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The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo aka Män som hatar kvinnor [Blu-ray]
(Niels Arden Oplev, 2009)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Swedish Film Institute Video: Alliance
Disc: Region: 'A'-locked Runtime: 2:32:44.029 Disc Size: 28,740,837,482 bytes Feature Size: 25,327,349,760 bytes Video Bitrate: 19.71 Mbps Chapters: 16 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: July 6th, 2010
Video: Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: Dolby Digital Audio English 448 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps Dolby Digital Audio Swedish 448 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB / Dolby Surround Dolby Digital Audio Swedish 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB / Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English (SDH) or English
Extras: • Interview with actress Noomi Rapace by Anwar Brett (12:30) • Interview with producer Søren Stærmose by Anwar Brett (11:49)• UK Theatrical trailer (1:35) • Exclusive Sneak Peek of The Girl Who Played With Fire (5:28 - trailer - 1:14) • Photo Gallery • Vanger Family Tree • Book advert • Separate DVD of the film
Bitrate:
Description: A discredited journalist and a mysterious computer hacker discover that even the wealthiest families have skeletons in their closets while working to solve the mystery of a 40 year old murder. Inspired by late author Stieg Larsson's successful trilogy of books, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO gets underway as Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander are briefed in the disappearance of Harriet Vanger, whose uncle suspects she may have been killed by a member of their own family. The deeper Mikael and Harriet dig for the truth, however, the greater the risk of being buried alive by members of the family who will go to great lengths to keep their secrets tightly sealed.
The Film:
Tattoos and body piercings must be pretty far-out stuff in Sweden, the
land of midnight sun, icy blondes and enough twisted thinking to plump
up three best-selling mystery novels. From the way that most people look
at the inked, pierced form of Lisbeth Salander, the main attraction in
the movie adaptation of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” the
first book in Stieg Larsson’s so-called Millennium Trilogy, you might
even think that our girl had a swastika stamped on her forehead rather
than a few modest rings hooked through her nose — you know, like a cow
ready for market or, given the murderous milieu, slaughter.
What I have here, I believe, is the Alliance package (which includes a DVD of the film) but I've been led to expect that the US 'Music Box' transfer will be the exact same. It comes out on the exact same date. Once we have verified this we will post it here.
This Blu-ray is dual-layered but is not the most impressive HD transfer. Detail is very good but colors are flat and there is not much depth with the bitrate at less than 20 Mbps. Nothing is particularly remarkable with modest contrast but it is a consistent presentation and may very well be a decent representation of the theatrical. There are some impressive Swedish exteriors and the 1080P rendering does a decent job with those impressive cinematography visuals. There is no noise or DNR and I won't complain too much but believe that this transfer probably could have been better.
Audio :The audio is a letdown with no lossless track offered. We get Dolby Digital for original Swedish in both 5.1 and 2.0 and similar English DUBs. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo's audio has some dynamic moments with punching bass that a more robust track would have brought out the tension and suspense to a far grander level. There really is no excuse at this level not to indulge in an HD-Master track - especially for a film of this nature. There are English subtitles and the disc appears to be coded for region 'A' only.
Extras :No commentary but a few decent supplements with an interview with actress Noomi Rapace by Anwar Brett in English for about a dozen minutes - and another with producer Søren Stærmose for the same length of time. Seeing the 5.5 minute exclusive Sneak Peek of The Girl Who Played With Fire. There is also a trailer for it as well as the UK Theatrical trailer for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Thrown in are a Photo Gallery, a screen of the Vanger Family Tree and an advert for the book trilogy. For those keen there is a separate DVD of the film.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze June 26th, 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.
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