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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

 

H D - S E N S E I

A view on Blu-ray by Gary W. Tooze

Gold [Blu-ray]

 

(Stephen Gaghan, 2016)

 

  

 

Review by Gary Tooze

 

Production:

Theatrical: Black Bear Pictures

Video: Lionsgate / Anchor Bay

 

Disc:

Region: 'A' (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player)

Runtime: 2:00:20.338 

Disc Size: 33,496,401,789 bytes

Feature Size: 29,233,557,504 bytes

Video Bitrate: 26.85 Mbps

Chapters: 19

Case: Standard Blu-ray case

Release date: May 2nd, 2017

 

Video:

Aspect ratio: 2.35:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Audio:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 3569 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3569 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Commentary:

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB

 

Subtitles:

English, Spanish, none

 

Extras:

• Commentary with director Stephen Gaghan

Deleted Sequence (5:18)
The Origins of Gold (4:37)
The Locations of Gold (4:21)

Matthew McConaughey as Kenny Wells (3:45)

 

Bitrate:

 

 

Description: Kenny Wells, a prospector desperate for a lucky break, teams up with a similarly eager geologist and sets off on an amazing journey to find gold in the uncharted jungle of Indonesia. Getting the gold was hard but keeping it is even more difficult, sparking an adventure through the most powerful boardrooms of Wall Street.

***

An American businessman named Kenny Wells (Matthew McConaughey), who has driven his family's mining company into the ground, tries to reverse his fortunes by prospecting for gold in the jungles of Indonesia. With the help of an experienced geologist (Edgar Ramirez), Wells actually manages to unearth a massive gold deposit, but he is soon forced to protect his find from ruthless Wall Street traders. Bryce Dallas Howard co-stars. Directed by Stephen Gaghan, Gold was inspired by a true story.

Excerpt from B+N located HERE

 

 

The Film:

Kenny Wells, the feckless owner of a Nevada mining company, is the latest entry in the Matthew McConaughey gallery of charming rogues. Swaybacked and paunchy, with a thinning dome and an appetite for Winstons and Seagram’s that would keep both brands in business if the rest of the world went cold turkey, Kenny doesn’t quite have the wolfish charisma or the mystical intensity of some of Mr. McConaughey’s other recent characters. But like them — like Mick Haller in “The Lincoln Lawyer,” Ron Woodroof in “Dallas Buyers Club” and that guy in those car commercials — he is fun to watch and hard not to root for.

Excerpt from The NY Times located HERE

Loosely inspired by the story of David Walsh and the Bre-X Minerals mining scandal in the 1990’s, Gold is director Stephen Gaghan’s first wide release directorial effort since Syriana over a decade ago. Unlike that film though, Gaghan didn’t handle writing duties here, and quality may have suffered because of it.

Scripted intricacies in Gold are not nearly as incisive and sophisticated as previous Gaghan efforts like Syriana or his Oscar-winning screenplay for Traffic. Instead, writers Patrick Massett and John Zinman constantly rely on fortune cookie-style dialogue to hammer home messages that never reach the profoundness they so desire. It’s still a fascinating story, with a topsy-turvy third act that’s fairly engaging finale if you weren’t already familiar with the real life scandal, but what really saves this film from mediocrity starts and ends with Matthew McConaughey.

Excerpt from WeGotThisCovered located HERE

 

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

Gold looks competent on Blu-ray from Lionsgate - dual-layered with a supportive bitrate. The image quality is standard for a modern film-to-Blu-ray.  However, the visuals aren't dynamic - although some Thailand exteriors in the jungle are impressive with lush greens. It doesn't export an abundance of depth, but I suspect this is more the film production than the adept 1080P transfer. There are no flaws - the video is super-clean and produces, what appears to be, an authentic visual presentation. I thought it looked quite pleasing in-motion. No issues.

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio :

A standard lossless DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround (24-bit) track at a whopping 3569 kbps and it supports Daniel Pemberton's (Steve Jobs, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) score with a few effects (jungle-related) come across with decent depth. As expected no flaws but a few adroit separations. There are optional English or Spanish subtitles on the region 'A' Blu-ray disc.

 

Extras :

Added are a commentary with director Stephen Gaghan, and he does his best explaining details of the production and hurdles in creating the film. There are 5-minutes of deleted sequence plus a trio of short video pieces, self-explanatory, entitled The Origins of Gold, The Locations of Gold and, briefly, Matthew McConaughey on his role of Kenny Wells.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
Okay, being Canadian in the era of Bre-X - I knew dozens of people, who invested in this mining joke (I, luckily, had no money to gamble). It was on everyone lips as they bought more and more as the price rose and rose and rose from a penny stock to over $200. The greed of the masses never ceases to amaze - even in today's RE bubble - things never change.  What impressed me about the film was, chameleon, McConaughey - not only playing a dim-witted, oblivious, eternal optimist - but physically adapting to the part as a lumpy loser... in the extreme. One day someone's going to call this guy the best actor of his generation.  The Lionsgate Blu-ray produces a fine presentation - worthy of an intriguing night, loosely based on, yet, another fascinating 'madness of the crowd' escapade, certainly educational and enjoyable for those unaware.... much better than the critics let on. Recommended! 

Gary Tooze

April 20th, 2017

  

 

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.

Gary's Home Theatre:

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
Momitsu - BDP-899 Region FREE Blu-ray player
Marantz SA8001 Super Audio CD Player
Marantz SR7002 THX Select2 Surround Receiver
Tannoy DC6-T (fronts) + Energy (centre, rear, subwoofer) speakers (5.1)

APC AV 1.5 kVA H Type Power Conditioner 120V

Gary W. Tooze

 

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