6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.8 |
Two Turkish anti-terrorist agents are sent to New York City on a mission to find and bring back the dangerous Islamic terrorist: DAJJAL, believed to be hiding in there. Working with the FBI and NYPD, the agents orchestrate the arrest of Hadji Gumus, a well-respected Muslim scholar and family man who years before fled to the United States after being released from a Turkish prison, where he served time for murder. This tale love, friendship, peace and prejudices, takes us on a journey seeking to answer the question of whether innocence or guilt even matters to one who lusts for vengeance.
Starring: Haluk Bilginer, Danny Glover, Gina Gershon, Mahsun Kirmizigül, Robert PatrickDrama | 100% |
Foreign | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Nothing will ever be the same anymore.
Indeed, every minute of every day brings a new dynamic to the flow of life, and things-a-changing isn't just a result of high-profile events. The old
"butterfly effect" argument seems just as valid, not only on paper but also in common sense and a quick look back at any life,
when
pondering the part of consequence, fate, one small action yielding an avalanche of change, whatever the case may be on the way the old world
turns. But it's not the distant flapping of a wing that
gets
the headlines. No, it's the endgame effect, the earthquake or the tsunami or whatever immediately-evident consequence of that innocent little flap
of
the wing may be. And it's not the teachings or the beginnings of a plan or even that first moment when mind and seed meet and an idea for a
landscape-altering plan is first conceived. No, it's the bullet that killed the Archduke or the image of planes smashing into towers that's written in
the history book and burned into the mind's eye, even as the world
changed long before -- in those moments when seed and brain became one, and even well before that on the fluid and flowing river of history --
bullet
met flesh or television
screens captured the chaos of a mid-September morning. But it's against that single backdrop that so much is placed; such events make for
convenient and new starting lines in history that are
easy to identify but truly little more than another checkpoint on the timeline of past, present, and future. But those fresh and easily-spotted
starting
and stopping points offer expedient lines of demarcation for storytelling, serving as backdrops for fictional narratives and, indeed, the seen and
unseen truths of the here and now and the very real and immediately-evident. Director Mahsun Kirmizigül's Five Minarets in New York
makes use of 9/11 as a
backdrop to
tell a story of paranoia, hate, uncertainty, prejudice, misconception, and violence. But much like the case may be with a photo in a history book or a
blurb on a historical
marker, the story goes much deeper, both the real and the imagined, but this film is content to simply dabble around the surface where the story
may
be orchestrated but not fully understood.
In the big city.
Five Minarets in New York features a serviceable but occasionally underwhelming 1080p transfer. The picture often appears out of focus; if it's not the entire scene, it's portions of the frame, sometimes off to the sides, sometimes right in the middle. That goes from distractingly soft to downright blurry, and many scenes fall victim. On the plus side, the image can also be razor-sharp, so much so that the contrast is often startling, the two opposing visuals sometimes appearing in back-to-back shots. When it's on, detail impresses mightily. Facial lines are incredibly crisp, and the transfer captures both the smoother New York exteriors as well as the rougher Turkish terrains with equal precision and attention to detail. Colors are vibrant, even when the image takes on a very ghastly, washed-out tone. Gümüsh's prison jump suit, for example, offers a brilliant orange shading, and many other, less vibrant hues enjoy that same precision. Blacks can be a little washed out, and flesh tones often favor a somewhat pale look to them. Banding, blocky backgrounds, and other no-nos are largely absent. The out-of-focus and soft shots are a real downer, a major drawback to an otherwise solid transfer.
Five Minarets in New York features a balanced and satisfying Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is constantly immersive and filling, making use of the entire sound stage to naturally encircle the listening audience in any number of sonic elements, from sharp religious chanting to heavy gunfire. The former is defined by a deep, steady rhythm and strong bass, the latter by a sense of sonic danger as bullets tear through every corner of the soundstage. Those action scenes feature potent explosions, flying debris -- including an overturned vehicle that skids through the middle of the stage -- and a quality sense of aural chaos that might leave some ducking for cover behind the couch, only to be fired upon by the rear speakers. Ambience impresses both in the big-city exteriors and smaller Turkish locales, where passing cars, pedestrians, and natural exterior atmospherics fill the listening area. Dialogue is balanced and remains in the center channel, save for those moments in more cavernous locales where the spoken word naturally bounces around the listening area. Millennium's soundtrack does the movie proud.
No supplements specific to Five Minarets in New York are included; only trailers for other Millennium films are to be found on this disc.
Five Minarets in New York is a disappointing ride down cliché lane. An admirable effort and an evident purpose are lost under grossly stereotyped characters, a choppy narrative, and a ridiculously over-the-top ending, not in what happens but in the way the movie stylistically handles it. What should have been an involved Thriller with deep characters and deeper thinking is instead a superficial and unfocused experience that will leave audiences wanting a superior movie of the difficult and prejudicial post-9/11 landscape. Millennium Entertainment's Blu-ray release of Five Minarets in New York features underwhelming video, solid audio, and no supplements. Rent it or skip it.
2010
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Luftslottet som sprängdes
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