Astral City: A Spiritual Journey Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Astral City: A Spiritual Journey Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf November 27, 2014

The afterlife is serious business to co-writer/director Wagner de Assis. Adapting the 1944 book by Francisco Candido Xavier, the helmer isn’t interested in keeping “Astral City: A Spiritual Journey” merely comforting. He wants the effort to have profound meaning, giving viewers a soulful journey while still paying attention to bright visual effects and matters of the heart. And the Brazilian production works to a certain extent, with the filmmaker whipping up enough dead zone oddity and melodrama to hold attention, though it comes up a little short in its quest to move the world into moral responsibility.

“Astral City” tells the story of Andre (Renato Prieto), a family man who’s died, trapping him in a cold, vicious purgatory known as “Umbral” before he’s rescued and handed a shot at a blissful afterlife in “Nosso Lar,” a place of brightness and expansive architecture, where the residents are in a holding pattern as they learn valuable lessons about life before considering a return trip via reincarnation. To lubricate dramatics, Andre is a sort of Scrooge character who’s experienced a mysterious death, trying desperately to understand his new reality, learning powerful lessons that make him a better person. “Astral City” is a laudable attempt at positivity, endeavoring to push a spiritual journey beyond the screen, showing the virtues of self-improvement and community participation. The message of the movie is difficult to argue with, and de Assis shows his homework with an impressive visual look achieved on a low budget, while employing Philip Glass to juice up the effort with a heavenly score.

Astral City: A Spiritual Journey Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation benefits from its HD-shot cinematography, which naturally emphasizes fine detail. Textures are exceptional, capturing aging faces and set details with pleasing sharpness. Colors are equally responsive, offering a strong bluish lean to the visuals, while primaries also make a positive impression. Blacks sustain their delineation.

Astral City: A Spiritual Journey Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 LPCM sound mix carries some heft, with introductory sequences in Umbral showcasing a pleasing doomsday rumble. Atmospherics are also satisfactory, creating a spiritual city mood with futureworld sound effects and disparate environments. Dialogue exchanges are crisp, with nothing lost during the listening experience, and scoring efforts are supportive, carrying the emotion of the picture when necessary.

Astral City: A Spiritual Journey Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making Of (22:08, HD) is a fairly comprehensive look at the creation of "Astral City," tracking its development from idea to production, mixing cast and crew interviews with BTS footage. It's a promotional piece, missing post-release reflection, but the creative steps are interesting to see, especially when focus is turned to visual effects and scoring.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (2:27, HD) is included.

Astral City: A Spiritual Journey Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Astral City" loses its way in the second half, where the thrill of discovery is replaced with the burden of answers, finding reveals failing to acquire levels of suspense the production is seeking. The picture is better with exploration than mystery, with enough afterlife peculiarity and curiosity creating a welcome atmosphere of philosophy and charity.