High-Rise Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		3.0

High-Rise Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 3, 2017

Ben Wheatley's "High-Rise" (2015) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal. The supplemental features on the disc include a large collection of cast and crew interview; short featurette; and exclusive audio commentary with director Ben Wheatley, Tom Hiddleston, and producer Jeremy Thomas. Also included with this release are six original art cards. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The tower

High-Rise is based on J.G. Ballard’s 1975 novel whose main plot elements are preserved in the film. However, director Ben Wheatley’s visualization of the dystopian world in which Dr. Laing exists shifts the focus of attention from the critical deconstruction of its nature to the largely meaningless mechanics of his struggles to preserve his sanity and the trivial actions of the people around him. The end result is a somewhat stylish but disappointingly disorganized film that does not do justice to the novel.

The tower is a futuristic structure designed by a brilliant architect (Jeremy Irons, Dead Ringers) who has reserved the top level for himself. There he continues to improve it and feels like a God who can control the lives of the people below him -- and he does precisely that because he has direct access to the tower’s power grid and can even regulate the food supplies that enter the giant grocery store on one of the lower levels. The architect has a small circle of admirers and friends but they can reach his level only via a private elevator protected by armed bodyguards.

Dr. Laing (Tom Hiddleston, Thor) moves into a mid-level apartment and soon after attends a lavish party organized by one of his neighbors where he gets a chance to interact with a motley crew of residents. The party has a profound impact on him because it suddenly makes him realize that the tower is essentially a mini-replica of a closed society with a clearly defined class structure. In the days ahead, he also discovers that there is a great deal of hidden animosity between residents from different levels that is fueled by the type of ideological class biases that have alienated people living outside of the tower.

When an electrical malfunction creates a series of unfixable problems in the tower, the social order that the architect has created collapses with a bang. In the ensuing chaos some of the more affluent residents choose to entertain themselves to death, while the majority of the residents from the lower levels decide to follow their most primitive survival instincts and turn against each other.

The film is most effective during the opening twenty or so minutes where Dr. Laing explores the tower and begins to realize that it is the flawed utopian creation of a brilliant but also slightly deranged man. However, as Dr. Lang meets different residents and observes the contrasts that separate their levels the film becomes a lot more interested in their eccentric behavior and by the time the architect abandons his project it evolves into one big freak show.

There are a few segments after the rioting begins where some of the more affluent residents engage in intellectual conversations and attempt to draw parallels between real events and developments inside the tower that reveal a certain logic that supposedly explains the inevitable end of the Western civilization, but it all feels like an incredibly pretentious chatter that was simply left to justify the mayhem.

The film has a cold, at times even notably sterile look that is quite appropriate. On the other hand, many of the editing choices are questionable and it frequently feels like large portions of the film are actually extracted from a collection of uneven overpolished clips created by digital artists.

High-Rise Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Ben Wheatley's High-Rise arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal.

The film looks fantastic in high-definition. Detail and clarity are exceptional and depth is probably as good as it could be in 1080p. (I assume that in native higher resolution the visuals will be even more impressive). The unique color balance is also wonderfully reproduced -- there is an excellent range of solid cold primaries and plenty of terrific nuances. Image stability is excellent. Finally, there are no purely transfer-specific anomalies to report. Indeed, an outstanding technical presentation that should make fans of the film very happy. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

High-Rise Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English LPCM 2.0. Also included is an English Descriptive Audio track 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I viewed the film with the 5.1 and was quite impressed with the outstanding fluidity and excellent range of nuanced dynamics. Actually, I was quite surprised how active and well-balanced the sound design is because given the nature of the novel that inspired the film I was expecting a much more casual presentation. The dialog is always stable, clean, and easy to follow.

High-Rise Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interviews - presented here is a collection of interviews with various cast and crew members in which they discuss their involvement with High-Rise, J.G. Ballard's novel that inspired it, the structure of the narrative and some of the main ideas that define it. In English, not subtitled.
  
  1. Producer Jeremy Thomas (13 min).
  2. Sound recordist Rob Entwistle (3 min).
  3. Set decorator Paki Smith (3 min).
  4. Costume designer Odile Dicks-Mireaux (4 min).
  5. Second unit director Nick Gillespie (5 min).
  6. First assistant director Neil Wallace (5 min).
  7. Production designer Mark Tildesley (12 min).
  8. Stand-by props assistant Jamie Egner (1 min).
  9. Stunt coordinator Glenn Marks (3 min).
  10. Special effects artist/supervisor Dan Martin (3 min).
  11. Unit manager Andrew Wilson (2 min).
  12. Tom Hiddelston (23 min).
  13. Sienna Miller (7 min).
  14. Sienna Guillory (12 min).
  15. Luke Evans (18 min).
  16. Keeley Hawes (13 min).
  17. Jeremy Irons (13 min).
  18. James Purefoy (11 min).
  19. Elisabeth Moss (9 min).
  20. Dan Renton Skinner (9 min).

• Bringing Ballard to the Big Screen - in this short video piece, actors Tom Hiddleston, Sienna Miller, and Luke Evans, and dierctor Ben Wheatley, amongst others, quickly address J.G. Ballard's novel and some of its prophetic observations that are recreated in High-Rise. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Audio Commentary - director Ben Wheatley, Tom Hiddleston, and producer Jeremy Thomas discuss in great detail the genesis of High-Rise, J.G. Ballard's novel, many of the novel and the film's main themes, how various sequences were shots, etc.

• Art Cards - six original art cards for High-Rise.

High-Rise Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is very unfortunate that High-Rise did not end up being a David Cronenberg project. When Cronenberg adapted J.G. Ballard's novel and directed Crash, he created a dark, perhaps a bit risky but genuinely thought-provoking masterpiece that left an indelible impression on the people that saw it. There is no doubt in my mind that Ben Wheatley's intent for High-Rise was similar, though this is a film that deals with a very different subject. Having read Ballard's novel that inspired it, I think that it almost completely fails to capture its spirit while trying very hard to be chic and edgy. It did not work for me at all, and frankly I barely made it to the end. If your experience with this film was different, you will be pleased to know that it looks stunning in high-definition.