7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
For 30 days every winter, the isolated town of Barrow, Alaska is plunged into a state of complete darkness. It's a bitter time when most of the inhabitants head south. This winter, a mysterious group of strangers appear: bloodthirsty vampires, ready to take advantage of the uninterrupted darkness to feed on the residents remaining in town. Barrow's Sheriff Eben, his estranged wife Stella, and an ever-shrinking group of survivors must do anything they can to last until daylight.
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston, Ben Foster, Mark Boone JuniorThriller | 100% |
Horror | 95% |
Comic book | 8% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1
English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Mandarin (Traditional), Thai
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
That cold ain’t the weather. That’s death approaching.
If I had the know-how and the resources to make my own movie, it might very well end up looking
something like 30 Days of Night. The Vampire genre is one of my favorites, and although
there are certainly some real duds scattered about (Subspecies, anyone?), the film industry
is far from saturated with movies featuring these creatures of the night, and that generally
keeps the quality of such films fairly high. Thankfully, 30 Days of Night keeps the tradition
of good vampire movies alive with an original story, fine acting, good effects, plenty of gore, and a
great, creepy score. Based on a comic book miniseries by the same name, the story proves fresh
and captivating and is a natural extension to vampire lore, ripe for the big screen.
Barrow, Alaska: The new murder capital of the world!
30 Days of Night bites into Blu-ray in 1080p high definition and inside its original 2.40:1 theatrical aspect ratio. Besides a few minor blemishes, this image is impeccable. Detail is incredibly high, though it lags slightly behind a few other titles in this department. I've found patches sewn onto uniforms to be a very telling sign of how detailed an image is. I look for stitching and legibility, and both are clearly present and accounted for here. A few shots, mostly close-ups of faces, exhibited a very slight bit of blurriness that kept this from delivering as a perfect transfer. There was also a minor instance of haloing visible on a distance shot of Barrow early on in the film, especially around the steeple of the church. Otherwise, everything else about this transfer is first-rate. Colors, as expected for a film taking place mostly in the darkness and cold, are appropriately drab, but reproduced nicely nevertheless. Black levels are just about perfect with fine detail in darker scenes, and blacks also stay true to life, never brightening artificially to reveal image and detail. Flesh tones are accurate. As the film wears on, we see the color fade from the skin of the human survivors, turning a dull and cold gray, while the vampires maintain their normal flesh tone. As expected, the print is immaculately clean and free of defects of any sort. This is a first-rate effort from Sony (again) and even though the final score comes just shy of perfection, this one comes close. Well done.
As usual, Sony delivers in the audio department, providing an enthralling Dolby TrueHD lossless soundtrack. Right off the bat, the viewer is enveloped in creepy atmospherics emanating from the rear soundstage. In fact, surrounds are in play for the vast majority of the movie's runtime, providing a seamless entry into Barrow and into the middle of the slaughter taking place all over town. Vehicles whiz by over your shoulder. Random screams, cries for help, and shotgun blasts litter the rear, creating an immersive and completely frightening experience. We are treated to pulsating, room shaking bass during the opening of the film that carries over into the rest of the experience as well. On the high end, the shrieks of the vampires are powerful, loud, and effective. They are completely convincing and downright scary. In chapter three of the film, their shrieks envelop the viewer as the camera pans around a victim, and each shriek is precisely imaged in each speaker for this extra-intense scene. Dialogue is crisp and seamless, focused in the center and sounding natural. The hint of fear is ever present in the voices of the actors, and every audible and frightened syllable is reproduced with ease. I found nothing to dislike about this track, and it delivers in spades, adding nothing but fear and fun to this impressive vampire movie.
While not a jam-packed special edition, 30 Days of Night on Blu-ray offers viewers some
nice supplements nevertheless. First up is a feature-length commentary track with actors Josh
Hartnett and Melissa George and producer Rob Tapert. I would liken this track to one of the "pop-
up
trivia tracks" that we are seeing more and more on Blu-ray. The participants offer up some
halfway
interesting stories and tales from the set and several lighthearted moments, but there isn't an
abundance of substance. This is a fine, laid-back track that's really only worth a listen if you've
nothing better to do. 30 Images of Night allows the viewer to see full-screen images
from
the film that correlate to scenes from the graphic novel on which the movie is based. This is a
nice
feature, and one that would have benefited greatly from implementing it as a profile 1.1 feature,
running it over the entirety of the film.
Also included are eight featurettes. Pre-Production (1080i, 8:27) looks at the
development process from the comic to the screen. Building Barrow (1080i, 5:15) looks
at the contrast between the real town of Barrow and the one more suitable for the film. Also
examined is the digital and physical creation of the town itself. The Look (1080i, 6:48)
showcases how the feel of the film enhances the palpability and fear therein. Blood,
Guts, & Nasty #@$&! (1080i, 7:24) looks at the violence in the film and the props and
make-up used for the gruesome effects throughout the film. Stunts (1080i, 7:15)
examines several stunts throughout the movie: The Window Crash, The Car
Attack, Roof Ambush, and the filming of several other sequences with a bit of a gag
reel at the end. The Vampire (1080i, 5:57) begins as a fun, mock television
documentary on vampires, featuring images from the film and around the set. The feature then
morphs into interviews with the crew about vampire lore and how to make believable vampires
for the film. Night Shoots (1080i, 5:59) discusses filming a feature length, Hollywood
movie at night and the toll it takes on the cast and crew. Finally, Casting (1080i, 9:05)
discusses the process of filling all the roles in the film. Concluding the supplements are 1080p
trailers for Sleuth, Steep, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,
Fearnet.com, and The Messengers and a 1080p Sony Blu-ray
promo.
Combining elements of John Carpenter's The Thing, Dawn of the Dead, and The Lost Boys, 30 Days of Night is one of the best vampire movies to come along in recent years. The story itself is infinitely clever and original and made for a very fine cinematic experience. While certainly not an award winning caliber film, 30 Days of Night offers up plenty of blood and gore on top of a great story to satiate the appetites of horror and vampire movie fans. On this Blu-ray release, fans are treated to extraordinary audio and video quality and a decent amount of extras. 30 Days of Night is a very good vampire flick, a standout Blu-ray disc, and highly recommended!
2010
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Unrated Edition
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Unrated Director's Cut
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Collector's Edition
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Original Unrated Cut
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Collector's Edition | + Theatrical Cut on BD
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Unrated
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