6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
In a post-apocalyptic America, former U.S. Marine Gabriel Drummer searches desperately for the whereabouts of his son, accompanied by his best friend and a survivor.
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Jai Courtney, Gary Oldman, Kate Mara, Tory KittlesThriller | Insignificant |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.42:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Note: A couple of unavoidable plot points need to be discussed in attempting to recount Man Down’s sometimes intentionally opaque
plot. Those wary of even potential spoilers are encouraged to skip down to the technical merits of the review, below.
Post traumatic stress disorder is a very real problem, as should probably go without saying, and it has provided at least some tangential plot elements in
various films, even if it wasn’t always known as PTSD, including The Best Years of Our Lives, The Deer
Hunter and Coming Home. Recent incursions into
Afghanistan and other battlefields would seem to offer opportunities to explore this important subject, but Man Down largely wastes that
opportunity, cloaking what could have been an insightful look at a veteran suffering from debilitating psychological issues in a fractured narrative style
that is further removed from its supposed subject by a patently weird quasi-science fiction angle that places everything in what seems to be a post-
Apocalyptic United States. That “seems” in the previous sentence is an important caveat and hints at what director and story co-writer Dito Montiel
may want to indicate is even more delusion that Gabriel Drummer (Shia LeBoeuf) is experiencing.
Man Down is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.42:1. While it's probably no huge surprise at this point that the IMDb omits technical data on the film, even Panavision's site doesn't seem to have anything (at least that I could find), something that unusual in that the film's credits list Panavision lenses and typically the site is very up to date with technical data on the films which use its lenses. That said, your intrepid reviewer was able to track down an Instagram post by the ASC where it's stated the Alexa was utilized. However, one of the more interesting things mentioned in the post was this comment about the film's kind of interesting grading choices:
Another key contributor to the look of the film was Bradley Greer at KyotoColor in New Orleans. Bradley worked tirelessly to give the Alexa material an expressive color grade across scenes that took place in reality, a warped world that seemed real to some and the battle-scarred world of the middle east.This alludes to but perhaps doesn't adequately describe the wide variances in grading and just overall appearance that are on display throughout the film. As might be expected, some of the happy family flashback material is extremely warm and natural looking, while Gabriel's interactions with Captain Peyton and at least some of the other war material is skewed more toward yellow. Quite a bit of the battle material, as well as a lot of the post- Apocalyptic material, is almost monochromatic, with barely a hint of color emerging at times. Due to these wide variances, there are noticeable upticks and valleys in detail and especially fine detail levels, though generally speaking this is a sharp and well defined looking transfer, with the exception of what might be intentionally artificial looking backgrounds.
Man Down's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is really rather impressive given the film's self confessed (in the commentary track) low budget and short shooting schedule. While there is the requisite LFE apparent in both some rumbly ambient effects as well as elements like gunfire, some of the more evocative sound design comes in the bleak and barren post-Apocalyptic material, where a bleak but effective use of environmental effects helps to create a nightmarish ambience. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly on this problem free track.
Man Down wants to offer a supposed mind boggling twist at its overwrought climax, but the film's emphasis on post traumatic stress disorder makes that a pretty risky gambit, and one that this film isn't able to successfully bring off. Instead this effort, while well intentioned, comes off as needlessly manipulative and overly melodramatic. There's a great film to be made about PTSD (for those who haven't seen the fantastic and weirdly lesser known John Huston documentary Let There Be Light, I highly recommend it for a nonfiction take on the subject). Unfortunately, Man Down isn't that film. Technical merits are strong for those considering a purchase.
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