Review by Gary Tooze

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• Neidermann vs. Roberto: Behind the Fight Scene (9:45 in HD!)

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Description: Based on the international best-selling novel, The Girl Who Played With Fire is the explosive follow-up to the literary and cinematic hit The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. In this second installment of Stieg Larsson's phenomenal "Millennium" trilogy, Lisbeth Salander is a wanted woman. A researcher and a Millennium journalist about to expose the truth about the sex trade in Sweden are brutally murdered and Salander's prints are on the weapon. Her history of unpredictable and violent behavior makes her an official danger to society. Mikael Blomkvist, Salander's friend and Millennium's publisher, is alone in his belief of Salander's innocence. Digging deeper, Blomkvist unearths evidence implicating highly placed members of Swedish society - as well as shocking details about Salander's past. He is desperate to get to her before she is cornered - but no one can find her anywhere.

 

 

The Film:

Excerpt from A.O. Scott at the NY times located HERE

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

Firstly, I feel reasonably certain that I have the Canadian (Alliance) Blu-ray sent as a screener but just like The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo I doubt it will vary too much from its US counterpart.  The image quality shows some grain but visuals aren't pristinely sharp. There is some noise and the bitrate is modest.  Colors look accurate and un-manipulated and close-ups shows some texture. This Blu-ray isn't going to 'wow' you with the video presentation but it certainly looks HD - just without much of the depth and striking qualities many look for in a 1080P transfer. This is not to say it is poor - just less remarkable than many might have anticipated.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once again we have a poor choice by the Blu-ray producers - the lossless track (DTS-HD Master 5.1 at 3434 kbps) is an English DUB ?! and the original Swedish track is a simple Dolby 5.1 . The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo also didn't offer a lossless track and this is quite a blunder in my opinion. What were they thinking? Anyway, I only sampled the DUB but, obviously preferred and recommend (always) original language whenever available. The Swedish language has some range and depth but not at the level and HD rendering would support. There are English subtitles if you choose the Swedish track - and there is a standard 5.1 English DUB as well. My Momitsu has identified it as being 'A'-locked.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
In most respects I believe this is as good as The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - which started more methodically - where The Girl Who Played With Fire jumps right into the fray - following right behind the precursor's plot. It's a bit convoluted and I'd say you definitely need to see the first part to have a hope of following the events of the second. Good action, well-paced and more tidbits of information endearing us to our protagonists - perhaps not as nuanced as the first. The Blu-ray may be modest on most fronts but it still gave me a presentation that I thoroughly enjoyed. Of course, now I am anxious for part 3! Most fans will appreciate this 1080P transfer - more because of the film than the, less distinguished, a/v. 

Gary Tooze

October 16th, 2010