6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
When a police detective kills a criminal, this traumatic event triggers a locked memory, he didn't know he had, of him being a subject of a CIA experiment.
Starring: Michael Ironside, Lisa Langlois, Christopher Plummer, Stefan Wodoslawsky, Sean McCannForeign | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French (Canada): DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
BDInfo verified. 2nd track is also (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Project MKUltra provides the inspiration for 1989’s “Mindfield,” which explores secret government efforts to control test subjects with “induced amnesia,” with plans to utilize such chemical experimentation to best strengthen interrogations and inspire violence. The screenplay by Tom Berry, George Mihalka, and William Deverell (who adapts his own novel) is careful not to get too close to the source of such corruption, creating a dramatic path for the picture, which follows a Montreal cop struggling with his past as he hunts for killers across the city. It’s chilly work from director Jean- Claude Lord, who’s not committed to making a procedural thriller or explore the scientific manipulation in full, ending up somewhere in the middle, trying to make sense of character connections and motivations. “Mindfield” is well-acted and select scenes of hostility work as intended, but the overall endeavor is a bit scattered, with many ideas and characters competing for screen time, coming up short as a conspiracy thriller.
The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation is sourced from a 2K scan of the 35mm interpositive. "Mindfield" dares to show off Montreal hues, favoring the browns and beiges of the community, along with its colder sense of concrete and street life. Yellows are amplified. More varied hues emerge with period costuming and the brighter reds of a sex shop, and lighting choices also communicate Christmas colors. Skin tones are natural. It's a softer looking feature, but facial surfaces retain some detail, along with heavier costuming. Tours of city streets and a stadium retain depth, and decorative additions aren't completely lost. Delineation is satisfactory. Grain is heavy but film-like. Source is in good condition.
The 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix provides clear dialogue exchanges. Performance choices and emotional moments register as intended. Scoring supports with clear emphasis and instrumentation. Sound effects are appreciable, handling gunshots and explosions.
"Mindfield" isn't a difficult sit, but it doesn't live up to its potential as a gripping study of confusion and manipulation. There are sporadic scenes of antagonism, with plenty of shootouts, and the ending brings the action to Olympic Stadium, which is a neat setting for dramatic resolution. Ironside does fine in the lead role as well, working to locate the vulnerabilities in this hard man, while Langlois also searches for extra character business to manage. "Mindfield" contains a few inspired moments, perhaps enough to pass, but the writing is easily distracted, never coming together as an epic understanding of government horrors, union power, and brain melt.
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