|
Firstly, a massive thank you to our Patreon supporters. Your generosity touches me deeply. These supporters have become the single biggest contributing factor to the survival of DVDBeaver. Your assistance has become essential.
What do Patrons receive, that you don't?
1)
Our
weekly
Newsletter
sent to your Inbox every
Monday morning!
Please consider keeping us in existence with a couple of dollars or more each month (your pocket change!) so we can continue to do our best in giving you timely, thorough reviews, calendar updates and detailed comparisons. Thank you very much.
|
|
Search DVDBeaver |
S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
|
|
The Hunter [Blu-ray]
(Daniel Nettheim, 2011)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Porchlight Films Video: Magnolia
Disc: Region: 'A' (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player) Runtime: 1:41:41.136 Disc Size: 24,706,089,858 bytes Feature Size: 17,733,931,008 bytes Video Bitrate: 18.10 Mbps Chapters: 13 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: July 3rd, 2012
Video: Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio English 1772 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1772 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles: English (SDH), Spanish, none
Extras: • Commentary with director Daniel Nettheim and Producer Vincent Sheehan• Making of The Hunter (32:50 in 1080P - 4 segments: The Story, The Characters, Tasmania, The Tiger)• Deleted Scenes with optional commentary (6:39 in 1080P) • Theatrical trailer (2:26 in 1080P)
Bitrate:
Description: A ruthless mercenary with a secret agenda comes
to Australia to search for the last remaining Tasmanian
Tiger. As his dramatic hunt for the elusive Tiger goes on
and he discovers the mysteries hidden within the wild
landscape, long-forgotten emotions resurface. Can a human
who has led an immoral life find connection and redemption
too? *** Martin, a skilled and ruthless mercenary, posing as a scientist sent into the Tasmanian wilderness on a hunt for a tiger believed to be extinct. Hired by an anonymous company that wants the tiger's genetic material, Martin proceeds to set up base camp at a broken-down farmhouse, where he stays with a family, becoming increasingly close to them. However, as his attachment grows, Martin is led down a path of unforeseen dangers, complicating his deadly mission.
The Film: It’s possible to think of The Hunter as a thriller diluted by atmosphere or a mood piece disrupted by plot, but for much of the film’s length, director Daniel Nettheim successfully pitches camp in the razor-thin overlap between the two. Willem Dafoe, who brings brooding storm clouds with him wherever he goes, plays a hazily defined mercenary who takes on a pharmaceutical company’s assignment to hunt down the purportedly extinct Tasmanian tiger. That, naturally, means heading to Tasmania, whose untouched terrain proves more hospitable than some of the locals. Badly (and somewhat implausibly, given his profession) fumbling his first encounter with a handful of outlander-hating rednecks, Dafoe’s “greenie” becomes the target of periodic, unpredictable harassment, which is mostly harmless, but suggests the potential for something far more threatening. Excerpt from The Onion A.V. Club located HERE * **
What do you get if you cross “Bad
Day at Black Rock” and “Picnic
at Hanging Rock”? “Bad Day at Picnic Rock”? No, you get “The
Hunter,” the most agreeably strange movie I have seen all year.
Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. The Hunter appears only 'reasonable' on Blu-ray from Magnolia. The disc is single-layered with a modest bitrate. I felt contrast may have been the weakest area with black levels seeming to under-achieve. Colors are teal-leaning (even on the cover) and nothing stand out as strong. Overall the image quality looks a little thin and this may be how is was shown theatrically but we will compare to the European BD edition to see if that is more revealing. There is little depth but the presentation is consistent and I very much enjoyed the film - and any transfer weakness didn't hinder that. There is no noise and the video in-motion was smooth.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :Audio comes in the form of a DTS-HD Master 5.1 at a modest 1772 kbps. There are some aggressive effects running through The Hunter with rifle shots but the most profound moments might be the silent gaps with our protagonist lurking in the terrain. Dialogue, which is limited, is clean and clear. There is some original music (by Andrew Lancaster, Michael Lira and Matteo Zingales) but it is subtle infused into the action. Overall it seems to support the film accurately using the lossless rendering. There are optional English and Spanish subtitles and my Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked with a region 'B' release scheduled for later this year.
Extras : Great extras starting with a commentary with director Daniel Nettheim and producer Vincent Sheehan expanding on some of the production details and how it incorporated into the filmmakers vision. Making of The Hunter runs over 1/2 and hour into 4 main segments - The Story, The Characters, Tasmania, and The Tiger and film in more about the film with cast and crew soundbytes. There are also 6.5 -minutes of deleted scenes with optional commentary and a theatrical trailer. All supplements are in 1080P.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze June 8th, 2012
|
CLICK PayPal logo to donate!
|
Gary Tooze
|
|
Thank You!
