8.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.1 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A young man stumbles upon the underground world of L.A. freelance crime journalism.
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, Bill Paxton, Kevin RahmDrama | 100% |
Crime | 73% |
Film-Noir | 36% |
Thriller | 5% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
BD-Live
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Oscar Snub Season is once again upon us. Among this year's hotly debated victims: Selma, Gone Girl, Interstellar, The LEGO Movie, Locke, Big Eyes, Force Majeure, Life Itself and Nightcrawler. The best of 2014's non-winners? Critics and audiences seem to have narrowed the most offensive snubs to three films: Selma, which somehow failed to earn acting or directing nods (despite a much-deserved nomination for Best Picture), The LEGO Movie, bizarrely overlooked in the Best Animated Feature category, and Nightcrawler, without question one of the best films of the year and, now, one of the Academy's most tragically overlooked. Though nominated for Best Original Screenplay, Dan Gilroy's chilling, utterly mesmerizing study of a career-driven sociopath could have been a staple of several major categories, including Supporting Actress (Rene Russo), Actor (Jake Gyllenhaal), Director, and Best Picture. Adding insult to injury, two Best Picture spots remain empty, with only eight out of a possible ten slots filled. (Three of which are occupied by decent but divisive, largely unremarkable biopics: The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything and American Sniper.) Could Nightcrawler have won? Gyllenhaal might have nabbed a Best Actor statue, and even then it would come down to a neck and neck race with Michael Keaton and Steve Carell, but Best Picture? Not in a year dominated by Birdman, Boyhood and other stunning achievements in film.
Gyllenhaal doesn't need an Oscar nomination to make Nightcrawler an unforgettably intense character drama, though. The film doesn't need to be counted among the Best Picture nominees to make it one of the most gripping thrillers of the year. It doesn't need any awards attached to its name to pull off everything Gilroy set out to accomplish, and more. Nightcrawler is a taught, riveting, stomach-knotting nail-biter that doesn't let up for a second, and the only real snub to be dealt is by those who pass it by without so much as a rent.
Nightcrawler features a strong 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation that's true to Gilroy and cinematographer Robert Elswit's grainy, raw-edged intentions. Though much of the film was shot between midnight and 6am, the image remains striking and evocative, with rich, unflinching colors punctuating the darkness, piercing primaries, and satisfying black levels. Blood spatter, Los Angeles neon, and Lou's Challenger are vivid and visceral, with the only contrast inconsistencies, reductions in clarity, and compression artifacts present being those that appear in Lou's low-fi footage of car accidents and crime scenes. Detail is terrific throughout, with crisp edge definition and revealing fine textures, and delineation is excellent. It doesn't hurt that macroblocking, banding, aliasing, ringing and other issues are nowhere to be found, leaving nothing to distract from the film's photography and atmosphere.
Universal's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track delivers an immersive, carefully crafted experience that favors convincing sonics over spectacle in all the right ways. Dialogue is intelligible, realistically grounded in the mix, and perfectly prioritized, with Gyllenhaal eerily shifting from wiry motivational jargon (spouting lines like "you have to make the money to buy a ticket" with the utmost sincerity) to sociopathic sermonizing that comes to dominate the center channel and draw the listener deeper and deeper into Lou's mania. LFE output is abrupt and explosive, throwing sudden weight behind crashes, roaring engines, gun shots, and the film's spectacular third-act car chase. Rear speaker activity is aggressive and exacting too, with pinpoint directionality, head-whip cross-channel pans, and an absorbing soundfield that illuminates the dark Los Angeles streets as readily as Elswit's photography. There's a raw pulse and momentum to Nightcrawler; an anxious crescendo captured by Universal's faithful, fully engrossing AV presentation.
Nightcrawler is as frightening as it is fascinating, with Gyllenhaal's performance bordering on revelatory. It's rare that such a narrowly focused character piece feels so sprawling, so intense, so uncomfortably hypnotic, but Gilroy's thriller is anything but ordinary. Universal's Blu-ray release is one of the must-haves this Oscar season too, with a terrific video presentation, an involving DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, and an engaging audio commentary from the filmmakers.
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Limited Edition
2015
Deux hommes dans Manhattan
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Warner Archive Collection
1972
Collector's Edition
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4K Restoration
1973