7 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 3.6 |
Waking groggy in pitch darkness, Paul Conroy, a truck driver from the US working as a contractor in Iraq in 2006, slowly realizes he is trapped inside a wooden coffin, buried alive. With his cigarette lighter, he can see the trap he is in, and he quickly realizes that there's not enough air for him to live long. He finds within the coffin a working cellphone, which allows him contact with the outside world. But the outside world proves not to be very helpful at finding a man buried in a box in the middle of the Iraqi desert. Paul must rely on his best resource--himself.
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, José Luis García-Pérez, Robert Paterson (II), Stephen Tobolowsky, Samantha MathisThriller | 100% |
Psychological thriller | 35% |
Mystery | 28% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English, English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
No one ever called the European or Pacific theaters in World War II quagmires, and indeed that term wasn’t even used for the long running (and some would say still simmering) Korean conflict. “Quagmire” first raised its mucky head during Vietnam, and it has been resurrected with fair regularity for any conflict, large or small, which the United States has engaged in ever since. Of course it’s now part and parcel about our “dialogue” concerning Iraq and Afghanistan, the latter conflict which has recently supplanted Vietnam as our “longest running war,” as if (and in fact an argument could be made it is), it’s a television program. Buried is a horrifying film based on a seemingly impossible conceit that takes the quagmire to a personal level, as a private trucking contractor named Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) finds himself spirited away into a buried box after his convoy is ambushed and attacked in Iraq. The entire film takes place within the confines of the wooden coffin, lit only by Conroy’s cigarette lighter and the blue light of a cell phone his captors have left for him (as well as a glow stick and flashlight he discovers later), and the film, aside from some voice work from people on that cell phone, is a solo outing for Reynolds, who may find himself an Oscar contender in a few weeks. Buried is not a perfect film, and in fact has a few gaping holes of logic, as well as some silly hyperbolic elements that may enrage some viewers in the wrong way, but it is such an arresting concept and so often brilliantly staged that it becomes one of the more riveting film experiences of the last year.
Buried doesn't have a knock your socks off hi-def image, and that's obviously quite intentional. Delivered via an AVC codec, in 1080p and 2.35:1, Buried is deliberately shot in a low contrast environment with only minimal lighting effects, giving the film a dark, shrouded and somewhat desaturated look. That said, there is abundant fine detail in the many close-ups of Reynolds' battered face. Rope burns, blood and beard stubble are all completely sharp and well detailed, and though the "corners" of the image often disappear in the encroaching darkness, black levels are stable and expressive. Colors are muted, again deliberately so, so that Reynolds' haggard flesh tones, along with the yellow flare of the cigarette lighter, ghostly green of the glow stick, white and red of the flashlight, and ice cold blue of the cell phone really provide the only hues throughout the film. Buried was obviously crafted to be as oppressive visually as it is emotionally, and when taken in that context, this Blu-ray presentation works very well indeed.
Despite an intentionally extremely narrow soundfield, Buried has an amazingly well rendered lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix that perhaps surprisingly manages to be incredibly immersive while working within the narrow confines of a wooden box. Right off the bat, with the film imageless for the first segment, we get a variety of thunks, thumps and heavy breathings dispersed throughout the surround channels. While the bulk of what dialogue there is is placed front and center, repeatedly ambient noises creep in from the sides and rear, adding to the oppressive feeling that smothers Buried at virtually every turn. Fidelity is excellent, with careful delineation between Reynolds' "live" voice and the cell phone communications. Also superb is Victor Reyes' minimalist score, which is extremely well crafted and mixed into the proceedings.
Unfortunately, Buried's supplements are pretty subterranean:
Buried is not an easy film to stomach, and in fact many viewers may be gasping for air along with Reynolds' character Conroy. One of the most brilliantly staged films in recent memory, Buried manages to allude to America's current global situation while depicting a horrifyingly personal story. The film has some dramatic problems, but Reynolds gives a visceral performance, and Cortés is a director to keep an eye on. Disturbing, distressing and with no easy answers, Buried is Highly Recommended.
2011
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Experiment Killing Room
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Unrated Extended Cut
2011