Review by Leonard Norwitz -
Gary Tooze's comments in
green,
red
and
yellow!
Studio:
Theatrical:
Ithaca Pictures/Little Bear Productions
Video:
Image Entertainment (US) vs.
High Fliers (UK) vs.
TF1 Video
vs.
DFW
Disc:
Image Entertainment is Region "A"-locked
TF1
and High Fliers are Region 'B'-locked
but
DFW is region FREE!
(as verified by the
Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)
Runtime: 1:42:20.300 /
1:42:15.000 /
1:57:04.833 /
1:57:12.025
Disc Size:
18,767,491,084 bytes /
19,582,970,085 bytes
/
49,019,958,375 bytes /
24,459,496,480 bytes
Feature Size:
18,399,399,936 bytes /
18,427,889,664 bytes
37,250,949,120 bytes /
23,887,835,136 bytes
Video Bitrate: 19.99 Mbps /
22.03 Mbps
/
34.978 Mbps
/
27.95 Mbps
Chapters: 12 /
12
/
12 /
20
Case: Standard Blu-ray case
Standard (thicker) UK case
Blu-ray case inside cardboard box
Standard Blu-ray case
Release date: March 3rd, 2009 /
February 8th, 2010 /
October 7th, 2009
/
May 10th, 2010
Video:
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video /
MPEG-2 Video /
MPEG-4 AVC
/
VC-1
Audio:
DTS-HD Master Audio English 1906 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1906
kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Dolby Digital Audio English 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby
Digital Audio English 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN
-4dB
Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
/ DN -4dB
DTS-HD Master Audio English 1935 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1935
kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
DTS-HD Master Audio French 2148 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2148
kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
DTS-HD Master Audio French 885 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 885 kbps
/ 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 16-bit)
DTS-HD Master Audio English 1964 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1964
kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
DTS-HD Master Audio French 2128 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2128
kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Dolby Digital Audio English 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio French 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Subtitles (both):
English SDH, Spanish, none vs. UK
edition: none
vs.
French, none
vs.
Dutch, French, none
Extras:
•
None
•
None
• Making of - (32:14 in HD)
- in English with imposed French subtitles
• James Lee Burke - Louisiana Stories
(51:49 in HD!) - in English
with imposed French subtitles
• Interview with blues guitarist and singer George
"Buddy" Guy and director Bertrand Tavernier (34:29 in HD!)
- in English with imposed French subtitles
• Five Deleted Scenes (4:54 in SD)
- in English with imposed French subtitles
• Music (5:08/ 4:36 in SD) - Buddy Guy performing
•
None
Bitrate:
I mage
Entertainment:
High Fliers:
DFW:
The Film:
6
The movie, which will first see the light of U.S.
distribution a week or so before its release on DVD, is
based on the novel "In the Electric Mist with Confederate
Dead" by James Lee Burke - a much better title by the way –
makes you wonder why it wasn't used. Bertrand Tavernier's
film is beautifully photographed by Bruno de Keyzer and
urgently and flavorfully scored (Marco Beltrami). Louisiana
locales convey a sense of time standing still. Tommy Lee
Jones, echoing a too-familiar role, plays veteran detective
Dave Robicheaux, a recovering alcoholic with a penchant for
dialogue with a long dead Confederate general (Levon Holm).
When the 40-year old remains of a black man, evidently shot
while still in chains, are unearthed by Katrina, Robideaux
asks if the cultural climate of Reconstruction is still
alive in the South.
As one of the narrative themes from In the Heat of the Night
dances in our head, Robicheaux sets out on an investigation
of a series of grisly murders of young women. In Tavernier's
hands, the whodunit aspect of the mystery is not as
important as the characters (played by John Goodman, Ned
Beatty, Peter Skarsgaard, Buddy Guy and James Gammon, among
others) our detective runs across. They may or may not be
suspects but I think the idea is that these conversations
are supposed to shed light on Robicheaux's initial question.
It's all a bit murky and we are surprised by the extent to
which he ignores the obvious during his investigation. But,
then, this was also Detective Tibb's flaw as well.
Leslie Felperin writes at
Variety:
The product of a reportedly troubled shoot in 2007, pic now
exists in two versions: a richer but more sluggish
director's edit, running 117 minutes and shown at the
Berlinale, will be screened theatrically everywhere in the
world apart from the U.S. (Pic has reputedly already sold to
some major territories.) Meanwhile, a producer's cut,
running a brisker but less-coherent 102 minutes, will be
released straight to DVD by Image Entertainment on March 3
in North America.
The tone of each version is quite different, but the
essential set-up is the same in both. Set in and around New
Iberia, La., screenplay credited to Jerzy Kromolowski and
Mary Olson-Kromolowski updates crime writer James Lee
Burke's original novel "In the Electric Mist with
Confederate Dead," written in 1993, to the a post-Katrina
present-day. As the community gets on with rebuilding homes
and the Mafia gets fatter off post-catastrophe corruption,
it's still business as usual for detective Dave Robicheaux
(Tommy Lee Jones), a recovering alcoholic given to a little
light rule bending and violence when necessary. [LF]
Excerpt of review from Variety located HERE
[LN:] I haven't seen the "International" version, but I
agree with Felperin's assessment of the movie as released by
Image, and especially with the observation about the ending
of the U.S. version – Very tacky. Very faux-irony. Very too
bad for us.
I'll say. I thought this was a great film - Haunting, an
elusive plot, great characters. It's hard to address any of
Leonard's comments as we were essentially watching different
films. I saw the Director's Cut - and he, the 15-minute
shorter, 'less coherent', Producer's Cut. Leslie Felperin
(above) is probably right on the money indicating that the
tone of each film is dramatically different. It was the aura
of 'In the Electric Mist' that appealed most to me.
I'd give this film experience full marks - I was right into
its mysterious development - touching upon the occult, a
killer on the loose and the eccentric personas running
around exposing more of themselves with each step. I loved
it.
Image:
NOTE:
The below
Blu-ray
captures were ripped directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.
Do you suppose that imposing DNR on the face of Tommy Lee
Jones would count as a mortal sin? This movie offers ample
opportunity, but I suspect we are saved. Crags appear
intact. Some noise in night scenes and colors appear,
unfortunately boosted (very red skin tones). Overall decent looking image for a single layer.
Short take: the UK "High Fliers" (who the hell are they anyway?) sucks. It has a
lowly MPEG-2 video transfer with more artifacts... and is the disjointed,
shorter, "Producer's Cut" of the film. The TF1 French version has a vastly
higher bitrate with the film taking up over double the space on a dual-layered
disc. The flatter colors of the French edition suit the film so much better.
This is cinema about mood and the falsely exuberant colors of the Image US and
UK editions do NOT support the film's deeply entrenched aura.
NOTE: Anyone who knows the car below - it IS red with no orange dimming - ditto
for the actor's skin tones!
Flesh tones tell us most of what we need to know. Leonard was accurate in his
assessment of the boosting and those very red skin tones aren't sunburns or high
blood pressure on Mr. Jones. The Image Entertainment disc has a lower bitrate
(approaching half that of the TF1 dual-layered
Blu-ray), shows more noise and
the colors are dramatically altered from an authentic representation. The French
disc just looks a whole lot better with its more passive, and realistic, if
paler, contrast and more grain. It ends up being more detailed as well - excepting
in the darker lit scenes (that are supposed to be dark!). There may be a touch
of edge-enhancement on the French disc.
Okay, DFW (Dutch Film Works) have a region FREE
Blu-ray
version of the In the Electric Mist available at Amazon France. It is
single layered and bare-bones. Importantly, it is the, longer, more cohesive,
Director's Cut. The image more closely supports the darker contrast of the
TF1 but while not as sharp - it has even cooler skin tones. The TF1 is still
better looking with more depth and detail (I still support it's accuracy of the
car color) but the DFW is not such a poor compromise - visually speaking. It is
encoded VC-1 as opposed to AVC.
CLICK EACH
BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
NOTE: Some captures could not
be exact matches as these are two different cuts of the film
(Producer's Cut vs. Director's Cut) with slightly different
shots - some not appearing exactly the same way in both.
|
1)
Image Entertainment (Region 'A') TOP
2)
TF1 (Region
'B')
SECOND
3) High Fliers (Region
'B') THIRD
4) DFW (Region FREE)
BOTTOM
|
Above shot not present in Director's Cut
|
1)
Image Entertainment (Region 'A') TOP
2)
TF1 (Region
'B')
SECOND
3) High Fliers (Region
'B') THIRD
4) DFW (Region FREE)
BOTTOM
|
|
1)
Image Entertainment (Region 'A') TOP
2)
TF1 (Region
'B')
SECOND
3) High Fliers (Region
'B') THIRD
4) DFW (Region FREE)
BOTTOM
|
|
1)
Image Entertainment (Region 'A') TOP
2)
TF1 (Region
'B')
SECOND
3) High Fliers (Region
'B') THIRD
4) DFW (Region FREE)
BOTTOM
|
|
1)
Image Entertainment (Region 'A') TOP
2)
TF1 (Region
'B')
SECOND
3) High Fliers (Region
'B') THIRD
4) DFW (Region FREE)
BOTTOM
|
|
1)
Image Entertainment (Region 'A') TOP
2)
TF1 (Region
'B')
SECOND
3) High Fliers (Region
'B') THIRD
4) DFW (Region FREE)
BOTTOM
|
Above shot not present in Director's Cut
|
1)
Image Entertainment (Region 'A') TOP
2)
TF1 (Region
'B')
SECOND
3) High Fliers (Region
'B') THIRD
4) DFW (Region FREE)
BOTTOM
|
|
1)
Image Entertainment (Region 'A') TOP
2)
TF1 (Region
'B')
SECOND
3) High Fliers (Region
'B') THIRD
4) DFW (Region FREE)
BOTTOM
|
More screen grabs from the TF1
Blu-ray
Audio & Music:
8/7
This may be a crime story but it is no thriller. Most of
what goes on is in the form of dialogues between Tommy Lee
and one or two other actors. Sometimes, Jones is heard in
voiceover in a somewhat different acoustic (thank you). The
dialogue, aided by DTS HD-MA, is clear enough, which is a
good thing since several of the characters speak softly or
in a local accent. The surrounds are quietly active to
enhance atmospherics indoors and out, and are thoroughly
engaged for the music score and in those occasional moments
where the tough get going. No car chases, by the way, and
very few guns fired.
The UK version has no lossless audio
and along with the colors is another important facet to the
film experience. No subtitles are available either. Sloppy
on both counts.
Audio appears to have more parity than
the video with both
DTS-HD Master 5.1 tracks having around 1900 kbps
- but the good news is that the French subtitles are NOT
forced when the English lossless audio is chosen. Yes, one
can watch the film in the original language with the
imposition of subtitles forced upon you. Unfortunately, there
is no English option for subtitles but even with the thick
Nawlins' accents - they really aren't necessary. Both of these discs are
region coded - Image Entertainment for 'A', TF1 for 'B'. Of
course, not an issue for those with a region-free Blu-ray
player.
There is no difference in the audio
between the two DC versions available at Amazon France. The DFW sounds exactly the same
with a decent lossless score in original English. There are
Dutch and French subtitles available.
Extras:
Zip!
Like the Image Entertainment disc is
the UK editions is devoid of any supplements.
Where the region A disc offers nothing
- the TFI includes quite a lot with everything spoken in
English with imposed French subtitles. We get a 1/2 hour
Making of with Tavernier, Tommy Lee Jones and the rest of
the cast giving sound-bytes on the production. Desirable for
many will be, the almost hour long 'James Lee Burke -
Louisiana Stories' with the author reflecting on the Dave Robicheaux series and his career where for 14 years he
couldn't sell a thing in hardback. There is a 1/2 hour piece with
Bertrand Tavernier interviewing blues guitarist and singer
George "Buddy" Guy, who plays Sam 'Hogman' Patin in the
film. There are Five Deleted Scenes lasting only 5-minutes
and some outdoor jam sessions with Buddy Guy performing.
The DFW has no extras at all and only
an on-the-fly menu for French or Dutch options, chapters and
audio/subs choice.
Image Entertainment (Region 'A') LEFT vs.
TF1 (Region
'B')
RIGHT
High Fliers (Region
'B')
LEFT vs.
DFW (Region FREE)
- RIGHT
Bottom line:
5
This release represents a possible mistake on the part of
Image who, for contractual or licensing reasons, may have
resisted a BD-50 with the International version on the
second layer. In any case, it's too bad we couldn't have
both cuts of the movie. This and the lack of extra features
and the muddy plotting mitigate an otherwise very good
looking picture.
Bottom line: 1
I can find no reason to buy the High Fliers UK
Blu-ray version. It is the shorter, disconnected,
"Producer's Cut", it has an ineffectual MPEG-2 video
transfer, no lossless audio and no subtitles and not one
single extra. It's also more expensive than the best option!
We strongly suggest indulging in the vastly superior TF1
edition for those locked to Region 'B' or region free-ers. I
REALLY like this film in the 15-minute longer director's
version (I voted for it in our Year End Poll
HERE) and the TF1 A/V suit In the Electric Mist
perfectly.
Bottom Line: 8.5
I was very taken with this film and the TF1, Director's Cut,
Blu-ray.
While I haven't seen the Producer's Cut offered by the Image
Entertainment
Blu-ray - I suspect as this film walks a fine
line that some ham-fisted editing could easily destroy its
powerful moods. I think it is one of the better films I have
seen this year and the European
Blu-ray
does a great job with the A/V and has some bountiful extras.
North Americans get screwed again with someone trying to
decide what the general public 'might prefer' - altering it from the
director's preference. For shame.
Bottom line: 7 - While the DFW losses a full point for
lack of extras and 1/2 point for video - it has the advantage of
being both region FREE and the Director's Cut! It is
also significantly cheaper
(less than 50%)
than the TF1 at the writing of this review. For those
locked to 'A' this represents an important opportunity to
see the film as the director intended - and in 1080P.
Recommended!
Leonard Norwitz
February 14th, 2009
Gary Tooze
December 3rd, 2009
April 15th, 2010
December 12th, 2010
|
|
