|
|
Passengers [Blu-ray]
(Rodrigo García, 2008)
Review by Gary Tooze
Studio: Theatrical: Sony Pictures Video: Sony
Disc: Region: 'A'-locked (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player) Runtime: 1:32:38.553 Disc Size: 32,620,013,540 bytes Feature Size: 22,931,834,880 bytes Average Bitrate: 33.0 Mbps Chapters: 16 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: May 12th, 2009
Video: Aspect ratio: 2.4:1 Resolution: 1080p Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: Dolby TrueHD Audio English 1367 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1367 kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps) Dolby TrueHD Audio French 1369 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1369 kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps) Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, English (SDH), French, Spanish, none
Extras: • Audio Commentary with director Rodrigo Garcia and actor Patrick Wilson• The Manifest and Making Of Passengers (23:14 in HD!) • Analysis of the Plane Crash (16:28 in HD!) • Three Deleted Scenes (about 8 minutes in SD) • BD-Live capable
Bitrate:
Description: While helping a handful of plane crash survivors cope with their grief, young psychologist Claire Summers (2008 Best Actress, Oscar® nominee Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married) begins to uncover conflicting accounts of the accident. At first, Claire believes that trauma is behind her patients' wildly different stories - until the survivors mysteriously begin disappearing one by one. Now Eric (Patrick Wilson, Lakeview Terrace), a surviving passenger she has grown dangerously close to, may hold the key to unlocking the truth about the tragic incident in this shocking psychological thriller.
The Film: Although it has elements relating to Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense - critics seemed disappointed in the lack of suspense and plot twists of Rodrigo García's Passengers. I had more reminiscences about Peter Weir's magnificent, and still unreleased on DVD, Fearless with Jeff Bridges portraying the unsteady emotions of being one of the few survivors of a major airline crash. The logistics around filming a plane disintegration from the interior perspective of the individuals who are stuck inside remains impressive in both films. So, while some enjoyed Passengers - many critics panned it with fury. Not me - I rather liked it. This is definitely a unique brand of storytelling - forgoing the long-sought 'climax' for more pure dramatic tension can be a hard sell to those incapable of looking outside the box. It's hard to talk about the film's plot for fear of giving away some of the important details. Suffice to say although the supernatural is involved and undisclosed mysteries heightened - the essential theme of the film is one of a very human and positive nature. The edict "We are all here to help each other..." springs to mind about the universal confusion regarding our ultimate place in the world. As an aside I often felt Anne Hathaway's inherent sexuality was being cloaked in her darker clothes and the cinematography involving her character - but it eventually shines through. Passengers touches on being a love story and could have easily sunk into that frame with two of the best looking male and female pairs working today. This film can reach you if you let it. How we deal with tragedy - in the many forms it can arise - is a topic worthy of discussion at any time in our lives. Also I'd probably watch anything with support performers like Dianne Wiest and David Morse. Gary Tooze
Passengers appears slightly gritty on dual-layered Blu-ray from Sony. Detail on the 23 Gig of space for the feature film has strong moments but the grain has a courser texture that is frequently visible. It has nothing to do with the rendering - this how the film looked. I prefer this to the glossy appearance of a manipulated transfer. There is no edge-enhancement (despite what other reviewers say) that I can discern - nor DNR. Because of the lackluster critical appraisal of the film - Sony hasn't put much into artificial-izing the image (good!). They may have just slapped in on HD disc. The rougher hone appearance never makes it look blocky as it is fairly even-handedly presented. Skin tones don't seem overly warm - contrast exhibits healthy, rich black levels. Aside from the few daylight scenes the image is somewhat dark. This Blu-ray has a nice realistic feel and I liked the way it looked - probably a darn sight better than the simultaneously released SD-DVD.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :This is kind of a wimpy TrueHD 5.1 track at only 1367 kpbs. There are some significant scenes at the beginning and end that require some pull from the surround and, while it's there, is nothing to write home about. Dialogue and the soundtrack are reasonably crisp but it appears nothing demonstratively special has gone into the audio transfer. There are subtitles in English, French and Spanish and my Momitsu tells me this is region-locked to 'A'.
Extras :We start the film with Sony's standard Blu-ray advert, a trailer for Rachel Getting Married, another for I've Loved You So Long and one for Seven Pounds. There is a forthcoming audio commentary with director Rodrigo Garcia and actor Patrick Wilson - the latter I tend to like quite a lot. It doesn't go off on too much of a tangent but areas are covered beyond simple production details. The making of, The Manifest and Making Of Passengers, runs about 25 minutes in HD with input from cast and crew. "Analysis of the Plane Crash" is just what the title suggest - it's interesting running about 15-minutes in HD. There are three inconsequential deleted scenes involving the character Claire (Hathaway) running about 8-minutes in SD and this disc is BD-Live capable for those who wish to venture there.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze May 5th, 2009
|
|
About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 7500 DVDs and have reviewed over 3000 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.
Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who
focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I
find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction. So be
it, but film will always be my first love and I list my
favorites on the old YMdb site now accessible
HERE.
Samsung HPR4272 42" Plasma HDTV
Sony BDP-S300 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player
(firmware upgraded)
Marantz SA8001 Super Audio CD Player Gary W. Tooze
HD-DVD STORE HIGH DEFINITION DVD STORE
ALL OUR NEW FORMAT DVD REVIEWS
|
Mail cheques, money orders, cash to: or CLICK PayPal logo to donate!
|
Gary Tooze
|
|
Thank You!
