Le dernier vol Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Le dernier vol Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 1, 2010

Karim Dridi's "Le dernier vol" a.k.a. "The Last Flight" (2009) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors Gaumont. The supplemental features on the disc include an audio commentary with director Karim Dridi and actor Guillaume Marquet; the featurette "Sur la route de Lancaster"; "La realization", a look at the production history of the film; "Une recontre originale", a short featurette about the film's incredibly beautiful soundtrack; and the original theatrical trailer. In French, with optional English and French SDH subtitles. Region-Free

Love will guide you

French Sahara, 1933. A beautiful woman, Marie Vallieres de Beaumont (Marion Cotillard, La mome), arrives at a remote French fort looking for help - her lover, a British pilot, has crashed his plane deep into the desert and she needs someone to guide her through the area. She is unsure about the exact location of the accident, other than it must be somewhere in the Tenere region, but feels that her husband is still alive. The fort's commander, Vincent Brosseau (Guillaume Marquet), however, informs Marie that unless he receives a direct order from Algiers authorizing him to dispatch a rescue squad, he would not be able to assist her.

Meanwhile, the commander is told by one of his officers, Antoine Chauvet (Guillaume Canet, Les morsures de l'aube ), that a few of the big local tribes are planning to unite and attack the fort. He also warns that even some of their Tuareg allies are secretly planning to join the rebel tribes.

Marie meets Antoine and shares her frustration with Vincent. He understands how she feels but admits that there is nothing that he could do to help her. Shortly after, a sandstorm hits the fort and destroys Marie’s plane.

On the following day, news arrives that French soldiers have killed a prominent Tuareg warrior while battling some of the rebel tribes. Fearing a giant uprising, Vincent decides to attack a nearby stronghold and send a clear message to the local tribal leaders. Marie immediately decides to join him and his men, hoping that along the way she would find her lover.

Antoine asks Vincent to let him negotiate with the rebels. He knows their leader, who is the brother of a local girl he has been seeing for awhile, and hopes that he would listen to him and bloodshed would be avoided. Vincent reluctantly agrees but the rebels kill all of Antoine's men, including one of his best officers. Barely able to contain his anger, Vincent orders his men to prepare for battle. When Antoine warns him that he would lose all of them, Vincent questions his loyalty to France and then arrests him. On the night before the attack, Antoine manages to escape with the help of an old friend. Marie runs away with him.

Marie, Antoine and Saidou (Saidou Abatcha, Lili et le baobab), an experienced Tuareg warrior, head deep into the desert. Marie is convinced that it is only a matter of time before they find her pilot lover. Antoine does not believe Marie but tells her that he would be with her for as long as she needs him. Eventually, Saidou leaves Marie and Antoine, because where they are heading there is no more water. "God be with you", he tells them and then heads back. Alone in the middle of the desert, with the sun mercilessly beating down on them, Marie and Antoine slowly begin to lose their minds.

Based on Sylvain Estibal's novel "Le dernier vol de Lancaster", Karim Dridi's Le dernier vol a.k.a The Last Flight recreates actual events from the search of British pilot Bill Lancaster, who crashed in the Sahara desert on April 12, 1933. He managed to stay alive for eight days and described his final hours in a small diary, which was discovered by the French Army in 1962.

From start to finish, Le dernier vol is beautifully lensed. For example, many of the panoramic vistas from the Sahara desert - shot on location in Merzouga, Morocco - evoke parallels with the stunning images seen in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Sheltering Sky.

The acting is also impressive. Cotillard is perfect as the hurt but determined to find her lover Marie. Canet, looking slightly older in this film, is also convincing as the disillusioned officer who realizes that he might have wasted the best years of his life fighting someone else's war.

Dridi's direction is assured and notably elegant. The period detail in his film is never overwhelming. There are no flourishes or attempts to overdramatize the events seen on the screen either.

Le dernier vol Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Karim Dridi's Le dernier vol arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors Gaumont.

This is a solid high-definition transfer. Fine object detail is exceptionally strong, contrast lefels fantastic, and clarity very pleasing. The color-scheme is solid. The variety of different yellows are breathtakingly beautiful, the blues range from soft to rich, and the blacks from lush and heavy to light and soft. Edge-enhancement is not a serious issue of concern. Neither is macroblocking. I also did not detect any artifacting, ringing, or heavy noise filtering. There are no stability issues to report in this review either. Finally, I did not see any specks, stains, dirt, or scratches while viewing the film. My only complaint with this release is that during two nighttime scene I noticed a little bit of extremely mild background noise. Regardless, this is a beautiful high-definition transfer of a truly spectacular looking film. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. Please note that there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Le dernier vol Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with portions of Arabic and Arabic dialects). Please note that Gaumont have also provided a descriptive French audio option (DTS 2.0), which could be accessed directly from the main menu. For the record, the French distributors have also provided optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.

The French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is fantastic. The film has a wonderful, very exotic music score that sounds absolutely incredible. There are a couple of pan flute solos that create a terrific atmosphere - especially during the second half of the film. The various string instruments heard throughout the film are also very effective. The dialog is crisp, clean and exceptionally easy to follow. Additionally, while viewing the film, I did not detect any pops, cracks, or hissings to report in this review.

Le dernier vol Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: The supplemental features on this Blu-ray disc are encoded in 1080/50i. Therefore, if you reside in North America, or another region where 1080/50i is not supported, you must have a Region-Free player capable of converting 1080/50i to 1080/60i, or a TV set capable of processing native 1080/50i data, in order to view them.

Sur la route de Lancaster - a making of featurette with plenty of footage from the exotic locations where the film was shot, as well as comments by cast and crew members. In French, not subtitled in English. (28 min).

La realization - a look at the production history of the film. In French, not subtitled in English. (8 min).

Une recontre originale - a short featurette about the film's incredibly beautiful soundtrack. In English and French, with imposed French subtitles where necessary. (14 min).

Bande-annonce - the original French theatrical trailer for the film. In French, not subtitled. (2 min).

Commentary - an audio commentary with director Karim Dridi and actor Guillaume Marquet. In French, not subtitled.

Le dernier vol Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

French director Karim Dridi has evolved enormously since Pigalle, and Le dernier vol is clearly his most accomplished film to date. It tells an exceptionally beautiful and tragic story of love and loss. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of French distributors Gaumont, looks and sounds fantastic. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.