Continental Divide Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

Continental Divide Blu-ray Movie Review

A charming sleeper from writer Lawrence Kasdan (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back).

Continental Divide is an entertaining comedy-drama staring comedy legend John Belushi (National Lampoon's Animal House). Executive produced by Steven Spielberg (Ready Player One, Jurassic Park), Continental Divide has plenty of heartwarming comedy and romance to entertain audiences.

Ernie Souchak (John Belushi) is a talented Chicago Sun-Times writer who is involved in crafting stories related to politics and detailed exposes. Despite having a solid fan-base, Ernie finds himself in trouble when he gets attacked following a hard-hitting story. After ending up in a hospital bed, Ernie's editor suggests he focus on a less dangerous story and that he interview ornithologist Nell Porter (Blair Brown), an eagle researcher who lives in the mountains. Nell studies the American bald eagle and has an undying love for nature. Can the slick city writer and country girl get along?

At the heart of Continental Divide are the performances. John Belushi and Blair Brown have excellent chemistry together. The actors perform their parts with a perfect blend of whimsy: providing the film with a sense of charm that is distinctly its own. The pair seem to bubble with energy in their scenes together. The end result is that the filmmaking is all the more charming and enjoyable.

"Eagles?"

The drama features a strong music score composed by Michael Small (Marathon Man, The Stepford Wives). Though the score is less pronounced than in some productions, the music adds a nice little ambiance to the production. The music highlights the comedy and drama in subtle ways.

Featuring cinematography by John Bailey (Silverado, In the Line of Fire), Continental Divide is not a breathtaking cinematic experience – it's a character-driven romantic-comedy. Even so, Bailey offers decent visuals of the outdoors and some scenic moments that make it more entertaining. While not perfect, the efforts from Bailey get the job done.

Written by Lawrence Kasdan (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back), the screenplay is one of the best strengths of the film. Kasdan is one of the most gifted writers in Hollywood. Working on a host of blockbusters and indie-scale gems, Kasdan adds another entertaining gem to his resume. The script balances the character-dynamics and romance well. It's a fun script and one that never runs out of steam.

Michael Apted (The World Is Not Enough, Enigma) brings Continental Divide to life while in the director's chair and the production is well-mounted from start to finish. The storytelling of Apted, written with the director's lens, is fantastic. The characters are given depth and dimensions that are sometimes forgotten on the editing room floor with romantic-comedy dramas. Yet Continental Divide surprises and entertains. Check it out.

Continental Divide Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber, Continental Divide is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 widescreen. The scan is decidedly average throughout. There is nothing extraordinary about the video – no new 4K scan, restoration, or extensive work has been done to the presentation. The print is an average one that is never going to shine as bright as a new restoration would have provided.

Nonetheless, the scan looks acceptable enough and fans will be pleased to know that the print is free from egregious issues with regards to print damage, dirt, debris, and other such anomalies. The color palette is somewhat muted (and never shines) but some of this is likely the result of the cameras used during production. It just isn't a breathtaking looking film. Regardless, an acceptable encode by Kino, and one that doesn't have major compression issues either.

Continental Divide Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. The lossless audio track is sufficient for the production. The sound design is never flashy. It is a fairly straightforward audio track with an emphasis on dialogue. For an old-fashioned comedy-drama, the results are unexpected. Given that the film does not include a surround sound presentation, the sound-stage is limited. Dialogue remains consistently clear and easy to understand. There are certainly no serious faults with the track (such as pops, clicks, hiss, warps, and other anomalies).

Optional English subtitles provided.

Continental Divide Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Audio Commentary by Film Historian/Filmmaker Daniel Kremer and Film Historian/Biographer Nat Segaloff

Continental Divide Theatrical Trailer (SD, 2:52)

The release also includes a selection of trailers promoting other releases available from distributor Kino Lorber: D.C. Cab (SD, 2:33), Bustin' Loose (SD, 1:29), Amazon Women on the Moon (SD, 1:32), Mumford (SD, 1:52), and Gorky Park (HD, 2:24).

Continental Divide Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Continental Divide is surprisingly heartfelt and entertaining. The film wears its heart on its sleeve and has plenty of fun with the romantic- comedy storyline. The performances enhance the film with both John Belushi and Blair Brown proving their worth. Featuring a decent video-audio presentation, Continental Divide comes recommended.