Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Beasts of No Nation Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 29, 2021

Cary Joji Fukunaga's "Beasts of No Nation" (2015) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include new video interview with Cary Joji Fukunaga; new audio commentary recorded by Cary Joji Fukunaga and assistant director Jon Mallard; new documentary with cast and crew interviews; original trailer; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Before you decide to pick up a copy of Cary Joji Fukunaga’s Beasts of No Nation, I urge you to track down a copy of Jean-Stephane Sauvaire’s Johnny Mad Dog, which came out nearly a decade earlier. It isn’t difficult to do so. There is a fine French release of Johnny Mad Dog from TF1 which happens to be English-friendly and Region-Free, and can be easily ordered via Amazon.fr. Despite being co-produced by Mathieu Kassovitz (La Haine) and celebrated with various awards at major international festivals, for some very odd reason Johnny Mad Dog did not get a U.S. home video release, which is unfortunate to say the least because it is an astonishing film.

Everything that you will see in Beasts of No Nation is done better in Johnny Mad Dog. In fact, it is done a lot better. Like Beasts of No Nation, Johnny Mad Dog is set in an unnamed African country that is torn apart by a massive civil war which has instantly transformed thousands of kids into vicious killers. They call themselves Death Dealers and are stoned out of their minds, which is why they can’t register the atrocities they commit. A man with a military rank has ordered them to enter the capital and ‘free’ the local TV station, so they march forward and kill anyone that looks like the ‘enemy’. But the ‘enemy’ does not exist. Their targets are elderly men and women that have been unable to leave when it was possible, or other armed kids that have formed their own gangs and started fighting the 'enemy'. It is a mad circus packed with lunatics.

Johnny Mad Dog is a very graphic film too, but with a different style and attitude. It is like an unhinged documentary that has survived only because its creator somehow managed to exit the mad circus alive. This isn’t surprising because the kids that do the acting in it are former soldiers and have killed before. During the end credits, they can be seen holding rifles and grinning at the camera, essentially being themselves. These are chilling visuals because many, and perhaps even all of them, fit perfectly the classic definition of ‘war criminal’.

The mad circus in Beasts of No Nation is identical, but is filmed differently. A boy named Agu (Abraham Attah) sees his family slaughtered and joins a gang of rebels. They are all kids taking orders from a merciless pervert (Idris Elba) who dreams of becoming a general after the civil war ends. But when the man he is taking orders from, the Supreme Commander Dada Goodblood (Jude Akuwudike), eventually meets him and reveals that their arrangement needs to be changed because the international community has started paying attention to their war, the pervert decides to walk away and take his soldiers with him. Shortly after, they all become targets for the people they used to fight for.

Fukunaga apparently used some former soldiers as well, but there are a lot of actors in his film that act in a scripted drama. The graphic violence and chaos are still quite disturbing, but you would often and easily recognize that Fukunaga does plenty to emphasize both for maximum effect. The efforts infuse the film with a very odd sense of artificiality. Also, Fukunaga has undoubtedly studied Terrence Malick’s style because the short sequences that occasionally interrupt the carnage and attempt to reveal a human side of Agu are modeled after very similar but much more effective sequences from The Thin Red Line.

Despite being praised, Elba’s dramatic performance is neither right nor needed for this type of film. It demands the spotlight and ultimately leaves the impression that the fate of his character is of importance. It is not. This is why Johnny Mad Dog hits so hard and is genuinely disturbing. It does not have a character that attempts to define the madness that has been unleashed. It just hangs with the killers and captures human depravity.

Beasts of No Nation Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Beasts of No Nation arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet that is provided with this Blu-ray release:

"The film was shot on an Arri Alexa camera and completed in a fully digital workflow, and the color timing was supervised by director Cary Joji Fukunaga. The 5.1 surround soundtrack was remastered from the original audio master files using Avid's Pro Tools.

Colorist: Steve Bodner/Company 3, New York."

The film looks spectacular in high-definition. Obviously, this isn't too surprising considering that it was shot with an Arri Alexa camera, but the visuals that emerge from it truly are some of the most impressive that I have seen on Blu-ray this year. Depth, clarity, sharpness, and fluidity are definitely in 'reference quality' territory, so on a larger screen everything terrific. Color balance is outstanding as well. Image stability is terrific. All in all, this is as good of a technical presentation that this film could have received on Blu-ray. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Beasts of No Nation Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (with small portions of African dialects). There are optional English subtitles for the main feature. Imposed English subtitles are included for the small portions of the film where English isn't spoken.

I had to turn on the optional subtitles because I could not follow the exchanges. They feature plenty of broken English, plus the accents could be quite heavy and difficult to get used to. However, the lossless track is outstanding. During the shootouts dynamic intensity and the surround effects are very impressive. A lot of the 'quieter' footage features some really good nuances as well. In other words, this lossless track offers plenty of material that can test the limits of your system.

Beasts of No Nation Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Beasts of No Nation. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Passion Project - this exclusive new documentary examines the genesis of Beasts of No Nation. It features clips from interviews with Cary Joji Fukunaga; producers Andy Kaufman, Daniela Taplin Lundberg, and Riva Marker; and actors Abraham Attah and Idris Elba. Ot was produced by the Criterion Collection in 2021. In English, not subtitled. (62 min).

• Cary Joji Fukunaga and Franklin Leonard - in this new video interview, Cary Joji Fukunaga discusses the production history of Beasts of No Nation as well as the evolution of his career and style. The interview was conducted by critic Franklin Leonard in 2021. In English, not subtitled. (22 min).

• Costume Design - in this new video interview, costume designer Jenny Eagan discusses her contribution to Beasts of No Nation. The interview was conducted exclusively for the Criterion Collection in 2021. In English, not subtitled. (21 min).

• Commentary - this audio commentary was recorded by Cary Joji Fukunaga and assistant director Jon Mallard for the Criterion Collection in 2021.

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring Robert Daniels' essay "A Different Kind of African War Film" as well as technical credits.

Beasts of No Nation Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Beasts of No Nation looks and feels like a bigger and more dramatic American remake of Johnny Mad Dog. Obviously, it isn't that kind of a film. Cary Joji Fukunaga worked with original material that came from a novel written by Uzodinma Iweala. So, why are there so many similarities between Beasts of No Nation and Johnny Mad Dog? Because they focus on the same human depravity and attempt to reconstruct the exact same carnage that was fueled by it. I think that Johnny Mad Dog is clearly the better film. Beasts of No Nation occasionally veers off in a direction that a few of Terrence Malick's films visit, plus some of its drama is very carefully manipulated for maximum effect, and as a result in it the carnage begins to look quite artificial. Also, it does not help that Idris Elba's performance is so dramatic that it demands the spotlight as if it was meant to be one of the main attractions in a big Hollywood project. If you have already seen Beasts of No Nation, liked it and want to have it in your collection, you will be thrilled with Criterion's upcoming Blu-ray release because it looks incredible on it. RECOMMENDED, but only to the fans.