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Blackhat [Blu-ray]
(Michael Mann, 2015)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Legendary Pictures Video: Universal
Disc: Region: FREE (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player) Runtime: 2:13:34.047 Disc Size: 46,957,499,875 bytes Unrated Feature Size: 39,638,089,728 bytes Video Bitrate: 31.98 Mbps Chapters: 20 Case: Standard Blu-ray case inside cardboard keepcase Release date: May 12th, 2015
Video: Aspect ratio: 2.40:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio English 3674 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3674 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) DUBs:
DTS Audio Spanish 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB / Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English (SDH), French, Spanish, none
Extras:
• The Cyber Threat (13:02)
Bitrate:
Description: Set within the world of global cybercrime, Blackhat follows furloughed convict Nicholas Hathaway (Chris Hemsworth), and his American and Chinese partners as they hunt a high-level cybercrime network from Chicago to Los Angeles to Hong Kong to Jakarta. As Hathaway closes in, the stakes become personal as he discovers that the attack on a Chinese nuclear power plant was just the beginning. Michael Mann (Heat, Collateral) directs the propulsive action-thriller. *** An American/Chinese joint anti-cybertheft task force races to root out an elusive hacker based in Southeast Asia in this Legendary Pictures thriller written, produced, and directed by Michael Mann, and starring Chris Hemsworth.
The Film:
Michael Mann is an action filmmaker even when his characters are
standing still. His movies contemplate themselves: they are
simultaneously about what's happening and what it means. They're
sensitive to the intellectual and emotional undercurrents swirling
around the characters, whether they're running, driving, punching and
shooting, or just brooding in close-up while electronic music shimmers
and drones.
Michael Mann’s thriller “Blackhat,” a story about the
intersection of bodies and machines, is a spectacular work of unhinged
moviemaking. By turns brutal and sentimental, lovely and lurid, as
serious as the grave and blissfully preposterous, it combines a
truckload of plot with many of the obsessions, tropes, sights and sounds
that distinguish his other movies, from kinetic gun battles to cool
beauties gazing into the distance in sunglasses. Here those beauties are
a pair of improbable computer savants, played by Chris Hemsworth and
Tang Wei, who race, jet and furiously bang on keyboards across the globe
while chasing villainy, lines of code and millions in loot.
Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. Blackhat arrives on Blu-ray from Universal. It's another film shot with a Arri Alexa XT (and other digital cameras.) It, predictably, looks quite strong with some interesting effects. The transfer is 1080P, dual-layered, with a very high bitrate. The film has plenty of darker scenes but no noise or other issues. Detail is quite pleasing in the many close-ups. The visuals are very kinetic with many fast-cuts in the plentiful action sequences. I don't recall a lot of depth but this Blu-ray gives a solid presentation - probably very accurate to the theatrical presentation.
NOTE: The captures below are courtesy of our friend Erik Hundland on his site HERE (Thanks Erik!)
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :The audio track is a barn-burner utilizing a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround at a bombastic 3674 kbps. Effects come out of all corners with intense depth, but the track still sounds controlled and brooding as if holding some strength in ambience. We get a cornucopia of music with a score by Harry Gregson-Williams' (2009's The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Ben Affleck's The Town and Gone Baby Gone etc.), Atticus Ross (Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) + Leopold Ross (The Book of Eli) as well as some music from Neill Blomkamp's Elysium and more. It all sounds terrific-ly tight and crisp with impressive bass and ringing high-end. There are two foreign-language DUBs, a Descriptive Audio Track and optional subtitles on the region FREE Blu-ray disc.
Extras : Extras include three, interesting featurettes; The Cyber Threat runs almost 1/4 hour and delves into the cyber warfare angle of the film and its potential in today's world. On Location Around the World is almost 10-minutes and features some of the film's exotic locations in Jakarta, Indonesia, Klang, Malaysia and other spots on the globe. Creating Reality is 17-minutes and a bit more production-based. This release also has a Digital Copy of Blackhat and includes UltraViolet capabilities subject to an expiry date.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze May 11th, 2015
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