Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Near Dark Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 20, 2009

Kathryn Bigelow's heavily atmospheric "Near Dark" (1987) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment. The disc does not contain any supplemental features. It is also not subtitled in English. Region-B "locked".

What do we have here...

Near Dark is a different vampire film. In fact, depending on how one deconstructs it, one could successfully argue that it is actually a love story with a few vampires in it. The film was Kathryn Bigelow’s solo directorial debut.

Near Dark begins outside of a small country bar where a handsome cowboy, Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar), meets a beautiful girl, Mae (Jenny Wright). The two chat a bit and then get in his truck. Caleb decides to take Mae to his family ranch to show her his horse. Unfortunately for him, when they arrive, the animal goes berserk and runs away.

Mae begs Caleb to take her home because she does not feel good. Caleb jokes that it is probably because her father would have to talk to her for being out this late with a man he does not know. Caleb also announces that unless Mae kisses him, he won’t drive her back. Shortly after, the two kiss. Mae also bites Caleb on the neck.

It is almost daylight. Mae has left Caleb who now feels dizzy. His truck has died, so he has to walk back home. Halfway through, Caleb gets so sick that he could barely move his feet; he falls. A van appears and someone pulls him in it. It is dark – the windows are covered with thick tinfoil – but Caleb can see that there are other people in the van. He also recognizes Mae's voice.

At a rundown bar, where Mae’s friends go on a bloody rampage, Caleb realizes what has happened to him. Later on, Mae lets him drink her blood.

In the meantime, Caleb’s father and his little sister begin looking for him. They accidentally meet Caleb and his new friends at a small motel. After a short altercation with his friends, Caleb runs away with his family. A wild chase ensues that leads to a dramatic finale.

A cross-genre script - director Bigelow reportedly intended to shoot a Western, but changed her mind at the last minute - strong camerawork and unique soundtrack - courtesy of Christopher Franke, Edgar Froese, and Paul Haslinger from the legendary Tangerine Dream – elevate Near Dark above most other vampire-themed films from the mid-80s. Near Dark also lacks the heavy kitsch most of these types of films usually suffer from.

Howard E. Smith is to be commended for the film’s steady pacing. Aside from a couple of scenes where the main protagonists exchange some rather zesty jokes that do not work well at all, the rest of Near Dark never drags.

There is good chemistry between the young Adrian Passdar and Jenny Wright. Lance Hanriksen is also convincing as the tough and merciless Jesse Hooker. A funny-talking and outrageously evil Bill Paxton, who plays the character Severen, however, steals the show.

During the years, Near Dark has appeared in two different versions, an uncut one, running at approximately 94 minutes, and a sanitized one, running at approximately 86 minutes. Optimum Home Entertainment’s Blu-ray disc contains the uncut version of the film.

Note: Near Dark was the last film to be distributed by the legendary DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG), which funded and produced such cult classics as The Transformers: The Movie (1986), David Lynch's Blue Vlevet (1986), Michael Mann's Manhunter (1986), and Sam Raimi's Evil Dead II (1987).

Near Dark 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, Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment.

This is a pleasing transfer, quite similar to the one Hardware received. Detail is good, clarity adequate and contrast convincing. I did not see any overly disturbing edge-enhancement patterns. There are a couple of scenes where I noticed some thicker than usual lining, but I do not believe that this is something that would seriously affect your viewing experience. Macroblocking is not a serious issue of concern either.

The color-scheme is certainly unique. Yellows, blues, greens, browns, blacks and whites look natural and at times, as intended, a bit soft. I must also note that there are a few scenes where it is easy to see that mild noise reduction has been applied, but, as mentioned earlier, Near Dark still looks incredibly detailed and crisp. For the record, there are absolutely no disturbing debris, flecks, scratches, dirt, or stains that I detected. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" disc. Therefore, in order to access its content, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player).

Near Dark Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English LPCM stereo 2.0 track. I opted for the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and later on did a few random comparisons with the English LPCM 2.0 stereo track for the purpose of this review.

I have to immediately point out something very unusual that I noticed with the two audio tracks. During the opening credits, there is a very tiny pitch difference between the English LPCM 2.0 track and the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. If you switch between the two, as the music from the opening credits plays, you should be able to hear a slightly higher pitch for the English LPCM 2.0 track. Things quickly balance out, but I thought that this was rather strange.

The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is quite impressive. Those of you who have seen Near Dark before know that the film boasts an incredibly atmospheric soundtrack courtesy of Christopher Franke, Edgar Froese, and Paul Haslinger from the legendary Tangerine Dream, and I think that their music has never sounded this good. The bass is surprisingly potent, the rear channels intelligently used, and the high frequencies not overdone. During the last twenty or so minutes, where the music is of key importance, I thought that the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track was utterly impressive. This being said, the dialog is crisp, clear and easy to follow. There are no cracks, pops, hissings, or dropouts that I detected.

I would not recommend that you use the English LPCM 2.0 track. Dynamically, it is definitely not as strong as the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. In fact, I would say that even if you do not have a top-notch audio system, you should be able to hear that it is not as good as the English LPCM 2.0 track. There are no disturbing pops, cracks, or hissings that I detected. This being said, though the dialog it largely easy to follow, it is somewhat disappointing that Optimum Home Entertainment have not supplied optional English subtitles for the main feature.

Near Dark Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are absolutely no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray disc.

Near Dark Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark definitely looks and sounds impressive. It is a bit disappointing that there are no supplemental features on this disc, but the very attractive price tag Optimum Home Entertainment have given it should resonate well with fans of the film. Absolutely, we RECOMMEND it.