Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

A Lonely Place to Die Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 16, 2012

Winner of Best Action Film Award at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, Julian Gilbey's "A Lonely Place To Die" (2011) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Kaleidoscope Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include the film's original theatrical trailer; making of featurette; audio commentary by director Julian Gilbey and writer Will Gilbey; and more. In English, optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Stuck

High into the Scottish mountains a group of climbers discover a little girl buried in an underground chamber who could barely breathe through an air pipe. They manage to get her out alive and immediately proceed to contact the police.

Alison (Melissa George, Turistas, 30 Days of Night) and Rob (Alec Newman, Four Corners of Suburbia), the most experienced climbers, head to the village of Annan Mor, which is some twenty miles away, while Ed (Ed Speleers, Eragon), Jenny (Kate Magowan, Kidulthood), and Alex (Garry Sweeney, The Acid House) decide to stay behind and wait for the police. Very soon, however, they become targets for four invisible snipers. Eventually, two of the snipers disappear, but the two (Sean Harris and Stephen McCole) that remain vow to have them dead.

Julian Gilbey’s A Lonely Place To Die reminds a lot about John Boorman’s classic survival thriller Deliverance. It is similarly intense, disturbing, and at the same time beautiful to look at. Gilbey’s film, however, is far more atmospheric and fascinated with nature.

The film’s desire to tiptoe between different genres – action, thriller and drama – might well be its most serious weakness. Though the story never becomes too complex or frustratingly unbelievable – there are some very obvious plot holes but all are very easy to tolerate – it never quite finds a direction that it feels comfortable with. This makes certain episodes in the film appropriately unpredictable but it also creates the impression that the film wants to be too many things at the same time. Unsurprisingly, its finale is rather disappointing.

The atmosphere in the film, however, is terrific. After the climbers discover the little girl, the beautiful Scottish mountains immediately become unusually cold and unfriendly, then certain rawness gradually takes over the film and forces some very serious and credible character transformations. More importantly, until the finale there are absolutely no attempts to overdramatize the events taking place on the screen, even though they easily could have been given the Hollywood treatment.

George is fantastic as the initially indecisive but later on determined to succeed in her mission climber. The fear on her face when she gets stuck on the wall definitely feels real. Speeleers is also convincing as her final partner. Harris has a commanding presence that is needed for this type of film, though admittedly some of his lines are not terribly convincing.

Shot with the Red One Camera, the film looks gorgeous. The large panoramic vistas, in particular, are wonderful, many looking like moving photographs. There is one specific sequence during the second half of the film where a very short sunset is captured by the camera that looks absolutely stunning. The various overhead shots during the climbing sequences are also excellent.

Despite the script inconsistencies mentioned earlier, the editing is also very strong. Once the chase begins, the film picks up a steady tempo and never slows down.

The film is complimented by a modest but surprisingly effective soundtrack courtesy of composer Michael Richard Plowman, who has apparently teamed up with writer/director Jason Figgis for the much anticipated upcoming re-release of legendary director F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens a.k.a Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922).

Note: Last year, A Lonely Place To Die won four Special Awards at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, including Best Action Film (Fans Choice Award) and Best Cinematography (Ali Asad).

A Lonely Place to Die Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Julian Gilbey's A Lonely Place To Die arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Kaleidoscope Entertainment.

Aside from some extremely mild shimmer - a byproduct of the downsampling - that pops up for less than a second very early on, the high-definition transfer is mighty impressive. Actually, this could be the most impressive film that has been shot with the Red One Camera that I've seen transition to Blu-ray (Criterion's Che considered). Detail is simply stunning, especially during the outdoor sequences, while colors are some of the richest and most natural ones I've seen in a long time (see screencaptures #2, 4 and 6). What impressed me the most, however, was how well natural light was captured. There is one particular sequence where a beautiful sunset is captured that looks absolutely stunning - the clarity and perfectly balanced colors are incredibly impressive (see screencapture #13). The various close-ups also look excellent. Lastly, there are no serious aliasing or banding patterns plaguing the high-definition transfer. (Note: This Blu-ray disc is Region-Free. However, its menu is in 1080/50i, which means that the disc is unplayable in 98% of all Blu-ray players, including the PS3, that are sold in the United States and Canada. The Blu-ray disc will therefore be marked in our database as Region-B "locked").

A Lonely Place to Die Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English LPCM 2.0, and an audio descriptive track. For the record, Kaleidoscope Entertainment have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is unlikely to test the muscles of your audio system, but if you appreciate authentic, pure and exceptionally detailed sound you will be impressed with it. The screams coming through the air tube, the sound of falling rocks, and the crisp gunshots are so realistic that often times it feels like one is right in the middle of the action. Michael Richard Plowman's minimalistic score also comes alive at the right places. The dialog is also exceptionally crisp, clean, and stable.

A Lonely Place to Die Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - the original UK theatrical trailer for A Lonely Place To Die. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• Making of - a very long and very informative documentary with an abundance of information about the production history of the film. The documentary also contains a lot of raw footage from the various locations director Julian Gilbey and his men scouted before shooting began. In English, not subtitled. (70 min, PAL).

• Commentary - an audio commentary by director Julian Gilbey and writer Will Gilbey. This is a very technical audio commentary with plenty of information about the various locations seen throughout the film, climbing techniques, shooting techniques, etc. Many of the beautiful panoramic shots, for instance, were apparently filmed during different periods.

• The Challenge of the Alps - director Julian Gilbey talks about his fascination with the Alps and climbing passion. This short featurette also contains footage from the director's trip to the Alps. In English, not subtitled. (17 min, PAL).

A Lonely Place to Die Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I enjoyed Julian Gilbey's A Lonely Place To Die quite a lot. It is not a film that breaks new boundaries, but it is very atmospheric and unusually beautiful. It also looks very impressive on Blu-ray, which certainly helped a lot. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of British distributors Kaleidoscope Entertainment, is Region-Free, but its menu is encoded in 1080/50i, which makes it unplayable on the vast majority of U.S. Blu-ray players, including the PS3. The U.S. release, however, will be out in March. RECOMMENDED.