7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A compassionate speculation about the final days of James Whale, the director of Frankenstein and 20 other films of the 1930s and '40s, who was openly gay at a time when homosexuality in Hollywood was discreetly concealed. Retired and semi-reclusive, Whale lives his days accompanied only by images from his past. When his dour housekeeper hires a handsome young gardener, Clayton Boone, the flamboyant director and simple yard man develop an unlikely friendship.
Starring: Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave, Lolita Davidovich, David DukesDrama | Insignificant |
Biography | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Considering his age, Sir Ian McKellen may sadly join his British compatriots Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole as part of a group of absolutely iconic actors who never managed to bring home an “official” Academy Award for a performance (as opposed to an honorary statuette). McKellen has rather surprisingly only been nominated twice in his long and notable career, as opposed to seven nominations for Burton and eight nominations for O’Toole, in what is evidently a “record” for most nominations for one actor without a win. McKellen’s first nomination came for his moving yet tart work in Gods and Monsters, a film which posits McKellen as legendary director James Whale, the helmsman who guided such iconic horror films as Frankenstein, The Old Dark House, The Bride of Frankenstein and The Invisible Man. Gods and Monsters looks back at some of Whale’s early triumphs, notably The Bride of Frankenstein, but it’s really more of an elegiac piece, one concentrating on the vagaries of old age and diminished abilities, as well as perhaps fading reputation.
Gods and Monsters is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. This is another in Lionsgate's still developing series of BD-R releases. I've had at a couple of these BD-R outings from Lionsgate in my queue lately, including Under the Silver Lake and The Spanish Princess, and have been generally very pleased with the transfers and overall quality. With an understanding that both of those offerings are contemporary features culled from digital capture, while this is obviously an older outing shot on good old fashioned film, this didn't quite blow me away the way I was probably hoping, though that said, there are no huge quality issues here. Detail levels here are generally excellent, especially in the many close-ups Condon and cinematographer Stephen M. Katz employ, but the palette can look occasionally a bit wan and slightly pinkish at times. Contrast looked just a bit milky to me on a couple of occasions as well, adding a slight haze to some interior scenes. The flashback material is sometimes graded toward blue, and there are commendably no big fall offs in fine detail in most of those sequences. Slight wobble during the credits might suggest that no huge restoration work was performed on this.
In a perhaps troubling sign for Lionsgate's still nascent BD-R line, this release sports only a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. Gods and Monsters doesn't really exploit huge surround effects in any case, and so the lack of a lossless track may not be a deal killer for fans, but those who appreciate Carter Burwell's score might wonder what a lossless accounting of the music might have offered. In any event, dialogue, effects and score are rendered with decent fidelity and no problems. As always in the case of a Blu-ray presentation with only lossy audio this far into this format's history, part of my score is simply based on the fact that I personally think every Blu-ray should feature lossless audio.
There are no supplements offered on this Blu-ray disc. It's unfortunate that Lionsgate didn't port over the supplements on their previously released DVD.
Much as some modern day commentators have looked back on The Bride of Frankenstein and revisited it with a different perspective, Gods and Monsters kind of refashions the traditional "Hollywood biopic" in its own image. McKellen is both touching and occasionally a little pervy as Whale, and Fraser does a good job detailing an "ordinary Joe" who can't quite fathom what he's gotten himself into. The film may not adequately establish its own subtext in terms of attempting to weave disparate memories into an organic psychological whole, but the film has such an arrestingly unique take on things, and is bolstered by such generally fine performances, that it manages to sustain interest even when arguably wandering a bit. Lionsgate is worrying me just a little with this BD-R release, both in terms of not even porting over pre-existing supplements from a DVD, but also in offering only lossly audio. The video element is generally very good if not consistently outstanding. This is probably going to be one of those releases where fans may be split on whether or not it's a worthwhile purchase.
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