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Daybreakers [Blu-ray]
(Michael and Peter Spierig, 2009)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Lionsgate Video: Lionsgate
Disc: Region: FREE! (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player) Runtime: 1:37:48.696 Disc Size: 45,640,017,658 bytes Feature Size: 23,463,585,792 bytes Video Bitrate: 22.06 Mbps Chapters: 16 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: May 11th, 2010
Video: Aspect ratio: 2.4:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio English 5431 kbps 7.1 / 48 kHz / 5431 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Dolby Digital Audio French 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -4dB Dolby Digital Audio English 256 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 256 kbps / Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English (SDH), English, Spanish, none
Extras:
• Audio Commentary with the Spierig Bros. and Steve Boyle
• Poster Art Gallery (7 in 1080p)
•
LionsGate Previews
Bitrate:
Description: Fresh from the success of their inventive take on the zombie genre, UNDEAD masterminds Michael and Peter Spierig direct Ethan Hawke in an ambitious tale of a futuristic Earth populated entirely by vampires, and the efforts made by the creatures to ensure that their food supply doesn't run out as humankind is faced with extinction. The year is 2017, and a vampire plague has turned most of the planet's human population into bloodsucking ghouls. As the population of mortals fast begins to dwindle, a resourceful team of vampires sets out to capture and farm every remaining human while simultaneously researching a consumable blood substitute. Just when all hope seems lost, a secret is discovered that may provide the key to saving the human race.
The Film: Among the many pleasures of “Daybreakers” is its reminder that vampire movies can function as more than just metaphors for teenage celibacy. Written and directed by Peter and Michael Spierig (the Australian twins who brought us the ebullient 2003 zombie caper “Undead”), this impressively styled thriller envisions a world where vampires rule, and humans run. Those who don’t are likely to find themselves transformed into Ready Meals and stored in a giant corporate larder: a futuristic Costco with only one product.
But with the undead outnumbering the living, starving immortals must
find a blood substitute or mutate into crouching, bat-winged marauders.
Enter Edward (Ethan Hawke), a vampire hematologist with human-friendly
goals and a weary-undertaker wardrobe.
With the whole vampire thing we aren't going to have a lot of sunlight and bright colors - certain filtering may have been used in certain scenes (green, blue and brown were notable) and the bottom line on the Blu-ray image is that it looks quite good. Set pieces with still corpses, decapitated heads in the shadowy darkness tend to look the best in terms of detail and depth. The colored eyes are a big feature in close-ups. This looks about as good as you require - contrast exhibits rich black levels. Grain is evident in some of the darkest scenes. Art direction in Daybreakers is very good and it brings a certain style to the film that works well. The visuals aspects can be as intriguing as the plot.
Audio :As far as the video portion goes above and beyond - the audio, a mammoth DTS-HD Master 7.1 at an explosive 5431 kbps, has moments that are reference. What I appreciate is that it is not all aggressive effects that are pushed through overtaking the rest of the soundstage - it's the subtleties that essentially give the more abundant bass and high end comparative reference to their range. The audio can sneak up and violently punch out of the mains and rear speakers encompassing the entire room. Head turning seemed to occur on a few occasions in my basement and this is surely state-of-the-art in terms of aural transfer. There are subtitles and my Momitsu has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.
Extras :No stone left unturned. While the audio commentary with the Spierig Bros. and Steve Boyle can give you more production information that many would require the star here is the 2 hour "The Making of Daybreakers" in HD with input from just about everyone. It's nice to see the passion involved - it's like a movie within a movie. The Big Picture is a Spierig Bros. short film running about 15-minutes - love, a voyeuristic, future -reading TV on a rainy night. We get a picture-in-picture feature - BonusView with Storyboards and Animatics, an HD Poster Art Gallery with 7 examples, a Theatrical Trailer and some LionsGate previews plus the disc is BD-LIVE enabled and there is a second disc Digital Copy — for use with portable devices.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze May 7th, 2010
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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 9500 DVDs and have reviewed over 3500 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
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