Tenerife: A Continent on an island, Scorpioch, Actors and their Stunts, Wales: A Beautiful Scarred Landscape, Bringing Medusa to Life and Prepare for Kraken. All in all, the Maximum Movie Mode features more than 40 minutes of PIP commentary.

Final Thoughts 

If you like mindless action adventure film, Clash of the Titans just may be the film for you. For the rest of you, if you must, I would check out Clash of the Titans on the basis of a rental only. All I know is that once was more than enough for me.

One challenge I anticipated with High Anxiety is that certain subjects like murder and suspense do not work well in comedy (like in Have you Heard About the Morgans).  Truly, the only way to make a thriller work with humour is to go way, way, way over the top, much like in the Police Squad series of movies.

However, my pleasant surprise at the quality of To Be Or Not To Be left me with some anticipation that this movie may also surprise me with its wit and charm.

Film

To catch the Hitchcock references, I watched the film with the trivia track on.  And early in the move, it is stated that Mr. Brooks wanted this movie to appeal to all viewers, not just those who were fans of Mr. Hitchcock.  Although this is a noble sentiment, I found the material to be quite uneven; hilarious at times, boring at times, and likely way more interesting if you are a Hitchcock-phile.

The premise of the movie is that Nobel-prize winning psychiatrist Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke (played by Mel Brooks) has been recruited to run the “The Psycho-Neurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous” in Los Angeles.  As we discover early in the film, the previous head psychiatrist passed away under very suspicious cicumstances, apparently related to “big changes” he wanted to make. 

Upon arrival at the Institute, we meet Dr. Montague (played extremely well by Harvey Korman), and the intimidating Nurse Diesel (played well by Cloris Leachman), with both appearing to be up to no good.  Dr. Thorndyke and Dr. Wentworth (Dick Van Patten) represent a threat to what they are doing at the hospital, leading us into the main action of the movie. 

Other characters who appear are Victoria Brisbane (Madeline Kahn) who feels her father is being held against his will at the institute, and Professor Lilloman, a past teacher of Dr. Thorndyke’s.  Ron Carey does a turn as Brophy. Dr. Thorndyke’s chauffer, sidekick, and comedy relief.

As mentioned above, the humor in this film was quite uneven.  Some scenes, like one in the limousine when Dr. Thorndyke arrives is hilarious.  I also laughed so hard my stomach hurt when Drs. Montague and Thorndyke were visiting with a patient that appeared to have been cured of his neck pains and dreams of werewolves. 

However, much of Mel Brooks’ own material fell flat, and I found his line reading to be almost mechanical; this is his worst performance I have seen as an actor.  And although Nurse Diesel was to be played as comic relief, Ms. Leachman does too good a job with her weirdness, making her less funny and more creepy than a comedy would support.  In the featurette included on the Blu-ray, Rudy DeLuca (co-writer and the killer “Braces” in the film) states that Mel’s Sinatra-esque performance of “High Anxiety” was the high point of the movie for many.  For me, this was a low-point, and served as a good divider between the funny set-ups in the first half of the film, and the less funny suspense-tinged latter half of the film.

Harvey Korman’s performance as Dr. Montague deserves plaudits.  In many scenes, he provides the comic relief for the film, and his chemistry with Cloris Leachman is phenomenal.  Korman’s gift for physical comedy makes some average scenes much funnier than they deserved to be.

As a spoof on Hitchcock, the movie was good, with attention to detail in framing shots, shoot locations, and background music.  Unfortunately, to simply spoof others is no way to make a quality movie (see any of the [insert genre here] Movie series), and I believe this adds to the somewhat disjointed feel of the film.  That the suspense did not feel real, and the movie was conflicted between being a comedy and a thriller in its latter half made this movie less entertaining than it could have been.

Video

There has been a real appeal to the visuals in this box set of movies, and High Anxiety meets this high standard.  Appropriately grainy, with a true 70’s look and feel, this movie was watchable, pleasing, and authentic.

Although the picture could be a little soft at times, it was still an excellent presentation, and much better than one normally sees in a 33 year-old movie.  Again, the wizards at Fox have done an excellent job cleaning up a print while retaining its authenticity. 

Audio

In these older films, we expect a lack of dynamic range, a strong front-loading, little LFE information, and muffled dialog.  No surprise, this description fits High Anxiety perfectly.

Surprisingly so, this move seemed even poorer than other movies from this box set.  I cannot recall hearing any use of the surround channels, nor do I remember any rumbles from the LFE channel.  Worst of all, even the score suffers in this presentation, with a shrillness and forwardness in the high midrange that made it very unpleasant.  Generally a poor presentation, and worse that of the similar era Silent Movie.

Special Features

Unlike Silent Movie and To Be or Not to Be, High Anxiety did receive a solo Blu-ray release.  Surprisingly, we find a small feature set on this disc, similar to those released as collection-only releases.  Included are a trivia pop-up track (good for highlighting the Hitchcock parallels), an isolated score track, a medium-length HD featurette on Brooks and Hitchcock, an interactive “anxiety test” to do while the movie is playing, plus trailers for this film and other Mel Brooks films.

Although the main HD featurette is entertaining, I found Mr. Brooks to be less charming in this one than in those included on other discs.  However, it does contain some great shots from classic Hitchcock movies, as well as good anecdotes for a number of actors regarding the production.  The rest is fairly pedestrian fare.

Final Thoughts

I cannot describe myself as a Hitchcock fan; although I enjoyed his movies, they are not something I go out of my way to watch.  This shouldn’t have been an issue for this film, as Mr. Brooks wanted High Anxiety to be enjoyed by non-Hitchcock fans as well.

Unfortunately, despite a very nice video presentation, High Anxiety was simply not consistently funny enough.  Combined with substandard audio and a small batch of special features, this movie deserves only a rent, as the funny scenes (which are really good) will likely not stand up under repeated watchings.  I imagine that a student of Hitchcock would enjoy this film much, much more than the layperson.

Film

Steven Seagal plays John Hatcher, a DEA officer who after accidentally gunning down the naked prostitute that killed his partner (seriously…), realizes he has become what he most despised. He retires from the force and decides to go back home and live with his sister. Obviously, trouble has a way of finding its way back into Hatcher’s life when he gets mixed up in a drug war between the mafia and a Jamaican gang run by a mysterious, possibly magical villain named Screwface (again seriously… I can’t make this up).

Screwface is played deliciously over-the-top by actor Basil Wallace. He’s one of those slightly insane bad guys that even gives his own men the creeps. Although, who could blame them. There is a scene in the movie where Screwface is in the middle of a game of dominos when he receives some upsetting news. He freaks out, flips the table over, rips off one of the table’s legs and proceeds to beat one of his men almost to death with it. And of course, he is believed to have magical powers or something. Who knows? Still, he’s one of the more entertaining bad guys to ever chew scenery around a Steven Seagal movie. I imagine Tommy Lee Jones (Under Siege) and Michael Caine (On Deadly Ground) somewhere giving Wallace a pat on the back. “You’re in the cool club now boy!” one of them would say. I know Marked for Death came out before those other movies, but I can dream it can’t I?

The movie is competently directed by Dwight H. Little, the man behind the camera on movies like Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers and Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home. The guy seems to be able to handle any genre with ease and this movie has a real strong pace. The action scenes are very well choreographed, with Steven Seagal using his aikido techniques to take on as many as six guys at once almost effortlessly. There is a particularly good scene that takes place in a Tiffany’s and involves Hatcher throwing people through numerous glass display cases. As well, the final battle between Hatcher and Screwface literally has to be seen to be believed. (Spoiler Alert!) All I’m going to say is that if you have already turned someone into a blind paraplegic, you don’t also have to throw him down an elevator shaft. (Spoilers end)

Excellent fights scenes, mixed with an interesting Voodoo element and you got yourself Marked for Death, a classic ‘movie for guys who like movies’ complete with a funky reggae soundtrack. Steven Seagal fans already know this movie as one of the better early ones and they won’t be disappointed. It still holds up after all of these years. Although, the problem with bad stunt doubles lately in his movies, now clearly seems to have always been a problem.

As a P.S., it’s funny seeing actor Danny Trejo as a goon Steven Seagal casually beats up and throws into the trunk of his car in an early scene in this movie. Although they would also star in the direct to DVD action flick Urban Justice together, ironically enough, this fall, twenty years after the release of this movie, Steven Seagal would star in his first theatrical release in nine years as a villain in Machete, opposite Danny Trejo as the lead. Hopefully, the magic will strike twice.

Video

Marked for Death’s video is displayed in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 using the AVC MPEG 4 codec. The film is one of those catalogue titles that doesn’t get much care or restoration, but at least the negative is a pretty clean one.

Colours are a bit plain and skin tones are reddish at times. The palette is pretty neutral, which is a staple of early 90’s flicks as well as the indoor scenes have that awesome foggy looked created by actually using a fog machine to fill the set with a hazy smoke to soften the image.

Besides having some dated attributes the film’s video quality isn’t too bad, scenes that are shot in daylight look really great with little to no visible grain and even some of the lower lit indoor scenes are pretty clean. However when we move to the late night scenes, especially during the Jamaican assault the grain is noticeable.

The image is pretty sharp and some scenes really display some great detail, such as the pores and texture of an actor’s face in a close up, but a lot of early 90’s did their best to soften the image, such as the fogging technique. There’s definitely not an issue with an overly soft image, but it would’ve been nice to have a slightly crisper display.

Audio

Marked for Death’s audio comes at us using the DTS-HD Master audio 5.1 mix, but as we’ve learned many times before; having one of the best audio codecs doesn’t mean we’re getting some of the best audio and this film is no exception.

We’re given a pretty straight forward mix with little to no “outside-of-the-box” play. A lot of the sound effects come through the main speaker and the low end frequencies don’t come out that much. A lot of the explosions and crashes that occur barely register, but regardless we get a very clear mix nonetheless.

The dialogue is clean, while staying in the center. The score, which just screams early 90’s action flick, stays in its place and doesn’t overshadow the sound effects. The sound effects themselves are somewhat flat, but do have some pop considering the film is 20 years old. A bit of irony in the mix is that the Jamaican assault near the end of the film uses mostly silenced weapons, so it was interesting to try and critique the sound effects when there were none.

Special Features

Although this is the 20^th anniversary of Marked for Death, we don’t get a single special feature.

Final Thoughts

If you’re into classic mindless action, then look no further than Steven Seagall. The audio and video presentation on this disc makes my old VHS copy look like it had taken a karate chop from Seagall himself; it’s a great presentation for a catalogue release and although it doesn’t stand out as showcase worthy it could’ve been a lot worse.

Film 

Well, not exactly. While When in Rome is far from a classic, it is a nice, cute and warm romantic comedy that is ,at best, fodder for a night at home with your significant other. In other words, the dreaded chick flick. I have seen worse and more even tedious examples of this genre but on the whole, When in Rome does have its moments, just not enough of them to give the film anything other than a tepid recommendation as a rental.

The film stars Kristen Bell as Beth, the curator of the Guggenheim Museum in New York, who shall we say, has been unlucky in love. She is shocked to learn after just coming out of a long romance that her little sister had been swept off her feet after a two week love affair and is getting married in Rome. Beth attends the wedding as the Maid of Honor and meets the groom’s Best Man Nick (Josh Duhamel), a New York reporter. They seem to form an attraction at least Beth does, who begins to think that there may be hope for love for her after all. However, her hopes are dashed when she sees Nick kiss a woman in a red dress and accompany her back into the wedding reception.

Beth confronts the sculpture in a mythical Statute of Love in the piazza outside the location of the wedding and asks her not to be so cruel with her. In the process, she removes 5 coins from the fountain. Unbeknownst to her, when she removes the coins, the men who threw them into the fountain all fell in love with her. When she returns to New York after the wedding, four of the men (played by Danny DeVito, Jon Heder, Will Arnett and Dax Shepard) began to pursue her, much to her chagrin, as does Nick.

By the time she advises her sister in Rome what she had done in the fountain and in turn is advised what effect that would have on the me who threw the coins in the fountain, Beth had already fallen in love with Nick. Beth was now certain that Nick didn’t actually love her and professed his love for her only as a result of a spell, just like the other four men. Beth has to decide whether to return the coins to each of the men, including Nick, and risk never having another man fall in love with her or live a life based on a lie with Nick.

I guess you can figure how it all works out without much trouble which is my biggest complaint with the film. While the film is pleasant enough, it is totally predictable and only mildly humorous. Like I indicated, your typical chick flick. When in Rome is accordingly rated as a rental only.

Video 

I must confess that I was a bit disappointed by the video quality here. While the film has a nice natural if a tad undersaturated color palette, it is a very soft looking film with below average levels of detail, especially facial and background details. Black levels are also less than stellar. As a result, the image on soft and flat looking, lacking the clarity, detail, depth and dimensionality of the better looking films on Blu-ray. Having not seen the film in the theater, I can’t really say for sure whether this is the result of the encoding process. I would guess that it is not the fault of the encode and just how the film was shot. While the film doesn’t look awful, it just lacks the level of detail, sharpness and clarity that I prefer and that looks best on Blu-ray.

Audio 

While I was disappointed with the picture quality on this release, I was pleasantly surprised by the audio, which had a more aggressive implementation of the surrounds than I had expected. While I wouldn’t go so far as to describe the use of the surrounds as aggressive, they were employed often enough to give just a bit of the sense of immersion that I enjoy so much at home. Most chick flicks have a very front heavy sound with most if not all of the sound coming from the front three speakers.

While When in Rome is a tad front heavy as well, the surrounds are engaged just enough to provide you with the ambiance required to make it feel as though you are in a real space with the actors, if only by a smidge. I found the overall fidelity of the recorded sound to be good as well with the musical score sounding the best, with a nice sense of transparency, imaging and depth. All in all, given that When in Rome is a chick flick, the audio was more than acceptable and even a bit of a surprise.

Special Features 

The extras included with this release are fairly predictable and not all that interesting. At least they are presented in high def. The extras include an alternate opening as well as an alternate ending for the film. It is clear that the director made the right choice in not using either of these in the film. In fact, it would have been better if neither had seen the light of day. Also included is the featurette “Crazy Casanovas: Mischief From The Set” which features the obligatory interviews with the cast and director of the film.

Also included is a set of extended scenes that didn’t (for obvious reasons) make the film involving Beth’s strange suitors entitled “Pain With the Suitors”. Also included is a gag reel entitled “Kerplunk”, and a very short untitled featurette where Jon Heder, Danny DeVito, Dax Shepard and Will Arnett are asked about the craziest things they ever did in the name of love. The extras also included two music videos, “Starstrukk” by 3OH!13 featuring Katy Perry and “Stupid Love Letter” by the Friday Night Boys. All in all, the extras are rather forgettable. The release is not BD-LIve enabled and does not include either digital copy of the film or a DVD copy of the film.

Final Thoughts 

You may find yourself looking for a romantic comedy to enjoy at home with your significant other in the not too near future. Go ahead and check out When in Rome but do so on the basis of a rental only.

More importantly, how does this film measure up against the “epics” of today, and how well did this translate to Blu-ray?  Although some films receive a loving restoration (The African Queen), how well would Warner Brothers treat this legendary film?

Film

Based on a novel by Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago follows the life of our eponymous hero as he navigates life in Russia through both World War I and the Russian Revolution. 

Left destitute by the death of his mother, Yuri Zhivago (Omar Sharif in his best role) is taken in by well-to-do friends of the family (the Gromekos).  Trained to be a doctor, yet popular as a published poet, Yuri’s life is ideal, including a predestined marriage to the Gromeko’s daughter (Tonya, played by the lovely and vulnerable Geraldine Chaplin).  However, this idyllic world is torn apart, firstly through World War I (and Yuri’s conscription), followed by his return home to a radically changed Russia.

Yuri’s life is further complicated by him unexpectedly falling in love with a nurse whom he met while serving in the Army.  Lara (played by a beautiful, vulnerable, yet strong Julie Christie) reciprocates these feelings, but their romance remains unconsummated.  In the words of Lara, “Let us do nothing that you will need to lie to Tonya about”.   

The movie itself operates in three main acts; before War and the Revolution in Moscow, after War and the Revolution in Moscow (including escape), and life in the Urals, away from the Revolution.  And although a devoted family man, and still in love with Tonya, Yuri cannot resist the pull of Lara, especially when his family is hiding safely only miles from the town where she lives. 

In his soul a poet, but by trade a Doctor, Yuri Zhivago is one of a type of movie hero that seems to have disappeared from cinema.  He is not a “doer” or a man of action; like most of us in our lives, the world around him changes, and he must do what he can to adapt and survive.  And although he does not overtly fight back against those who would ruin the life he once enjoyed, when challenged, he shares candidly his true feelings about what has happened to Russia, without fear or remorse.  An incurable romantic, a spiritual fatalist, and a flawed man; this best describes Yuri Zhivago.  Yet in his noble bearing, he communicates a dignity that we would all be hard pressed to equal if placed in similar circumstances.

One of the most endearing traits of the movie is how the main characters’ lives intertwine throughout the movie.  Lara’s finace (Pasha) is in the film early as a Bolshevik idealist, in the middle as a ruthless Red leader Strelnikov (during which he has a powerful conversation with Yuri), and at the end (offscreen) as a main motivation for a number of the characters.

Lara herself first appears to Yuri in Moscow as the daughter of a patient he and his guardian visit.  Later on, she appears to him again as a much-needed nurse during a retreat from the World War I front lines.  And lastly, she reappears, living only miles from the old family house where Yuri hides with his guardian and family.

Yuri also has a half-brother, Yevgraf (played with charm, menace, and sincerity by Sir Alec Guiness) who appears in many places in the film.  When needed, he provides the necessary narration to move the story forward, yet he also appears at pivotal moments in Yuri’s life.  Although a member of the Cheka, Yevgraf hides a true and loving soul for his half-brother under his staid and state-centric persona.

Over top of this all, is our Faustian devil, the lawyer Victor Komarovsky (played incredibly well by Rod Steiger).  Through the movie, Komarovsky is a harbinger of nothing but illness to our protagonists, be it through forcing himself on a young Lara while in Moscow, reputedly driving Yuri’s Father into destitution, or threatening and bullying Lara and Yuri in the film’s closing stages.

Although this movie is set during two very pivotal moments in Russian 20^th Century history, the film does not denigrate into historical documentary territory.  Sir David Lean instead captures the essence of what it is to be human, how the heart can override the mind, and shows the both the best and worst sides of human nature.  And to do so would have been impossible without the flawless performances of Sharif, Christie, Chaplin, Guiness, and Steiger. 

It is also easy to understand why Mr. Pasternak’s writings and this film were banned in Russia for many, many years.  Sir David Lean takes a decidedly Western view of Communism; Yuri leaves a vibrant and beautiful Moscow, and return to a filthy, starved, disease-ridden city, full of the most rapacious and petty-minded Communists imaginable.  Humanity seems to have been sucked out of almost every ardent Bolshevik in the movie, never more elequently illustrated as through the character of Pasha/Strelnikov.   

The quality of the film is beyond reproach.  From the beautiful score by Walter Jarre (you’ll be humming “Lara’s Theme” for days), to the sets, costumes, and cinematography (by the legendary Freddie Young), this is truly what a classic epic film is.

For us in our reasonably comfortable North American world, one cannot help feel but a bit of chill when we see how quickly all of the comfort and luxury taken for granted by these characters is ripped away from them.  To me, this is what makes the film most compelling; how would I survive the same things survived by Yuri, his family, and Lara?  Hours after seeing the film, I am still asking myself the same question.

Video

In the words of Alex from A Clockwork Orange, “gorgeousness and gorgeousity”.

This movie is absolutely magnificent.  Sir David Lean knew how to use a camera, how to frame a shot, and how to get the best out of his actors.  Be it lighting placement, shot staging, or using every natural nuance of his actors to convey an emotion, each frame is shot with an exact preciseness.  Wide shots, tight shots, dark shots, light shots – all are done with love and care.  The film itself is also a throwback to the era of true epic pictures from Hollywood; even the sets are fantastic, and are better than virtually anything from that era.

Most importantly, Warner Brothers did an incredibly respectful job with the restoration of this film.  Grain is there (as it should be in a 45 year old film) but is never distracting.  Low light shots are resolved superbly.  Although some of the blacks can tend towards dark gray, there is never swimming grain, macroblocking, or crush.  The movie itself is somewhat sepia-toned, but color is used appropriately with the color red obviously highlighted.

All in all, this is an incredible presentation for a movie released in 1965.  The care used by Sir David Lean in filming the movie allowed the WB restoration team to produce a movie of pure beauty.  Although not perfect, this disc is now the standard by which I will judge the restoration of all classic movies. 

Audio

As is expected, audio simply cannot be restored the same way video can.  If filmed with a mono track with limited dynamics, there is only so much the engineers can do to spatialize sounds, and add top and bottom end to them.

This being stated, the team that worked on Doctor Zhivago deserve the merit star for a top quality effort.  The DTS-MA 5.1 is absolutely incredible for a movie this age, with decent use of the surround channels, and even some LFE information! 

At times the dialog can drop out, and the score can be a bit jarring through the centre channel, something which did having me adjusting the volume more than I prefer to.  This being said, the sound is superb for a 45-year old movie.  

Special Features

Packaged as a “45^th Anniversary Edition Digibook”, this film has every extra a true movie lover could ask for. 

The handsomely bound book contains forty-four glossy full-color heavyweight pages describing a bit about the movie, making a lovely primer for the neophyte (such as myself).  There are also profiles of a number of the main actors in the film, and some candid “behind the scenes” photos.  A great booklet in the opinion of someone who still loves the printed word.

Also included is an all-too-short CD sampler of the soundtrack, which is a real treat for someone who loves 2-channel classical music.  This alone would have been worth 2.5 discs on its own.

However, in the list of more traditional features, we have some that come on the movie’s Blu-ray, with the balance being contained on an accompanying DVD (all in SD unfortunately).

On the Blu-ray we have a commentary track.  And we are fortunate to still have the genteel Omar Sharif with us, as well as Sir David Lean’s widow, Sandra; he obviously told her many stories in the short time they were married.  Although we no longer have Rod Steiger with us (he passed on in 2002), we are fortunate that he did have some commentary recorded for the film (likely for the 2001 DVD release) – even though he is not a part of the initial conversation, he is seamlessly blended into this track.  Be advised that although this is a better commentary than most, it does still represent listening to other people talk over a movie for over three hours.  And as loyal readers know, I am not a big fan of commentaries, though this one held my attention better than most.

Also on the Blu-ray, we have a two-part documentary (480p – bah!) about Doctor Zhivago, most notably in the words of others in the industry.  A very good piece.

On the accompanying DVD, we have what looks to be a rehash of the special features that accompanied the 2001 “Special Edition” DVD release of the film.  If you do not own the DVD, and love “retro” features, this is your disc.  There are number of vintage featurettes, including interviews, a screen test, and various old “presser” type materials.  Plus, this disc includes the excellent 1995 documentary on Doctor Zhivago, narrated by the ever-eloquent Omar Sharif.

In terms of variety, volume, and quality, this is a wonderfully varied set of special features.  Even the lack of high-def supplements is acceptable considering the age of the film. 

Final Thoughts

Honestly, I did find the thought of reviewing this film a bit daunting.  Not only is it legendary, it comes with a hefty runtime, and a hefty set of extras in its 45^th anniversary edition.  Furthermore, I did find the start of the movie to be a bit slow and confusing, though this all resolved itself once the film progressed. 

However, I cannot remember the last time I was so engrossed in a film, especially developing a heightened empathy for our characters.  This is a tribute to Sir David Lean, who truly captured the emotion of his actors for the screen.  From an excellent story, to an excellent script, to tour-de-force acting performances, this is a top notch film. 

That a 45-year old film looks and sounds as good as this does on Blu-ray is a tribute to Warner Brothers; Doctor Zhivago fully deserves a place of honor in any serious movie collection.

Film 

To be as brief as possible, The Illusionist is suspense filmmaking at its finest. Although a bit slower paced that most newer films of this genre, the film pulls you right into the story. In this regard, it is a bit Hitchcockian if you will. It is very subtle in the way it snares you You know that something it afoot. You may even know what. What you don’t know is the how. In this regard, the director of the film, Neil Burger, is a bit like the illusionist in the film, Eisenheim, in that he is able to suspend your belief and pull you into the story, even though you may know better.

Ed Norton, Jr. is cast as Eisenheim and gives a wonderful performance as the illusionist, who while performing in Vienna in the 19th Century before Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell) who is the future head of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, meets up with his long lost childhood sweetheart, Sophia (Jessica Biel) at one of his performances. Sophia just happens to be the fiancee of the Prince who offers her up as a volunteer for one of Eisenheim’s illusions. Eisenheim and Sophia rekindle their long lost romance and Sophia confesses that she wants to escape the clutches of Leopold who is abusive and who wants to depose his father the Emperor and rule the Empire with her at his side.

Eisenheim then concocts an ingenious plan at great personal risk to do just that, keeping one step ahead of the Vienna Chief Inspector Uhl (Paul Giamatti) who is a friend and confidant of Leopold. The film has several wonderful performances. In fact, the entire cast turns in top notch performances. The film features a great script and wonderful direction and was a thrill to experience in high definition. The Illusionist is very highly recommended.

Video 

All things considered, I was quite pleased with the video presentation of The Illusionist on Blu-ray. The film is mostly shot at night or dimly lit interiors, illuminated only by candle light. Not surprisingly, the image during most of the film is fairly soft. However, despite this softness, detail is fairly good, although falling a good deal short of the best looking films on Blu-ray. This is not the result of the encoding process but is just how the film was shot.

Comparing the Blu-ray version of the film with the DVD that is also included with this release, is no contest, with the DVD looking like a muddled mess in comparison. The level of clarity and detail on the Blu-ray encode is miles ahead of that on the DVD. The films’ color palette is rather subdued with the exception of the very end of the film. The rest of the film has a bit of a sepia tone, with skin tones and the image in general having a brown tinge. Fine film grain is also well preserved. I did not detect any obvious examples of digital noise reduction or edge enhancement. This is a fine encode of some difficult material and should please fans of the film.

Audio 

The audio design is rather simplistic being front heavy with sparse use of the surrounds. The surrounds are used to mostly to provide some subtle interior ambiance with the occasional sound effects such as galloping horses. While I was far from impressed with the audio design, I was more than impressed with the audio fidelity here, which is rich, smooth and full and really easy on the ears. The musical score is also presented with excellent fidelity with silky smooth strings, rich and full bass and excellent imaging and transparency. I also found the fidelity of the dialogue track to be just as impressive and proving the sense of real voices in real space which I find to be very appealing. While I would have preferred that the film had a more immersive sound design, the overall fidelity of the sound is so good that I found it easy to overlook the less than sophisticated sound design.

Special Features 

If you are looking for much in the way of extras, this is not the release for you. The Blu-ray disc that is part of this two disc combo pack contains no extras at all. The extras, such as they are, are located on the DVD edition of the film and were also included with the prior DVD release of the film. They consist of a feature audio commentary with writer/director Neil Burger and two featurettes.

The first of the two is “The Making of The Illusionist” consisting of interviews with the four lead actors in the film. The “Jessica Biel on The Illusionist” consists of a very brief interview with Jessica Biel, 99% of which is included in the prior featurette. Both of the featurettes are very short, lasting only a few minutes. I am not really sure why they bothered with the second one.

The extras also include some trailers for other films and are hardly worth a mention. As I noted above, the Blu-ray release of The Illusionist is a two disc combo pack containing a DVD edition of the film which is really the only extra worth considering.

Final Thoughts  

The Illusionist is great film that is well worth your consideration and is very highly recommended. Do yourself a favor and add this release to your collection. You will be glad you did.

Film 

All in all, I found The Book of Eli to be entertaining but not entertaining enough to rate more than a recommendation as a rental. Any film starring Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman (who in this writer’s opinion is one of the world’s finest actors) should be worth a rental and this one surely is.

The film is produced by the Hughes Brothers and stars Denzel Washington as Eli, who is on a 30 year trek across the great expanse of the US that has been turned into a wasteland after some sort of nuclear war. The people who are left after the war seems to be bent on nothing but violence as food and water are scarce. Eli is a bit of a different role for Denzel as he is cast as the righteous, religious warrior, protecting the last known Bible on the whole planet, and is on a mission from God to deliver the book to a mysterious outpost somewhere out west.

Eli’s main protagonist is Carnegie, played by Gary Oldman, who is searching everywhere for a copy of the Bible as he wants to use the words of the Bible to manipulate the people of a town he is trying to build into a his fiefdom and expand, a trick he seems to have learned from watching TV evangelists as a child before the war. He views the Bible not as the Word or God or even a prized religious relic, but a book that will enable him to wield political power and control. Carnegie and his men attempt to track down Eli and take his book which forms the basis of the the main plot of the film.

The idea behind the film is certainly an interesting one and there are several issues in the film that are open to various interpretations. I will not discuss those as it would reveal too much of the plot for those of you who have yet to see the film. There are also several holes in the film’s plot, a couple of which are so big as to be able to drive a truck through them. However, the film does feature two fine performances by the two leads and is certainly worth a look, if only on the basis of a rental. I say as a rental as this is not the type of film I would find myself watching more than once and I reserve my buy recommendations to films I would want to see several times. Experiencing Eli once was enough for me.

Video 

All in all, this is one fine encode. The film itself has a very stylized appearance as the director and producers of the film use color, actually the absence of color, to create a mood and depict their vision of a post apocalyptic America. As a result, most of the film is bathed in nothing but blacks, grays and browns and at times almost appears black and white and at times sepia toned. There are very few instances of any other colors being used in the film. Even the sky appears gray. If you re looking for a bright and colorful film, The Book of Eli is not the film for you.

While the film lacks much in the way of color, it does have excellent levels of detail and clarity, producing an image of excellent depth and three dimensionality. Facial details and background details, such as facial stubble and pockmarks are all clearly visible as are the fine textures of clothing and the rest and dirt covered object strewn all of the landscape of what is left of rural America. The film is free of any obvious digital noise reduction or edge enhancement and looks about as good as the film could possibly look in the home, given the sate of today’s technology. If you are a fan of the film, you will be more than pleased with the quality of the video presentation on this release.

Audio 

I was just as pleased with the audio on this release as I was with the video. The audio, encoded with DTS HD Master Audio, sounds fantastic. It is immediately apparent from the very outset of the film that the surrounds would be used very aggressively throughout the film to produce a very immersive sound field and they are. The overall sound is smooth and open with excellent transparency and imaging and excellent dynamics. Listen to the sound of Eli sharpening his rather long knife. The sound of steel on steel is very realistic sounding. The same is true of the various gunshots and blasts during the film which have the appropriate sense of heft that we have come to expect from action sequences.

Bass response is excellent as well with some deep bass that will shake the walls in your room, especially during some of the music that scores the film. Sound effects are well placed in the sound field and are seamless as the sound moves across the front of the room and then to the side and rear of your seated position. There is one car crash sequence in particular near the end of the film where a vehicle moves from the front of the room off to the left down the side of the room and out to the rear of the room sounding very realistic and is definitely demo material. The dialogue track is also well recorded and well placed in the mix, even during the action sequences. All in all, the audio presentation is top notch and is sure to impress fans of the film.

Special Features 

The Book of Eli is released as a two disc combo back including the Blu-ray version of the film on one disc and a DVD version along with a digital copy of the film on the other. The extras themselves are rather pedestrian but are presented in high definition.

The extras included several deleted scenes along with a featurette “Lost Tales: Chapter 1 (Carnegie’s Story) which is a graphic novel style presentation of BIlly Carnegie’s early life as a boy and illustrates why he views the power of the Bible in the manner that he does in the film itself.

The extras also contain two featurettes on the making of the film entitled “Starting Over” and “Eli’s Journey” with interviews with the producers, director and stars of the film and are both rather standard faire. Also included is another featurette discussing the music composed to score the film. The disc is also equipped with Maximum Movie Mode which features 40 minutes op PIP commentary with the Hughes Brothers as well as Denzel Washington. The release is also BD-Live enabled.

Final Thoughts 

Any film starring both Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman is worth a look and The Book of Eli certainly is, but on the basis of a rental only.

Film 

Invictus is a very moving film directed by Clint Eastwood. While at first glance, the film appears to be about a sporting event, it is about much more, about how one of the true giants of the 20th Century, Nelson Mandela, uses sport to unite a country torn apart by racial strife and build a modern nation.

As the newly elected President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela sees the need to unite the country that has been fractured along racial and economic lines and sees sport as the unifying factor. He uses the pursuit of the Rugby World Cup being staged it so happens in South Africa as the sport and a particular club that was important to the white population of the country and despised by the black population, namely Springbox, as his rallying point. The club were decided underdogs but yet were able to make the final all the while captivating the entire nation, bringing both black and white sections of the population together in a common pursuit and in turn uniting the nation.

The film features two fine performances by Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as the captain of the Springbox team, Francois Pienaar, both of whom earned Oscar nominations for their performances. This is an excellent film featuring fine performances by the entire cast, Clint Eastwood’s usual stellar direction and a fine script. Although set in 1995 in another country, the film’s message is still as relevant today as ever. This is a film that fully deserves your attention and is highly recommended.

Video 

All in all, I was more than pleased with the video encode on this release. As I had seen the film before, I was well aware of how it should look and this encode captures the look of the film in theaters perfectly. The film features a rather de-staturated color palette. While the film is full of greens, reds and yellows, they are not as bold and bright as one would otherwise expect. The colors are intentionally muted to give the film a somewhat stylized look. Skin tomes are rather natural looking although are muted as well. Blacks are deep and solid.

Overall detail is excellent as well with facial, background and shadow detail all looking to be top notch. As a result, the on screen image has an excellent sense of depth and three dimensionality. As one would expect from a new film, the print used for the encode is in pristine condition. The encode is free of any obvious edge enhancement or digital noise reduction. This encode appears to be completely faithful to the look of the film in the theater which is really all that one can ask.

Audio 

I didn’t find the audio in the theater to be a bombastic mix and as with the video presentation, the audio here is faithful to the theatrical presentation of the film. The overall fidelity of the sound is quite good with a nice smooth and open sound with excellent imaging and transparency. With the exception of the rugby action sequences, especially the World Cup matches. the sound is fairly front heavy. It is the rugby action sequences where the audio really shines, with active and aggressive use of the surrounds, placing your right in the stadium the stadium with the crowd watching the action. Other than these action sequences, the audio presentation or should I say the audio design, is rather pedestrian.

Special Features 

Invictus is presented as a two disc combo pack, with the high def presentation on the Blu-ray disc and a second disc containing a DVD as well as a digital copy of the film. While the extras are rather standard fair, I did find them to be interesting and informative. The extras include an interview with Clint Eastwood presented via PIP during the running of the film, where he explains what attracted him to the film and his thoughts concerning the construction of the film.

Also included is a featurette “Mandela Meets Morgan” which provides a behind the scenes look at the making of the film, including meetings between Morgan Freeman, the producers of the film and Nelson Mandela where Mr. Mandela gives his blessing to the selection of Morgan Freeman for the title role. Also included is a featurette entitled “Matt Damon Plays Rugby” which features an interview with Matt Damon as well as Francois Pienaar where they both discuss Matt Damon’s preparation for his performance. Also included is a featurette “The Eastwood Factor” which is a condensed look at an upcoming feature length film chronicling Clint Eastwood’s career at Warner Brothers Studio.

Final Thoughts 

Invictus is a fine film that tells the very important and moving story of Nelson Mandela’s use of sport to united a deeply divided South Africa. The film features two memorable performances by both Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon and is well worth a look. This release is highly recommended.

Film

Martin Scorsese has had his ups and downs as a director, but has really come into a renaissance over the last eight years with Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, and Shutter Island.  Odd as it may sound, I believe Shutter Island is some of the finest work of his career. 

The premise of the film is that a patient has disappeared from their cell in Ashecliff Hospital for the Criminally Insane, located on Shutter Island in Boston Harbour.  Two U.S. Marshalls are sent to investigate the disappearance, where they encounter stonewalling, patient fear, and suspicious actions on the part of the facility’s administrators and guards.  It is difficult to describe the plot much more than this without ruining it for the viewer; suffice it for me to say that the movie constantly has you questioning what is real, and effectively grows the viewer’s paranoia throughout.

Although the story may not be as compelling as some of Scorsese’s legendary movies, the cinematography, scene framing, lighting, and shooting angles are all superb.  His ability to have his actors convey an emotion through an expression as simple as a drawn mouth or raised eyebrow rivals (and in some cases surpasses) Stanley Kubrick.

Furthermore, Scorsese uses every element of filmmaking to make this as superb a movie as possible.  The score creates an ominous feeling; although it can be a bit jarring at times (a la Godard), it is present, heavy, and controls the mood of the movie.  Lighting is used effectively, with warmth on indoor incandescent shots, washed out paleness outdoors, and cold sterility under fluorescents.  The weather even plays a hand in the film, with an ominous storm bearing down on Shutter Island during the stay of the actors.

Even better is that Scorsese gives everything in the film a slight off-kilter feel to it.  Is it safe for U.S. Marshal Teddy (Leonardo DiCaprio) to take aspirin from the head psychologist at the hospital Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley)?  Why do the guards start fingering their weapons when Teddy and his partner Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) arrive on the island?  What is with the insane patient who makes a whispering sign to Teddy when they arrive at the facility?  For the person who pays close attention to the little actions of all characters in the movie, Scorsese orchestrates them grandly, and they all make sense by the end of the film.  Nothing is not done for a purpose..

The work of the main actors in this film also cannot be understated.  Leonardo DiCaprio is superb as Marshall Teddy Daniels; he presents a complex and nuanced character with extreme sensitivity, and allows him to be peeled back, layer-by-layer.  Ben Kingsley manages to wrap compassion, sincerity, and sinister into a nattily-dressed, well-educated package.  Even the supporting cast is superb, stepping in when needed to move the plot along, but never detracting from the interaction of the leads.

As someone who likes to predict what will happen in a film, I was pleasantly surprised by the end of the movie.  Although Scorsese could have left the viewer with doubt and ambiguity, he chose instead to end the movie cleanly, something I am very pleased with.

Regardless, this movie is a true example of a film-maker in full control of their craft, and is one of the best films made in the past few years.  Highly recommended.    

Video

I cannot fault any part of the visual presentation of this film.  Although it is not at the level of my current video reference disc (Star Trek), it is superb.  In fact, the natural grain, softness, and texture of the movie made me feel like I was in the world’s best movie theatre watching a film.

It is really impossible for me to flaw any part of the movie.  Even very dark scenes were free of noise, grain, and crush, and the amount of grain and texture was always appropriate for the type of lighting.  An absolutely superb video presentation.

Audio

This is how lossless audio was to be.  Eerie noises leaking into the sound field from the background.  Punishing score coming from the entire front wall of speakers, followed by a clean and quick shift to the centre channel for dialog.  The room shaking as storm-driven waves crash themselves against the rocky cliffs of Shutter Island.  Excellent dynamic range.

However, this is not a perfect audio presentation.  At one important juncture in the movie, the actors speak in whispers, making them unintelligible.  There was some jarring audio transitions (deliberately done by Scorsese, I believe).  If you’re watching this when the kids are in bed, you may want to put your AVR’s “night” mode on.

Despite my small niggles, this was a very, very good audio presentation.

Special Features

It is disappointing that the level of special features on non-Special Edition Blu-ray discs seems to be on a downward slide.  Shutter Island is no exception to this trend, as it contains only two small featurettes (though both are in HD).

Behind the Shutters goes behind the scenes with the cast, crew, and author of Shutter Island while the slightly longer Into the Lighthouse focuses more on psychology and psychiatric care, and how it was incorporated into the film.  Together, these clock in at just under 40 minutes.

Although I am not a huge proponent of commentary tracks, this is one movie I would not have minded watching again, simply to hear DiCaprio, Kingsley, and Scorsese discuss their work.  However, maybe this is for the better; who would have wanted to hear an artist like Rembrandt discuss his brushstrokes as he paints a picture?  Sometimes it is just better to sit back and appreciate the art for what it is.   

Final Thoughts

There is a certain portion of the population that appreciates fine craftsmanship.  Be it through purchasing old antiques, or a fondness for watches or shoes, these people can tell when looking at something how well it is made, regardless of its price.  Movie viewers are much the same way.  We can recognize when we are seeing fine craftsmanship; it is reflected in every frame, every action, every sound regardless of a film’s genre, budget, or hype. 

In the case of Shutter Island, it is the product of a master craftsman who skills and refinement have only improved with age.  This is apparent from the first frame of the film to the last, and shines through in a near-perfect Blu-ray transfer.  Shutter Island would make a worthy addition to the permanent collection of any true movie fan.