5.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Aloft tells of a struggling mother who encounters the son she abandoned 20 years earlier.
Starring: Jennifer Connelly, Cillian Murphy, Mélanie Laurent, William Shimell, Peter McRobbieDrama | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.38:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Portuguese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH, Spanish, Portuguese
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Aloft is a movie about deeply held pain and the rift that pain creates between mother and son. Sadly, that pain and rift can be transposed to the relationship between movie and audience. Aloft is a well-meaning but flawed film that sloppily maneuvers through its inter-character drama. It struggles to find a center and a rhythm on the way to that center, meandering through the characters' pasts and presents. Little is given satisfactory explanation or development. It's as if the film assumes audience knowledge of the characters, at least a deeper knowledge than the movie provides. Viewers are often left hanging as the film pushes forward with deep-seeded character moments that never feel fully defined. It does all come together at the end in a beautifully simple moment of great catharsis, but it's a case of too little, too late for a film in which the emotional payoff isn't supported by an appropriately intimate and precisely tuned lead-up.
Are we there yet?
Aloft's 1080p transfer accentuates the film's cold palette. The film is made mostly of shades of snowy white and gray, blues, and bits of earthy woods and support colors. Lower light scenes can push a little pasty, but the somewhat reserved, visually bleak appearance translates well to the 1080p display. Details are largely satisfying, with complex facial features easily resolved. Winter coats with fur lining are precisely appointed, with every strand readily identifiable. Black levels are deep and pleasing. Flesh tones are a bit cool, and understandably so. The transfer suffers from no readily identifiable examples of macroblocking, aliasing, banding, noise, or other maladies. This is a simple but strong transfer from Sony.
Aloft features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack that's the perfect compliment to the film's distant, cold visuals. The main attraction here is a lingering, blustery, chilly wind that swirls around the stage with ceaseless command of the entire listening area. Every blast, bit of debris, cold slamming onto skin is heard and practically felt as it effortlessly draws the listener into the Arctic environment. The early time spent with the healer offers a genuinely robust and immersive crowd din. Various examples of lesser ambience are nicely integrated with pinpoint placement and delivery around the stage. Dialogue is delivered with firm, natural center placement and consistently articulate definition.
All that's included is the theatrical trailer for Aloft (1080p, 2:16) and previews (1080p) for other Sony titles.
Aloft is teeming with dramatic potential, and even two great performances and a satisfying, if not predictable, end cannot save a movie that's otherwise poorly structured and lacking in more tightly defined emotional character development. The film feels scattershot at best, presenting an obviously strong and thoughtful foundation on top of which there's not much of value. Sony's Blu-ray release of Aloft features high end video and audio. Extras are unfortunately limited to a trailer; a commentary would have been most beneficial. Rent it.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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