Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

Manhunt: Unabomber Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 14, 2017

The term “criminal mastermind” gets tossed around with considerable alacrity these days, despite the fact that a lot of criminals wouldn’t seem to be overly intelligent, at least as evidenced by some of the stupid decisions they make. There’s probably no arguing the fact that, whatever his flaws, Ted Kaczynski is a genius. The man has an IQ reportedly well north of 160 (“genius” is supposedly officially the domain of anyone with an IQ over 140 or so), and was studying at Harvard at the tender age of 16, earning his first degree at the equally tender age of 20. Kaczynski would seem to be a character tailor made for a feature film or an extended miniseries like the one currently under review, which may be one reason why Manhunt: Unabomber tends to generate at least a modicum of interest despite some pretty clunky writing and a structural artifice that needlessly complicates the narrative. Manhunt: Unabomber is in actuality probably more a story about FBI profile Jim “Fitz” Fitzgerald (Sam Worthington), one of a new breed of analysts the FBI started utilizing in the 1990s and the guy widely credited with helping to bring Kaczynski to justice. In fact if you had come into Manhunt: Unabomber without any foreknowledge of who was playing whom, you’d be excused if you initially thought Worthington was in fact cast as Kaczynski, since the opening vignette documents Worthington, scraggly as all get out, traipsing through the woods and communing with nature as he brings back the bounty of a hunting trip. Only when he gets to his cabin and is confronted by a coterie of FBI agents trying to get him back into the fold does this minor bit of subterfuge become clear. It turns out that Fitz, while diving into the writing of Kaczynski, had had a bit of a spiritual awakening himself, leading to his “Thoreau-ization”. That little tidbit might in and of itself help to point out how powerful Kaczynski’s intellect is, since his writing had such a profound effect on the man trying to stop Kaczynski’s bombing activities.

For a miniseries ostensibly about Theodore Kaczynski, it’s notable that the nefarious bomb maker doesn’t really even show up until well into this arguably overlong enterprise (at least in anything other than some occasional narration done by the character). Instead the opening of the piece has some admittedly visceral content showing various “innocent bystanders” getting taken out by Kaczynski’s explosives. Even more curiously, the film repeatedly ping pongs between Fitzgerald’s “latter day” activities (post-Kaczynski arrest) and his earlier time at the Bureau, where as one of the first FBI profilers, he starts to develop techniques which will ultimately help him identify Kaczynski as the Unabomber.

This overly convoluted structure becomes even more of a head scratcher once the supposed “main” focus of the miniseries gets underway in the second episode, namely that the FBI wants Fitz to get Kaczynski to cop to a guilty plea, since they don’t want the risks of going to a trial with a genius who may tip the law to his own ends, or at least use the inherent public forum a trial would provide in order to foster his anti-technology beliefs. And in fact some may feel that the interchanges between Fitz and Kaczynski (Paul Bettany) are the best parts of Manhunt: Unabomber. It’s here that the writing gets at least a little sharper, though I’m personally uncertain as to how much of this sharpening might be attributed to the screenwriters simply aping Kaczynski’s own words.

The other point of interest for some viewers may be the presentation of linguistic analysis that Fitz brought to the investigation. As those who may remember the real history of the Unabomber may recall, it was Kaczynski’s unique writing style which ultimately led to his downfall, and while some aspects of Kaczynski’s unmasking and eventual capture were in fact more or less the product of chance instead of the result of investigative techniques, Fitz’s whole approach is rather riveting and fascinating in and of itself. That said, the whole linguistic analysis aspect is met with skepticism or even outright disparagement by the bigwigs of the FBI, in a plot conceit that would seem to suggest some higher ups in the Bureau should be twirling virtual villain mustaches, so to speak. There are also a couple of odd casting choices at play in this section of the story, including Jane Lynch as none other but Janet Reno.

It’s actually a little odd that Discovery is branding this under the Manhunt rubric, since Manhunt: Unabomber actually starts with Kaczynski already in jail, which would seem to suggest the hunt is over. That, along with a needlessly over convoluted structure repeatedly get in the way of this tale, one which admittedly has a ton of fascinating tidbits sprinkled throughout. But at well over six hours, Manhunt: Unabomber feels awfully padded, even with fine work from Bettany and an at least intermittently compelling depiction of life as an FBI profiler.

Manhunt: Unabomber Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Manhunt: Unabomber is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Discovery and Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. I haven't been able to track down any authoritative technical data on the shoot, but this has the smooth, sleek look of digital capture, though I have to say that for whatever reason quite a bit of this presentation looks just slightly soft. Some of this may have to do with the repeated use of cool blue lighting and/or grading techniques employed in a lot of the FBI office scenes. Some of the CGI, notably the explosions, isn't especially convincing. Detail levels are still generally high, especially when lighting conditions allow. Shadow detail is a little iffy in some of the darker scenes, including a bunch of the interrogation sequences as Fitz attempts to get Kaczynski to go for a guilty plea.

Manhunt: Unabomber Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Manhunt: Unabomber is a pretty relentlessly talky affair, so aside from some ambient environmental sounds when the miniseries ventures outside or the interstitial eruptions of explosions as the horrifying bombings are shown, there's really not any consistently huge opportunities here for impressive immersion. Instead, the track kind of trudges along, offering excellent fidelity and rendering dialogue and effects clearly and cleanly, but (aside from things like the aforementioned explosions) never really going for anything overly "showy".

Manhunt: Unabomber Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Criminal Profiling (1080p; 1:34) is a brief "how to" featuring the real life James Fitzgerald.


• Who is the Unabomber (1080p; 1:44) offers Fitzgerald again talking about the character of Kaczynski.


• Deciphering the Manifesto (1080p; 2:32) features Fitzgerald yet again talking about his history on the case as well as his analysis of Kaczynski's writing.


• Trailer (1080p; 2:00)

Note: All of the supplements are contained on Disc Two of this two disc set.

Manhunt: Unabomber Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's a lot of interesting content in Manhunt: Unabomber, and the more patient viewer with an interest in this case may well want to check out this miniseries. But the structure is overly complicated, something that repeatedly robs the narrative of momentum, and the depiction of FBI higher ups as a bunch of sniveling idiots doesn't exactly play to "heroic" archetypes. The best performance by far is Bettany, who makes Kaczynski both wily but oddly vulnerable. Technical merits are generally strong if uninspiring for those considering a purchase.