Review by Brian Montgomery

 

Studio:

Theatrical: Film Bridge International

Blu-ray: Film Bridge International

 

Disc:

Region: FREE! (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)

Runtime: 1:28:48.197

Disc Size: 22,596,377,380 bytes

Feature Size: 15,682,682,880 bytes

Video Bitrate: 17.99 Mbps

Chapters: 17

Case: Standard Blu-ray case

Release date: April 6th, 2010

 

Video:

Aspect ratio: 2.35:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

 

Audio:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 3738 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3738 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Dolby Digital Audio English 448 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps / DN -4dB

 

Subtitles:

English (SDH), Spanish, none

 

Extras:

• Behind the Wheel of Dolan's Cadillac (24:02)

• Behind the Scenes Footage (19:39)

 

 

The Film:

As an adaptation of Stephen King’s short story of the same name, Jeff Beesley’s “Dolan’s Cadillac” is probably too straightforward and unambitious for its own good, which may be ironic to hear, as most of King’s stories that have gone off the rails as movies have been because of their lack of faith to the source material. Although it’s been ages since I last read the King story, much of the movie adaptation feels familiar, and I can’t say if the cinematic version deviates significantly enough from the story to crow about. There are differences, of course, the biggest being a deeper understanding of Dolan’s criminal activities, a necessity given that the story was told from the first-person perspective of the main character, Robinson, who had no inside dish on Dolan and only saw him as a bogeyman coming and going. Curious, then, that the film stumbles when it attempts to explore Robinson’s world as he transforms from mild-mannered sixth grade school teacher to hardened road warrior and, eventually, murderer.

 

Image:   NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Going in to the viewing, I wasn't expecting much from a small budget film that went straight to DVD. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the strength of the image, which is generally quite good. To be sure, not everything passes muster (distant objects seem to fare the worst), but on the whole the video is above average, with strong definition, vibrant colors, and no obvious defects.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio & Music:

The disc sports a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio track, that does a perfectly competent job in delivering the dialogue, sound effects, and music. While I've certainly heard some better lossless audio tracks recently, there's little to complain about here as it is a utilitarian and acceptable presentation. The film also comes with English subtitles for the hearing impaired and a Spanish set of subtitles as well, neither of which seemed to cause any problems with obstruction. The disc is also region free!

 

 

Extras:

The release comes with two special features. First, there's a featurette entitled "Behind the Wheel of Dolan's Cadillac", which traces the production of the film from it's roots in Stephen King through to the filming, and also includes cast interviews. Second, there's behind the scenes footage of the cast and crew at work.

 

Bottom line:

Although I wouldn't say that it's necessarily a good movie, "Dolan's Cadillac" can still be a lot of fun. Slater is his usual scene chewing self, and those whole love a good revenge flick will probably like this one as well. If you sound keen - the price is right.

 

Brian Montgomery

May 4th, 2010