6.4 | / 10 |
Users | 2.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.6 |
The legend of Yamashita's Gold lures a treasure hunter and his group deep into the Indonesian jungle.
Starring: Ario Bayu, Sam Hazeldine, Joe Taslim, Miki Mizuno, Mike Lewis (XII)Horror | 100% |
Adventure | 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 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The language of Dead Mine is English, but the cast is international, and the locations, themes and credits reflect the pan-Asian reach of HBO Asia, which co-produced the film, one of the company's first original ventures. The film was released theatrically in Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia, but in the U.S. it can only be seen on video courtesy of XLrator Media. (Your guess is as good as mine why it wasn't released through HBO, which, like its Asian cousin, is controlled by Time Warner.) In theme and structure, Dead Mine shares a lot with another XLrator release, Outpost: Black Sun, but where the latter drew its threat from Nazi Germany, Dead Mine unearths monsters left by imperial Japan when it fought the Allies in the Pacific. Director and co-writer Steven Sheil employs the reliable and time-honored formula of sending a group of explorers on a mission to a remote region, where they find something unexpected, uncanny and dangerous. One of the elements that distinguishes Sheil from so many contemporary horror directors (and it's a quality he shares with Steve Barker of the Outpost series) is his willingness to use old-fashioned practical effects instead of relying entirely on CG creations. As a result, Sheil's scenes have a density on camera, and his actors deliver interactive performances, that add substance to Dead Mine's overall impact and raise it a cut above (if you'll pardon the expression) the pack. Despite a somewhat disappointing ending, the film is worth your time.
Dead Mine was shot by Australian cinematographer John Radel. Although definitive information on the shooting format was not available, it appears to be a digital capture, with all of the usual advantages that digital provides. The image on XLrator's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray is clean, sharp and detailed with excellent black levels and contrast. The color palette is just as capable of bringing out the deep greens of the Indonesian jungle as the red blood of mayhem occurring underground. A number of other sights that I can't describe without spoilers also have distinctive colorations, though not of the bright or "popping" variety, and these too are memorably rendered. The actors appear to have been cast and made up for the distinctiveness of their features, so that the characters can be easily identified, even if, like me on the first viewing, you don't quite catch their names. With no major extras and only one audio track, the 91-minute program resides easily on a BD-25. No compression artifacts or other side effects of digital capture and mastering were observed.
Dead Mine's soundtrack, presented here in lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1, lets you hear its full, aggressive presence in the opening moments of the film, as sounds of the jungle surround the listener: rustling, dripping, animal cries and an indefinable chomping sound that could be millions of insects chewing at leaves. It's a disturbing, overbearing sensation that prepares the viewer for the experiences to follow. When the expedition led by Price is fired upon, bullets whiz past from various directions, and the explosion of a hand grenade is palpable. As the team proceeds underground, vibrations, creaks, metal fatigue and other, less easily identifiable sounds are everywhere. Bass extension is powerful and will challenge your subwoofer. Dynamic range is excellent, allowing dialogue to be reproduced clearly, despite the strong accents of some of the actors for whom English is not a first language. The effective horror score by Charlie Mole (Mr. Selfridge) sounds great.
The only extra is the film's trailer (1080p; 2.35:1; 1:39). At startup, the disc plays trailers (in 1080p) for Outpost: Black Sun, Thale and The Thompsons, which can be skipped with the chapter forward button and are not otherwise available once the disc loads.
Dead Mine is a typical genre film. It uses familiar elements and tries to fulfill expectations, rather than challenging the viewer to see the world differently. It's cinematic comfort food for horror fans, but it's also well-made, features a talented cast and creates interesting visuals that are different from those we usually see in contemporary creature features. A few extras would have been nice, but the Blu-ray's technical merits can't be faulted. Highly recommended.
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