Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Maps to the Stars Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 14, 2015

Winner of Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival, David Cronenberg's "Maps to the Stars" (2014) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Entertainment One. The Supplemental features on the disc include an audio commentary with screenwriter Bruce Wagner; cast and crew interviews; footage from the film's premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

"Why are you in LA?"

At first the fake smiles and the lies seem rather odd, but eventually it becomes clear that they come with the scenery. This is Los Angeles and even when there are no cameras rolling people are is acting. The waiters, the limo drivers, the baristas, even the garbage collectors are brilliant actors waiting to be discovered. Some really believe that they are, while some continue to act because they are either too ashamed or too tired to pack up their bags and go back to where they came from.

Havana Segrand (Julianne Moore) is a real actress, but she is just as miserable as the wannabe actors waiting for their big break. She is dying to be in an upcoming film that will chronicle the life of her late mother, a legendary Hollywood star, but a friend has told her that she isn’t the director’s first choice. Havana has been trying to remain calm, but the uncertainty has pushed her on the verge of a serious nervous breakdown.

Thirteen-year-old Benjie (Evan Bird) is also a real actor. He has made millions for his parents, Christina (Olivia Williams) and Stafford (John Cusack), and now they treat him like a rare exotic object. Like most big stars living in Los Angeles, Benjie is a recovering alcoholic who has experimented with all sorts of different drugs. He still pops the occasional pill, but now he knows when to stop before things get of hand. While working on the sequel to his latest blockbuster, however, Benjie is visited by an annoying ghost.

Agatha (Mia Wasikowska) is not an actress. She has just arrived in Los Angeles and hired Jerome (Robert Pattinson), a wannabe actor making ends meet as a limo driver, to show her the city. Agatha has also applied for a job online and hopes to get one soon so that she can afford to rent a place somewhere on the outskirts of the city.

In the next couple of days, Havana will hire Agatha to be her personal assistant, Benjie will be tempted to have another drink and will become upset with his acting partner, and his parents will make a terrible discover that will test their marriage.

If the great Luis Bunuel was still alive, he absolutely would have fallen in love with David Cronenberg’s Maps to the Stars as it dissects and ridicules Hollywood with the same passion his films targeted religion and the bourgeoisie. Even the manner in which the surreal overtones cut through the film and collapse reality reminds of the bizarre hallucinatory sequences that made the Spanish master’s films legendary.

The film is incredibly cynical. It sees Los Angeles as a seductively beautiful but dangerous place populated by two kinds of people: successful but completely detached from reality stars and professionals and delusional losers who serve them while dreaming of becoming like them. Both groups seem equally miserable but do their best to show and convince the other that they are perfectly satisfied with the way things are. Needless to say, living in Los Angeles seems like a never ending episode of a badly scripted fake reality show.

The complex relationships between the main protagonists are virtually irrelevant. The focus of attention is primarily on the odd logic behind their actions and the paranoia that slowly erodes their lives.

Maps to the Stars is based on an original script by Bruce Wagner, which was apparently inspired by his personal fears and the various disappointments he experienced while living in Los Angeles. It was also the first film Cronenberg shot in America.

Maps to the Stars Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, David Cronenberg's Maps to the Stars arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Entertainment One.

Excluding some extremely light artifacts that try to sneak in during a few indoor sequences, the technical presentation is excellent. Well-lit close-ups, in particular, boast outstanding depth, and clarity is consistently very pleasing. The daylight footage looks very crisp and appropriately glossy (the film was shot with the Sony CineAlta PMW-F55 4K camera). Some minor depth fluctuations exist during the darker footage, but it is obvious that they are part of the original cinematography (see screencapture #19). Colors are lush, stable, and very natural. Finally, there are absolutely no stability issues to report in this review. All in all, this is an excellent presentation of Maps to the Stars that will leave its fans completely satisfied. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Maps to the Stars Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, Entertainment One have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

Maps to the Stars does not have an aggressive sound design, but if you appreciate intelligent mixing and nuanced dynamics you will like the 5.1 track a lot. Indeed, random sounds and noises are incredibly easy to identify, and when Howard Shore's soundtrack carefully opens the film -- pay attention to the sequences with the ghosts -- the effect is quite spectacular. Depth, in particular, is of reference quality. For the record, there are no audio dropouts, pops, or digital distortions to report in this review.

Maps to the Stars Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interviews with Cast and Crew - director David Cronenberg, screenwriter Bruce Wagner, producer Martin Katz, and cast members discuss their initial impressions of the script for Maps to the Stars, some of the unique relationships and conflicts in the film, the main characters and the environment in which they exist, LA and its glamorous image, the city's seedy side, etc. In English, not subtitled.
  
  1. Julianne Moore (4 min).
  2. Mia Wasikowska (3 min).
  3. Olivia Williams (4 min).
  4. Evan Bird (3 min).
  5. John Cusack (4 min).
  6. Robert Pattinson (4 min).
  7. David Cronenberg (7 min).
  8. Bruce Wagner (5 min).
  9. Martin Katz (4 min).

• Additional Cast and Crew Interviews - a short collection of clips produced for Entertainment One. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• On the Red Carpet - footage from the film's premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, with short comments from David Cronenberg and cast members. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Audio Commentary - screenwriter Bruce Wagner talks about the different disappointments he experienced while living in LA, and explains how the script for Maps to the Stars came to exist, where different sequences were shot, what is the significance of the ghost footage, etc.

Maps to the Stars Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

David Cronenberg's work has not been this effective since the days of Crash. However, like Cosmopolis, his latest film, Maps to the Stars, will not be universally liked. It is too cynical and too intelligent, too risky to see with the whole family. As far as I am concerned, however, it is one of last year's best films, and now unquestionably one of the must-own releases. In the United States, Maps to the Stars will be released on Blu-ray next month. (You can see our listing of this upcoming release here). VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.