Review by Gary Tooze

Production:

Disc:

Video:

Audio:

• Commentary with J. K. Simmons and Damien Chazelle

• Timekeepers (42:56)

• Whiplash Original Short Film with optional commentary (17:56)

• An Evening at the Toronto International Film Festival with Miles Teller, J. K. Simmons and Damien Chazelle (7:50)

• Theatrical Trailer (2:10)

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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.

 

 

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.

This story of an ambitious young striver and his difficult mentor could easily have been a sports movie, and structurally, it resembles one. There are montages of grueling practice scattered among scenes of tense competition, all of it building toward a hugely suspenseful (but also, to some extent, never in doubt) championship game moment of reckoning. But Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller) is a jazz drummer rather than an athlete, enrolled at a highly selective Manhattan school (Juilliard in all but name) and under the sway of a charismatic and terrifying instructor, Fletcher (J. K. Simmons).

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

 

 

 

 

Audio :

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:
Wow - Whiplash is intense. Awesome. Beautiful. This Blu-ray is a keeper and some of the music worthy of putting on when friends come over! I dare anyone not to be mesmerized by certain parts of this film. One of the best things I have seen, and heard, in the past few years. THAT - is our highest recommendation! 

Gary Tooze

February 13th, 2015