Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Neds Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 21, 2012

Peter Mullan's "Neds" (2010) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Entertainment One. The supplemental features on the disc include a gallery of deleted scenes and Q&A session. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

In pain

John McGill, the main protagonist in Scottish director Peter Mullan's third feature film, Neds (Non Educated Delinquents), is a young boy who wants to do well in school -- in the beginning to make up for the dangerous vacuum in his family which the departure of his older brother, Benny, a violent troublemaker, has left, and later on to distance himself from a vicious teacher who promises to let him move to a different class if he is one of the two top students in his class at the end of the year. With a lot of hard work John earns the ‘promotion’ and the respect of most of his classmates.

On the streets of Glasgow, however, John is often challenged by the members of two rivaling gangs -- until they realize that he is Benny’s brother. This instantly earns him plenty of freedom and various gang members warm up to him. Eventually, John begins hanging around with one of the gangs.

Soon after, John redirects the energy and desire to excel from the classroom to the gang. He begins imitating the bullies and learns how to intimidate those who disagree with him. In school, he also publicly confronts the teachers who have been praising his intellect. Gradually, John becomes like his brother ---a violent and dangerous young man filled with anger.

Meanwhile, at home John finally decides to confront his father, a disillusioned alcoholic who routinely abuses his mother. But after John seriously hurts him, his poor mother asks him to leave the house and stay away from the family.

Scottish director Peter Mullan’s Neds is a dark, brutal, and only occasionally hilarious film about life on the streets of Glasgow during the early ‘70s. It has been hailed as "Scotland’s answer to This is England" (FHM), but there are only a few very basic similarities between the two films. In This is England the main protagonists have an identity and their anger is attached to a system of dangerous political beliefs. In Neds John and the rest of the young boys are searching for an identity and something to believe in. There is a lot of anger in them but it is a blind anger that forces them only to clash with each other. There are no serious ideas attached to it.

Neds also never feels as stylish, or occasionally as innocent, as This is England. The violence, for instance, is completely drained of glamour, and none of the main protagonists, including John, are likeable. They are easy to feel sorry for, but only because they have become what they are against their will. They are at a very different level compared to the protagonists in This is England, where innocence is nowhere to be found.

This in-your-face unapologetic and uncompromising style makes Neds a borderline nihilistic film, one that is extremely difficult to embrace. The film does make a clear point that the unjust social system has reshaped the boys into criminals, but it does not explain why. The type of transformations seen in the film as well as the disturbing pure violence are not inspired only by poverty, there is more to them, but the film does not bother to speculate what.

Newcomer Conor McCarron is enormously impressive as the angry and violent John. In one of the film’s most upsetting sequences he tapes two big knives to his hands and challenges the members of the rivaling gang. Then he comes home to confront his father. The violence here is truly disgusting, truly unbearable. The supporting cast is also terrific. (Peter Mullan plays John’s alcoholic father).

Note: In 2010, Neds Golden Seashell Award for Best Film at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. Last year, the film won BAFTA Scotland Awards for Best Director and Best Writer.

Neds Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in am aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Peter Mullan's NEDS arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Entertainment One.

The high-definition transfer supports the film's gritty look. Detail is excellent from start to finish, with many of the close-ups conveying that 'thick' look which some of Ken Loach's latest films have. Clarity is also pleasing, but it has to be said that it fluctuates depending on whether or not natural light is restricted. Contrast levels are consistent. The film's color-scheme is quite unique. Despite the gritty look, the prominent colors are often warm blues, greens, and light browns. There are no traces of post-production sharpening or severe denoising. Naturally, a layer of fine, well resolved grain is present throughout the entire film. Banding and aliasing patterns do not plague the high-definition transfer either. Finally, there are no serious stability issues to report in this review. All in all, Neds looks excellent on Blu-ray. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Neds Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English LPCM 2.0. For the record, Entertainment One have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.

The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track has a good range of nuanced dynamics, but the film's sound design is fairly modest. Bass and surround activity, in particular, are limited. Acclaimed Scottish composer Craig Armstrong's atmospheric soundtrack, however, opens up the film in certain areas that would have looked quite unattractive without it (see the sublime finale with the beautiful piano theme). The dialog is crisp, clean, and stable, but kudos to Entertainment One for providing optional English SDH subtitles because viewers not used to the thick Glasgow accents will definitely find them enormously helpful.

Neds Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes - a gallery of deleted scenes. In English, not subtitled. (18 min, PAL).

• Peter Mullan Masterclass - a truly hilarious Q&A session with director Peter Mullan, who discusses his recent collaboration with director Steven Spielberg, the production history of Neds and its characters, its success, etc. Courtesy of the British Film Institute. In English, not subtitled. (23 min, PAL).

Neds Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Scottish director Peter Mullan's Neds is not easy to like but it is impossible not to be impressed with. It may well be the most authentic film ever made about life on the streets of Glasgow. It is superbly directed, terrifically acted, and complimented by yet another brilliant score courtesy of the great Craig Armstrong. The film looks and sounds terrific on Blu-ray. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.