Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.0

Dying of the Light Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 19, 2015

Nicolas Cage evidently has absolutely no intention of going gently into that good night, instead preferring to kick and scream his way through a seemingly endless variety of midlevel dramatic films. Such is the case with Dying of the Light, a fitfully interesting but ultimately boneheaded spy thriller which is about as by the numbers as it can be. Cage portrays an aging former operative named Evan Lake, a guy who underwent horrific torture at the hands of a terrorist decades earlier and never quite recovered from his injuries (Cage sports a completely bizarre looking appliance on his right ear detailing the most gruesome of the injuries). To add insult to said injuries, Lake finds out that he’s also suffering from an extremely aggressive sibling to Alzheimer’s Disease, something that makes his already volatile temperament even less predictable.

Lake has been positive lo, these many years that his long ago torturing nemesis is still alive, despite CIA insistence that he perished in the rescue mission that ultimately brought Lake home. Of course, the terrorist is alive, and working with a young neophyte named Milton Schultz (Anton Yelchin), goes searching for him, even after Evan has burnt bridges with his CIA superiors. Dying of the Light is resolutely predictable every step of the way, positing both a “hero” (Lake) and a “villain” (that aforementioned terrorist) who are suffering from debilitating diseases, as if to suggest we’re all just the same underneath, albeit in this instance, terminally ill. Cage does okay in a completely hyperbolic performance, but the film is a sloppy mess of espionage clichés.

Dying of the Light Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Dying of the Light is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Shot digitally with the Arri Alexa, Dying of the Light traffics in several thriller clichés in terms of color grading, with lots of blue and yellow tending to suck incremental levels of detail out of the image. There are also some surprisingly noticeable instances of noise in some of the darker sequences. Otherwise, though, this is a solid and appealingly sharp and clear transfer, especially in brighter, more naturally lit, environments, where the palette pops very nicely and fine detail rises to excellent levels.

Dying of the Light Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Dying of the Light has relatively little of the sturm und drang of a lot of contemporary spy thrillers, so aside from passing sequences like a short lived car chase, there's little chance for the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix to really up the ante into solidly forceful offerings. Instead, the film tends to play out in relatively quieter dialogue scenes, though there is still nice attention paid to directionality and placement of ambient environmental effects. Fidelity is excellent and there are no problems of any kind to warrant concern.

Dying of the Light Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Scenes of Dying of the Light (1080p; 14:27)


• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 23:40)


• Interviews with the Cast and Crew:

  Paul Schrader - Writer/Director (1080p; 1:58)

  Nicolas Cage (1080p; 6:50)

  Anton Yelchin (1080p; 2:39)

  Alexander Karim (1080p; 3:59)

  Claudius Peters (1080p; 1:22)

  Adetomiwa Edun (1080p; 1:22)

• Dying of the Light Trailer (1080p; 2:31)

Dying of the Light Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Paul Schrader is an appropriately lauded screenwriter ( The Last Temptation of Christ, Raging Bull), but his work as a director has been decidedly hit or miss. He manages to elicit a surprisingly good turn from Nicolas Cage in this film, and there are a number of other generally compelling elements here, but overall this is a pretty tired rehash of ideas and approaches that everything from Homeland to A Most Wanted Man have covered more convincingly. Technical merits are strong for those considering a purchase.