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Whiplash [Blu-ray]
(Damien Chazelle, 2014)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Blumhouse Productions Video: Sony Pictures
Disc: Region: FREE (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player) Runtime: 1:46:45.399 Disc Size: 41,086,552,256 bytes Feature Size: 28,571,768,832 bytes Video Bitrate: 24.89 Mbps Chapters: 16 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: February 24th, 2015
Video: Aspect ratio: 2.4:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio:
DTS-HD Master Audio English 2187 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2187
kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Dolby Digital Audio English 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
DTS-HD Master Audio French 2210 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2210
kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) Subtitles: English (SDH), English, French, Spanish, none
Extras: • Commentary with J. K. Simmons and Damien Chazelle • Timekeepers (42:56) • Whiplash Original Short Film with optional commentary (17:56) • Fletcher at Home with optional commentary (1:31) • An Evening at the Toronto International Film Festival with Miles Teller, J. K. Simmons and Damien Chazelle (7:50) • Theatrical Trailer (2:10)
Bitrate:
Description: A talented young jazz drummer experiences a trial by fire when he's recruited by a ferocious instructor whose unyielding search for perfection may lead to his undoing. For as far back as Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller) can remember, he's been watching his father fail. Determined to make a name for himself no matter what it takes, Andrew enrolls in a prestigious east coast music conservatory where his talent quickly catches the attention of Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) a esteemed music teacher who's notorious for his caustic approach in the classroom. The leader of the school's top jazz ensemble, Fletcher promptly transfers Neyman into his band, giving the ambitious young drummer a shot at true greatness. He may achieve it, too, if Neyman's methods don't drive him to madness first.
The Film: Damien Chazelle's Whiplash ends, as all things should, with a drum solo, a furious yet precise assault of clattering cymbals and skins enacted by Miles Teller's Andrew Neyman, a prodigious drumming student at the fictitious Shaffer Conservatory of Music in midtown Manhattan. It's the percussionist's final parry in his duel with Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), a sadistic conductor and senior-level instructor at the school. As Neyman's solo grows more complex and immense, the studied technique that he's spent the entirety of the film trying to hone breaks out into wild, exacting ambition, an exhilarating final movement in a film deeply concerned with the limitations of control, and how that influences the measure of mastery. Excerpt from Slant magazine located HERE ***
A jazz-drumming prodigy is working hard at his double-time swing when
his drill-sergeant conductor-instructor heaves a chair at his head.
Almost hits him. Excerpt from The Globe and Mail located HERE
The world worships excellence and runs on mediocrity. Most of us are
fated to dwell in the fat middle of the bell curve, admiring and envying
those who stake out territory in the higher realms of achievement. There
is a wide gulf between doing your best at something and being the best
at it, a discrepancy in expended effort and anticipated reward that is
the subject of “Whiplash,” Damien Chazelle’s thrilling second
feature. 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. Whiplash was shot on HD and looks pristine on Blu-ray from Sony. It is dual-layered with a supportive bitrate but I'm sure it can't look any better and is a very strong replication of its theatrical appearance. Sharone Meir's stylish cinematography looks impressive with a high level of detail and no noise in the many darker sequences. Some of the weaknesses of HD exist with a bit of blur/softness in motion. Generally though, I can't imagine it looking significantly better than this. The 1080P looked great on my system.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :Sony go with a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround at 2187 kbps. It sounds magnificent - often as if the instruments are live in your home theatre. Piano, bass and drums give off perfect resonance with pristine tightness and cascading depth. The film's score is credited to Justin Hurwitz but there are a few pieces by Tim Simonec with some more notable works written by the likes of Buddy Rich, Duke Ellington, Stan Getz used in the film. The music is amazing - notable is the rendition of the hypnotic rhythms of Caravan. Crank it. Worth the price of the disc alone. There is a 'Descriptive Audio' track available and some foreign-language DUBs. There are optional subtitles available. My Oppo has identified it as being a region FREE disc.
Extras : Sony load the package with extras - starting with a revealing commentary with J. K. Simmons and director/writer Damien Chazelle discussing many levels of the production. Timekeepers is a 3/4 of an hour video piece featuring famous drummers (Chad Smith of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Simon Phillips and others) discussing their craft and passion for drumming. We get the original short (18-minute) treatise of Whiplash with optional commentary as well as a brief piece entitled Fletcher at Home deleted scene, running only 1.5 minutes, also with optional commentary. An Evening at the Toronto International Film Festival shares 7-minutes with Miles Teller, J. K. Simmons and Damien Chazelle on stage at TIFF. There is a theatrical trailer and some previews.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze February 13th, 2015
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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 5000 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. 60-Inch Class (59.58” Diagonal) 1080p Pioneer KURO Plasma Flat Panel HDTV PDP6020-FD
Oppo Digital BDP-83 Universal Region FREE Blu-ray/SACD
Player APC AV 1.5 kVA H Type Power Conditioner 120V Gary W. Tooze
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