Film 

Unthinkable does raise the difficult question of what lengths one will go to to prevent the detonation of a nuclear bomb in a major US city. The film stars the amazing Michael Sheen as Steven Arthur Younger, a former nuclear arms specialist for the US military who converts to Islam and steals enough nuclear fuel to fabricate three nuclear bombs which he has hidden in three US cities. He films a video with his threatens to detonate the bombs in the event that certain unknown demands are met. Younger then allows himself to be captured in a Phoenix mall and is immediately transfered to a secret location (a school somewhere in Los Angeles) where he is the subject of torture conducted by a mysterious man called H (Samuel Jackson).

The FBI is brought in the try to help locate the bomb and agent Helen Brody (Carrie-Anne Moss) is asked to assist H in his interrogation of Mr. Younger. She is distressed with the terror tactics and tries to stop them arguing that they are not only illegal but ineffective. While others in the room may share the same view as Agent Brody initially, they soon begin to go along with the torture either actively or by failing to intervene as the deadline for the detonation of the bombs approaches.

As H escalates the torture techniques to break Younger, the question is asked to what lengths will even the most moral amongst us go when pushed to the limit. The film certainly has a political point of view and we are whacked with it repeatedly. How you will react to that will certainly depend on your point of view.

While the film does have a provocative point to make, I was disappointed with the execution of the narrative. Too much time was spent on the torture activities and not enough time spent on the motivations of the main characters. I would liked to have learned more about H and his history. We certainly learn a bit about his wife but nothing about him. The same goes for Younger. We never really learn the motivations for his actions other than his conversion to Islam. We know next to nothing about agent Brody.

There is a kernel of a good film here and with a more fleshed out script, especially character development, we really may have had something here. Given the shortcomings of the film, the only recommendation I can give is that of a rental.

Video 

Not surprisingly, given the subject matter of the film, this is not exactly a bright and colorful film. The film has a rather muted color palette with an emphasis on blacks, grays and browns. The skin tones are all on the brown side. On the plus side, blacks are deep and fairly stable. I also found detail, such as facial detail, fabric textures and backgrounds such as walls and floors to be excellent.

Overall clarity as well as shadow detail is very good as well. I was not able to detect any significant use of digital noise reduction and the print is in excellent shape. If you are looking for a bright and colorful film, Unthinkable is not the film for you. However, given the nature of the subject matter, I found the color choices to be appropriate and the encoding used the master the film for this release quite good.

Audio 

I was a bit surprised to find the film’s sound design to be so front heavy. While the surrounds are used occasionally to provide a sense of room ambiance, I wished that they would have been used more often to create a sense that you were in the room with the actors. Most of the film takes place in the school’s gym which one would think would have quite a reverberant acoustic but that rarely came through during the film. A better use of the surrounds would also have heightened the sense of suspense. When the surrounds did kick in, they were used effectively with some solid bass effects, as evidenced during the film’s score (which sounds quite nice) as well as a scene with a helicopter near the end of the film.

The overall fidelity of the sound was very good hence the 4 star score. I just wish that better use was made of the surrounds to create a more immersive sound and a sense of suspense that was sorely lacking in the film’s sound design.

Special Features 

The score for the extras is so low as there really aren’t any other than an audio commentary with director Gregor Jordan. While the commentary has its moments, one would expect some additional extras for a Blu-ray release. The release contains two versions of the film, the original cut as well as an extended cut with some additional footage and an alternate ending. I guess you could consider the extended cut of the film an extra. I don’t. The release does include movieIQ+sync where facts and trivia can be accessed during the running of the film. Why you would want to is beyond me.

Final Thoughts 

While Unthinkable has an interesting premise, the film’s script lacks the character development necessary to pull you into the narrative. With a bit of character development, we could have had a really fine film here given the cast. As it is, we are left with a moderately interesting film which is worth at best a recommendation as a rental.

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 

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

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.

Film 

Edge of Darkness is based on a BBC miniseries of the same name. The film stars Mel Gibson as Boston police detective Thomas Craven whose 21 year old daughter is murdered on his front stoop right before his eyes. It is initially assumed that he was the target of the killing. However, as Thomas begins to look into the murder, he quickly learns that it was his daughter and not him that was the intended target.

He learns of his daughters’ employment at a government arms contractor, Northmoor and he possible role in allowing some activists entry in their Massachusetts facility to expose some unlawful activities. He quickly comes to the attention of those who don’t want activities exposed and who happen to be very influential corporate and political types, who will go to any lengths to see their secrets remain just that.

I found the film to be a bit slow paced and rather predictable. It does take long to figure out who the bad guys really are and what will happen to them as well as the ultimate fate of Thomas Craven. While the film does have a couple of moments and an interesting premise, the film just didn’t have the pace and building tension that one would expect with a great thriller being just too predictable to carry much in the way of suspense. For those of you anxious to catch Mel Gibson again on the big screen, by all means, give Edge of Darkness a look. However, I would recommend that you do so on the basis of a rental only.

Video 

All in all, this is a fine looking encode. The film boasts excellent levels of detail and deep and stable blacks. Skin textures and fine background details are well delineated. Shadow detail is excellent as well. However, the film has a rather muted color palette and a dark and gritty look, in keeping with the overall mood of the film. While there are instances of splashes of bright sun light during the film, it is a darker and muted looking film, with little if any what I would call bright and bold colors.

I was not able to detect any evidence of encoding abnormalities or the application of any significant levels of digital noise reduction or edge enhancement. Digital noise was kept at a minimum, even during very dark sequences. As one would expect from a new film, the print used for the encode is in pristine condition with no dirt or scratches visible.

Audio 

As is the norm these days of just about all lossless audio codecs and DTS HD Master Audio in particular, the fidelity of the sound on Edge of Darkness is excellent, having smoothness, depth and transparency that is leaps and bounds ahead off the older lossy codecs. The dialogue track is also beautifully recorded and rendered here and is well placed in the mix.

The only real issue I had with the sound is the sound design, which was a bit too front heavy for my taste, especially for a thriller. While the surrounds are active throughout the entire film, they remain too low for long stretches of the film. When they do kick in, such as the fight and gun sequences as well as an accident sequence, they are used beautifully with excellent overall transparency and imaging and deep bass. The film score also sounds great which is a natural by product of the superb fidelity only made possible by the new lossless codecs. Overall, Edge of Darkness presents the listener with a solid audio presentation but lacks the total immersive sounding experience that is the hallmark of the very top sounding films.

Special Features 

Much like the film itself, the extras presented on this release are rather predictable and rather standard fare. The extras included a set of deleted and extended scenes as well as a set of 9 featurettes detailing the making of the film. The featurettes are grouped together under the heading Focus Points and touch on topics such as Mel Gibson’s return to acting, the scoring of the film, a look at the original BBC mini series, adapting the mini series to the big screen, a profile of director martin Campbell and a look at Thomas Craven’s war of attrition. The release is also BD-Live enabled and is a two disc set, with the second disc containing a digital copy of the film as well as a DVD version of the film.

Final Thoughts 

While Edge of Darkness has its moments, it is a rather predictable and formulaic action thriller and is recommended as a rental only.

In many ways, I believe this is why I and many others overlooked this movie during its original release in 2002.  As a viewing audience, I believe we had hit our “Harrison Ford” and “Tom Clancy” saturation point by 2002, and a quick glace at the movie poster or DVD cover gave little indication that it was anything other than another movie of this genre.  That the movie had such a poor title likely didn’t add to its appeal, and it was ultimately a financial mess, failing to recoup its $100 million production budget.

However, with director Kathryn Bigelow winning the Best Director Academy Award for The Hurt Locker, it was inevitable that this film would receive the Blu-ray treatment. And reading the box and discovering that this movie was actually based around a true story of Soviet heroism in the 1960’s made me disappointed that I had not given this movie an opportunity in 2002.       

Film

As a film viewer, I do have a soft spot for those in the military.  Some of my family served in World War II, and I have always admired the brave souls who are willing to sacrifice their lives for a greater ideal than self.  This can also apply to those on the other side of the Cold War; those who themselves had a way of life and families that they loved and wanted to protect. 

To truly enjoy this move, this is the mindset one must adopt: these are not the evil Soviets, instead they are soldiers and seaman, doing their duty for their families and country, and acting as honorably as they can under the circumstances.  And in today’s world of uncertainty and threats from virtually anywhere, one can almost remember the Cold War fondly; although the Soviets were our enemy, they agreed to the rules of engagement, and we knew who they were.

This aside, the movie is a very (very) loose adaptation of the true history of submarine K-19, the first Soviet nuclear-powered sub which was capable of launching ICBMs to attack cities on the U.S. Eastern seaboard.  Rushed into service for political reasons, we are warned early in the movie that Soviet build quality is not very good.  Couple this with a nuclear reactor, and a nickname “The Widowmaker (earned by the untimely deaths of workers and crew during its build), and we can easily see where the plot will be going. 

Much of the movie centres on the interaction of Capt. Vostrikov (Ford) and Capt. Polenin (Liam Neeson).  Captain Polenin was the commanding officer of the boat, but was replaced before its maiden voyage by Captain Vostrikov, due to authorities stating that “Captain Polenin was putting his life and the lives of his crew before the Party.”  Whereas Captain Polenin is a kind-hearted officer who treats his crew like family, Captain Vostrikov is a hard task master who drives the crew through incessant drills, and questionable or dangerous manoeuvers.

The two officers are played nicely against each other, all against the backdrop of an increasingly tense crew in a very claustrophobic setting.  And we know that it is only a matter of time before the third main character (the nuclear reactor) rears its head and impresses its will upon the crew.

For a war-type movie, this film is surprising devoid of action.  Only emergency measures being taken on the submarine have a kinetic pace – this is much more of a verbally-driven suspense film.  The enemy itself is also invisible as radiation does not possess guns, subs, or tanks; instead we only see its effect on the crew.

Director Bigelow does an excellent job conveying the feel of being on a submarine, through the darkness that tinges the edges of every indoor shot and the cramped and claustrophobic set design.  The lead actors are also superb in their interplay with each other, and each effectively represents one side of the duality that exists in every commanding officer.

Where the film falls short is in its pacing.  At 138 minutes it is far too overlong, and does tend to drag in the middle.  Time could have saved in the development of the secondary characters; this is illustrated by the sympathy we feel for Chief (an heroic but undeveloped tertiary character) compared to what we feel for the developed character of Vadim (Peter Sarsgaard).

Overall, this is quite a substantial movie, well-acted, and authentically filmed.  Is it a great movie?  No, but it is much better than a lot of movies I’ve seen recently (yes, I’m looking at you, Paul Blart).  In hidsight, one has to wonder if something as simple as a different title (and a poster with a sub, radiation symbol and a hammer and sickle) could have improved this film’s fortunes.   Oddly enough, the nickname “The Widowmaker” was never applied to the real K-19; its actual nickname was “Hiroshima”, applied after its nuclear accident.     

Video

In watching the film, I am forced to wonder if Paramount rushed out this release to take advantage of Ms. Bigelow’s current ascendancy.  The video quality is surprisingly soft for a movie released in the 2000’s, with excessive grain appearing in many of the submarine’s indoor shots.

On outdoor shots, black tones have little detail, with an excessive level of contrast.  Indoor shots have a soft, almost yellowish tone, with excessive contrast again reducing the black detail.  In one scene of Harrison Ford on the bridge, there is actually very noticeable and distracting noise speckling on his cheeks.

Although this movie offers decent visuals, it appears to have not had any additional clean up for its Blu-ray release.  Overall, it falls short of my expectations for a Blu-ray from this era.

Audio

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio presentation of this movie was much better than the visuals.  Like most “talky” thrillers, it was quite front loaded, though a close listen showed excellent use of ambient sounds to replicate the submarine’s environment.  In fact, I believe that these sounds subconsciously add to the feeling of claustrophobia experienced by the viewer.

When the LFE channel kicks in, it is rather startling, as it is used very judiciously throughout the movie.  However, the dynamic range was well mixed, and its use should not have you reaching for the remote.  Speech levels through the centre channel were also mixed well.

Special Features

As a military buff, I can honestly acknowledge that I have likely over-rated the special features on this disc.  Despite being in SD, I loved the featurette “The Making of K-19: The Widowmaker” which was 20 minutes of the true story behind the movie, the logistics of the filming, the refurbishment of an actual decrepit Soviet sub for the filming, and bits of information from the cast.

Other extras are not quite so grand, including a middle-of-the-road commentary track, a short featurette on makeup used (including the radiation burns, something that gives me the heebie-jeebies), a short featurette on the K-19 breaking through ice (which was a poor effect, by the way), the trailer, and an eleven minute feature on attempts to make the move as authentic as possible.  The latter three featurettes and the commentary appear to be hold overs from the 2002 DVD release.

Final Thoughts

As a fan of military-themed movies, I am comfortable in stating that K-19: The Widowmaker is still an enjoyable movie.  Tense, claustrophobic, well acted, and compelling, it is both entertaining, and a reminder of a Cold War that has disappeared surprisingly quickly in our rearview mirrors.

Unfortunately, the movie could have been served better in its Blu-ray release with a cleaner video transfer and a few new bonus features.  For owners of the DVD, there is not a great incentive to upgrade to the Blu-ray.  For others, this movie is at least worth a rent.

Film

David Caruso’s film career is an awesome story and I always loved involving Jade in the microcosm when I dissect it. Caruso used to play a cop on TV, not CSI: Miami, but rather NYPD Blue. When the ratings for the show were huge and reviews praised Caruso, he did what everyone would’ve done… Quit.

Caruso figured his star had risen and that the TV screen was no place to limit his possibilities, so he went to the silver screen arena to try and see if he could make it. Unfortunately, Caruso couldn’t establish a himself as leading man. ‘Kiss of Death’, a Nicholas Cage film, and Jade both flopped at the box office and Jade was critically blasted.

So in a nutshell, this is the film that nearly killed Caruso’s career… The same man who was on TV Guide’s “Stars to Watch” in 93-94, a mere year before Jade’s release. Let’s take a closer look at the film.

Jade is a murder mystery in which a D.A. is put in a conflicting situation when the suspect to a murder he’s investigating is an old girlfriend of his. The plot thickens when incriminating photographs of a politician turn up in the victim’s safe.

The main selling point of the film is the car chase, which once you’ve seen a semi transform into a robot and smash into a bus… It better be spectacular. Now you might think that’s an unfair comparison because Jade came out at a time where chase scenes couldn’t be made “awesomer” (it’s a word that I made up) using CGI. But when you compare the car chase to something like The French Connection’s chase, which came out in the 70’s, Jade seems more dated and lame… I’m not even sure how that’s possible.

Overall the acting and plot are fairly dull and jaded (pun intended), notably David Caruso, which if you’ve ever seen ’40 Year Old Virgin’ when Steve Carrel impersonates his character to hit on a chick, then you’ll know exactly how stiff this guy can be. The film is simply another 90’s cookie cutter studio regurgitation that almost borders on being campy, but instead of it’s being amusing or entertaining due to its silliness, it’s just boring and long winded. The score of the film is pretty interesting however, and I found myself enjoying the audio delivery of it more so then the rest of the film, but even the score felt dated. It’s not necessarily as dated as the saxophones in Lethal Weapon, but it’s still a far cry from the timeless pieces of films that are three times this film’s age.

Video

Jade’s video transfer uses the AVC-encoded 1080p codec and is displayed in 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The video quality is pretty lackluster when compared to the awesome catalog titles that have recently gotten a Blu-ray release. The film looks rather hazy, which always brings to mind the 90’s film trick of fogging the set to add production value, but in the end we’re given a soft image.

The colors are a bit muted and the black levels tend to turn grey at times, not to mention occasionally artefacting and grain issues. The detail and skin tones are decent but when you add all of other issues to it, the quality is pretty poor.

Audio

Jade’s audio comes at us using the DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track codec and is as underwhelming as the video quality. I found the overall mix to be unbalanced at times, the dialogue has some emphasis on which is great considering the film is a drama, but I felt the overall tone of the film was kind of weak.  The surrounds barely get used besides during the car chase scene, which as I mentioned before seems to be the only selling point to this movie and even the mix during the chase didn’t feel dynamic.

Special Features

Alas the cherry on top of the poorly made cake is that the only special feature on this release is a SD version of the trailer. Even the VHS copy had the advantage by including the Unrated cut of the film, but that might’ve been a bad thing if that cut was longer.

Final Thoughts

Simply avoid the film unless you’re looking for a laugh. Even the filmmakers have wiped their hands of this flop. With dull video and audio quality and a lame story, this film is better left in Lionsgate vault rather than on your movie shelf.

As a father myself, I was concerned that this would be one of those movies that would scar me in some way, indelibly marking my memory with horrible scenes that I would never forget.  At least this apprehension was tempered with the thought of seeing a controversial movie, and having the luxury of deciding on its merits for myself.

Film

A good question is, “Who thinks the fictionalization of the murder/rape of a 14-year old girl is a source of entertainment?”  I had to ask myself this when reading the packaging of the movie before watching it.

Personally, I think there is way too much crime and death on TV and in movies these days.  One only has to look at the plethora of Law & Order or CSI shows, or others such as Bones or Cold Case to get their fill of human depravity.

This is not to say that there are not a lot of fictionalized movies that do deal in death that are not good.  But the best of these use death or violence at a micro level to offer a commentary on our larger society as a whole, or report an historic event in human history.  Examples are American History X (racism), Schindler’s List (Nazism, World War II, and anti-Semitism), Three Kings (The Gulf War, global economics and oil), and Apocalypse Now, Platoon, and Full Metal Jacket (Vietnam, and the morality of war).  Documentaries also serve this purpose well (Shake Hands with the Devil, Darwin’s Nightmare), showing the story behind the story with intent to inform, not to entertain.

Compared to the movies listed above, The Lovely Bones is lightweight fare indeed.

On the positive side, the casting is superb.  Saorise Ronan is exceptionally good as our victim Susie Salmon, with expressive blue eyes, and an ability to convey emotion through facial expression.  The way she plays Susie is genuine, with a true veneer of authenticity.  If the industry does not ruin or mis-package her, she has all the makings of a young Meryl Streep.

The remaining cast is also very good, with the lovely Rachel Weisz playing Susie’s mother, and the genuinely creepy Stanley Tucci playing Susie’s murderer.  Even Mark Wahlberg puts in a performance that feels sincere and genuine as Susie’s father.

However, this movie is weakened by many factors.  The premise is horrible to begin with, we learn that being dead is actually pretty cool, we learn that we can still get involved in life even when we’re dead, pre-heaven and heaven are okey-dokey, and justice comes to all, no matter how improbable it may be.

And despite the excellent cast, Susie is a much better character when alive, and the rest of the cast (with the exception of her sister) are less likeable once Susie is dead.

Although I have admired Peter Jackson’s work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong, his fantastical approach to other worlds and CGI is just a poor fit in this movie.  If I was going to Heaven (or pre-heaven) for that matter, I’d like it to look a whole lot better than I saw here.  And some of the symbolism used (see “ships in bottle on beach”) suggests Mr. Jackson’s talents for over-the-top heavy-handedness work better in the realms of fantasy.

This is the rare movie that can be described in one word: distasteful.  A bad premise, poor direction, poor execution, and an inability to emotionally connect with the viewer consign this movie to its rating.    

Video

Despite the film’s general cruddiness, it had a distinctive and pleasant appearance to it.  Scenes that needed to be washed of color appear almost black and white.  Scenes with color literally pop from the screen.  Lighting was also used effectively, especially when alternate light sources were used – sunlight popped colors, candlelight added warmth and richness to what it hit.

There was an obvious decision made during or post production to solarize the colors in quite a few of the scenes.  Although this can be striking (as when done on tight shots of Susie’s face and expressive blue eyes), it is somewhat overdone, and detracts from the detail in the scenes.  Some of the CGI effects were also strange (to say the least), and detracted from the overall appearance of the movie.  Gripes like these are small, but keep the disc short of being considered reference material.

Grain was also nice through out the movie, present where it should be, but not excessive, especially in many of the numerous low-light shots in the film.     

Audio

The audio presentation of this movie was also well done.  Dynamic levels through the centre channel were very good, and the mixing of male and female voices (both adult and child) was excellent.

Surround channels were used judiciously, with appropriate information coming through them, in a properly mixed, non-distracting way.  Atmospheric sounds and music were appropriately enveloping.

In some of the more dramatic scenes there was a bit of an overload to the LFE and front channels, making this movie a good candidate for dynamic compression (or night mode) on your AVR if the kids are sleeping.

Special Features

As a movie reviewer, one of the worst jobs I have is to review the special features after watching a movie that leaves me with such a feeling of distaste.  However, the feature package provided on a second Blu-ray is excellent material for those who appreciate the art of film making.

The first special feature is a short introduction by Peter Jackson, where he discusses the shooting schedule.  This is then expounded upon through three features (all under the title of “Filming The Lovely Bones”) that show the shooting done in New Zealand, the shooting done in the US, and the special effects filming. In total, this provides almost three hours of behind-the-scenes of film making, all in HD.  This is a very high quality special feature.

What was missing was a commentary track (though I would have found it challenging to sit through the movie a second time), and deleted or alternate scenes (my favourite feature).  There was also really nothing for a non-film making buff, such as an interview with cast members, or an interview with the book’s author.

Depending on the viewer’s interest in film making, this special features set could be scored as either a 5 or a 0.

Final Thoughts

I believe it is fairly clear that this movie will not make it to my “Top 10 Blu-ray of the year” list.  In fact, this is a movie that has a high likelihood of never being watched again.

Sadly, I cannot come up with a single reason that I would recommend someone watch this Blu-ray.  Despite the excellent picture and audio, this is a poorly visualized film based on an extremely distasteful premise.  Support for this type of movie only means that we will be subjected to more equally distasteful fare in future years.

Film 

Alfred Hitchcock gets a lot of credit for this film, which is well deserved for the great direction, however the unsung hero is the screenwriter, Ernest Lehman. Everything from the overall plot to the dialogue are well crafted. The fact that such a great script was helmed by a talented and influential director is what really makes the film astonishing, for a script is only as good as how it’s directed.

Before the movie starts were treated with some really amazing and artfully done opening credits, this is obviously way before visual graphics and thus making it even more impressive.We’re then thrown into a classic “you’ve got the wrong guy” caper, which combines a great performance by Cary Grant and some of the best chases from the 50′s.

The film weds elements of humour and suspense so well, there are few gags in the film (such as the taxi cab stealing in front of the hotel) that almost feel like we’re watching a slapstick comedy, but they’re quickly followed up with these great scenes of subtle thrills that really keep you at the edge of your seat in a way that only Hitchcock could do.

A great side-not e about the film is that Hitchcock had to use some modern guerrilla filmmaking approaches to get a shot of the U.N. building, which was off-limits to filmmakers at the time. Hitchcock had to hide a camera in a taxi cab in order to get the shots, which really goes to show the tenacity and will of one of Hollywood’s greatest directors.

It’s hard to review a Hitchcock film and it’s almost better to see them for yourself with no preconceived notions towards what you think they’ll be like. Hitchcock’s films are from another galaxy when compared to movies made today, his psychological approach to the medium is one of the factors that sets him apart from the directors today; whether it’s his surreal cinematography to the connotative meaning behind his shots (train entering the tunnel comes to mind), he’s a rare breed of director that really knows how to make a well-rounded film and North by Northwest is a prime example of such.

Video 

North by Northwest is brought to us in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and uses the 1080p/VC-1 codec. The quality within this new restoration is nothing short of amazing. When dealing with 50 year old film you wouldn’t expect such a vibrant and clear picture.

It’s definitely a great to see a classic film get the restorative treatment it deserves and everything from the contrast to the colour are treated perfectly. The colours throughout are vivid and should be for it has been said they took a black & white master over the colour master due to fading and recoloured the film using filters; painstaking and expensive… but overall worth every penny for this is one is a great transfer!

Audio 

The audio is definitely a come-down from the great quality of the video. Coming at us in TrueHD 5.1 in English and unfortunately only MONO for French, Spanish, German, Italian & Portuguese. There are subtitles for all the languages above as well as Danish, Swedish, Finnish, & Norwegian. Make note of that due to the low decibel mix of the film, might make a lot of us reach for the subtitles function to actually make out what everyone is saying.

The score and foley comes through louder than everything else, which is bitter sweet . The sound is very clear but when compared to the quiet dialogue there’s a lot of those surprise noise jumps in overall level.

The film is definitely not meant to push the limits of our sound systems so I forgive the mixing issues, however for the diehard fans there is a significant difference between the video quality and audio quality.

Special Features  

Ranging from a great commentary track to a series of documentaries and featurettes that covers both the making of the film and another which covers Hitchcock and his directing style; the collection of special features is definitely expansive for a film that wasn’t a part of a time where behind-the-scenes was remotely as important as it is nowadays in the consumer purchase. However that being said, the special features are all presented in SD .

The commentary track with Ernest Lehman stands out as my favourite, but there are some great informative documentaries that really were insightful and gave me some backstory about a film that, although it’s classic status, I didn’t know much about.

If you’re not picky about the fact there are no HD extras, then this is probably the definitive North by Northwest collection.

Final Thoughts 

The film is a classic and it’s definitely one of those essentials that should be in a film buff’s collection. There are many other great Hitchcock films that may be a higher priority, but for the quality transfer and the great wealth of special features, it’s definitely worth a rental for an evening of cinematic history and a display of Hollywood at it’s best.

Film

Lionsgate’s 1987 mystery-horror Angel Heart, starring Mickey Rourke is one of those films that tries very hard to be serious, but just ends up being silly. With Special Guest Appearance by Robert De Niro I want to make special note of the fact that he isn’t a main character, even though the cover seems to highlight him.

Mickey Rourke plays Harry Angel, a Private Investigator, hired by De Niro’s character Louis Cyphre (clever right?) to track down a missing man that Cyphre urgently wants to find. Angel’s journey through New Orleans definitely has a great atmosphere and mood, that is enhanced by the interesting cinematography and of course the Blu-ray transfer. However, the predictability of the story cuts down on my rating for this movie overall. The film noir look to the film is recreated well, with great lightning and attention to small details (hint: watch the fans).

Angel Heart does however have some very interesting performances, Mickey Rourke stands out amongst the rest giving a very authentic performance with good range and De Niro, albeit short, gives a very eccentric performance coming dangerously to the point where it’s laughable, but still entertaining.

The score of the film is very reminiscent of the 80′s, saxophone enthusiasts rejoice, however when the score is replaced with the blues bands in the bars and the music on the radios, everything begins to adhere to the Louisiana theme.

Overall the film is well thought out, it’s efforts make it one of the more enjoyable mysteries from the 80′s, however at times the film is predictable and over-the-top.

Video

Lionsgate has surprised me in the past with its high quality Blu-ray transfers and Angel Heart is no exception. In 16:9 and utilizing MPEG-4 AVC codec the video quality is very good. There’s little to no grain and the blacks are a dark and true.

The colour palette is very fitting with the atmosphere and only in the rainy shots does it seem washed out.

There isn’t much else to say, the film looks very good. Lionsgate knocks another out of the park.

Audio

Angel Heart‘s audio is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD and French 2.0 Dolby Digital, there’s also English and Spanish subtitles for the hearing impaired.

Most of the time the movie has a decent mix, there are times when I found the score to be a little jarring due to the fact it was so loud… I kept adjusting the volume going from loud saxophone music and piano clanging to almost whisper quiet dialogue. As the movie went on the mix seemed to get better, or I just got used to it.

Special Features

In detail the Special Features are:

• Introduction & Audio Commentary with Director Alan Parker
• Interview & Selected Scene Commentary with Mickey Rourke (they couldn’t get him to do a full commentary?)
• Theatrical Trailer
• Featuette on Voodoo

To start things off, Lionsgate has, at times, given the bare minimum of special features which really reduces the blu-ray’s appeal to own over renting. For example a commentary with Director Alan Parker, it was one of the better and more insightful commentaries I’ve listen to… it captured my attention and was funny at times, especially when you find out Parker was afraid of De Niro’s performance.

On its own the commentary is a good listen, but when it’s paired with some pretty sparse company such as a featurette on voodoo, which really felt out of place, then the blu-ray goes back into the rental category. As for the featurette, there are voodoo elements in the film but they’re more off to the side whereas satanic ritual is almost in the forefront… it felt like filler and didn’t seem worth the time.

Then comes Mickey Rourke’s selected commentary, which I was pumped for… however as it was a selected commentary, I almost felt like they couldn’t hire him to do a full commentary.

Final Thoughts

With all things considered, the film isn’t a bad watch. For those who like neo-noir films, then you’ll be impressed with the atmosphere and cinematography, but for the mystery lovers, you’ll probably figure out what’s going on 15 minutes in.

Although the film has a great transfer and looks really good on a projector the limited amount of special features and plot predictability makes Angel Heart a good contender for a week-end rental.