6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Brian Kessler, a journalist researching serial killers, and his photographer girlfriend Carrie set out on a cross-country tour of the sites of the killings. Sharing the ride and their expenses are Early Grayce, a paroled white trash criminal, and his girlfriend Adele. As the trip progresses, Early begins to appear more and more unstable, and Brian and Carrie begin to fear that they may have a real-life killer in the back seat of their car.
Starring: David Duchovny, Michelle Forbes, Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis, David Rose (II)Thriller | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Drama | 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
French: DTS 5.1
German: DTS 5.1
Italian: DTS 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0
Catalan: DTS 5.1
Hungarian: Dolby Digital 2.0
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 2.0
Turkish: Dolby Digital 2.0
English SDH, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, Croatian, Danish, Finnish, Greek
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
There’s pretty boy Brad Pitt—A River Runs Through It, Legends of the Fall, Ocean’s 11—and there’s bug-nuts insane Brad Pitt—True Romance, Twelve Monkeys, Snatch—and never the twain shall meet. (Okay, they touch briefly in Fight Club.) Kalifornia, a serial killer/road-trip gone bad movie from 1993, definitely falls into the latter category, as Pitt plays a bearded, hard-drinking, rural hayseed psychopath, giving perhaps the most out there performance of his career. Unfortunately, Kalifornia often slips into the shadow of that other serial killer/road movie from the early 1990s, Oliver Stone’s brilliantly depraved Natural Born Killers, which stirred up a hornet’s nest of controversy for its nihilistic violence and hyperkinetic, almost gonzo style of filmmaking. In comparison, the glossier Kalifornia is relatively tame, but it’s no mere knock-off. (It actually appeared in theaters a full year before Natural Born Killers.) I’d venture to say that Kalifornia is actually the more psychologically insightful of the two films, even if its ultimate conclusion is that it’s impossible to have real insight into the mind of a killer.
Worst. Road trip. Ever.
MGM brings Kalifornia to Blu-ray with a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that doesn't seem to be overly tampered with. The image here looks entirely natural—film grain is apparent, edge enhancement is absent, and there's been no unnecessary boosting or excess filtering. Overall clarity isn't the strongest—not compared to more modern films—but the sharpness is completely in keeping with other catalog titles from the early 1990s. While the look is a little soft, especially in mid-to-long- range shots, close-ups still display an appreciable amount of fine detail and texture, like the splatters of mud on Brad Pitt's chest as he digs a grave. The film has a warm, almost amber cast, and colors are nicely saturated, especially during the outdoor daytime scenes. Skin tones look a bit ruddy on occasion, but this seems more like a product of lighting than post-production color tweaking. Black levels are deep and contrast is balanced, with ample shadow detail and a decent sense of depth. The print is clean aside from some mild color fluctuations in sky blues, and there aren't any compression quirks as far as I could tell. Fans should enjoy the film's new high definition look.
The film's newly minted DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is capable, but not quite as immersive as it could've been. Take the opening scene in the rain, for instance. You'd expect the downpour to be panned into the rear channels, effectively making you feel like you're sitting in the middle of the storm, but you'll hardly hear anything from the surround speakers. This is a trait that keeps ups throughout the film. There are moments when you expect a big cross-channel effect or some atmospheric ambience, but it just never happens. When the rear speakers do pipe up, they do so quietly, with softly blowing wind, buzzing crickets, or barroom chatter. Carter Burwell's score comes and goes as well, not making much of an impression, but it sounds okay, and the action that takes place up front at least has clarity and occasionally forceful dynamic presence. The key element to the mix is the dialogue, which is perfectly balanced and always intelligible. Subtitles are available in an impressive array of languages.
The sole special feature included on the disc is a theatrical trailer (1080p, 2:29).
Also note that while the front of the Blu-ray case says "Includes both the theatrical version and
unrated version of the film," only the unrated cut is present on the Blu-ray disc. On the included DVD,
however, you'll find both cuts of the film.
Preceding Natural Born Killers by a year, Kalifornia is often unjustly called a copycat film. While there are definitely surface similarities—the presence of Juliette Lewis in both tends to conjoin to the two movies in people's brains—Kalifornia is a different beast altogether. Where Oliver Stone's film is hyperkinetic and visually intense, Kalifornia is more balanced and classically cinematic. (Some might say dull, but next to NBK, nearly everything is.) It's one of the less remembered entries from the upswing in serial killer movies during the 1990s, but it deserves to be seen, if only for Brad Pitt's insane performance. Tech specs on this Blu-ray are strong, so aside from a lack of bonus features, I see no reason for fans not to pick this one up.
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