Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Quest for Fire Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 24, 2013

Winner of Cesar Awards for Best Film and Best Director, Jean-Jacques Annaud's "La guerre du feu" a.k.a. "Quest for Fire" (1981) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Second Sight Films. The supplemental features on the disc include an audio commentary by director Jean-Jacques Annaud; audio commentary by actors Ron Perlman and Rae Dawn Chong and executive producer Michael Gruskoff; video interview with director Jean-Jacques Annaud; making of featurette; and video gallery with commentary by the French filmmaker. Without subtitles. Region-B "locked".

Ika

More than 80,000 years ago. Primitive tribes are roaming the earth. They need fire to survive, but not all of them know how to create it.

The Ulam tribe, which has built a flame-holder that allows its members to quickly create fires, is attacked by the Wagabou tribe whose members do not have one. While protecting the flame-holder, the Ulam tribesmen are forced to leave their cave and enter the nearby mires. There they lose their precious flame.

Three hunters are sent on a quest to find a new flame - Naoh (Everett McGill, Brubaker, Silver Bullet), Amoukar (Ron Pearlman, Cronos, The Name of the Rose), and Gaw (Nameer El-Kadi, Navy Seals, TV's JAG). Not knowing where to look for it, they follow their instincts. But in a land ruled by beasts and fearless cannibals, the hunters quickly become the hunted.

Based o the famous novel by J.H. Rosny Sr., Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Quest for Fire manages to effectively craft a world we know very little about and convince us that it is real. The French director shot different parts of Quest for Fire in Canada, Kenya, Scotland, and Iceland to create the specific atmosphere he wanted in his film. Needless to say, the visuals are frequently breathtaking.

The film does not have any conventional dialog. When the hunters communicate with each other and their opponents, they use unique gestures and sounds. Their body posture is also very specific, supposedly reflecting the body structure of real Neanderthals.

The film is loosely divided into two sections. The first one is darker and more intense. There are occasional splashes of humor, but the presence of death is always felt. Interestingly enough, here Annaud’s camera very rarely spends time studying the faces of the hunters.

The tone of the second section is very different. After the hunters save a young woman (Rae Dawn Chong, Time Runner) who becomes emotionally attached to Naoh, there are very interesting character transformations that essentially move the film out of the adventure category. The final third, in particular, offers plenty of food for thought.

The international cast is terrific. Despite the lack of conventional dialog, the interactions between the hunters are extremely easy to follow. The mass scenes and especially the rituals are also done with a terrific sense of balance. (The lack of complex CGI effects keeps this film grounded in reality – or at least in Annaud’s reality).

The makeup and costumes are also top-notch. A few of the masks seen during the second half of the film are particularly good. The actual designs are very simple but enormously impressive. (See the leader of the tribe who encourages Naoh to make love to the big woman while he is eating).

Quest of Fire is complimented by an appropriately lush orchestral score courtesy of acclaimed French composer Philippe Sarde (Roman Polanski’s Tess, Claude Sautet’s Les choses de la vie, Jose Giovanni’s Deux hommes dans la ville).

Note: In 1983, Quest for Fire won Oscar Award for Best Makeup (Sarah Monzani, Michele Burke).

Quest for Fire Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jean-Jacques Annaud's Quest for Fire arrives on Blu-ray of British distributors Second Sight Films.

The high-definition transfer is quite inconsistent. Noise is frequently prominent and in select darker sequences it affects image depth. Clarity also fluctuates - some close-ups look decent but many of the panoramic vistas lack the crispness and fluidity they should have (see screencapture #16). Traces of light filtering corrections as well as different sharpening corrections are present (see screencapture #10). Color reproduction is also not convincing - colors often look desaturated or artificially boosted. Overall image stability, however, is good. Also, there are no serious damage marks, cuts, debris, or stains to report in this review. All in all, there is certainly plenty of room for improvement in most areas we typically address in our reviews. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Quest for Fire Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: DTS 5.1 and LPCM 2.0. For the record, there are no optional subtitles for the main feature.

The back cover of this Blu-ray release as well as the disc's main menu suggest that a lossless 5.1 track is included, but the only 5.1 track on the disc is actually a lossy one. While this is indeed disappointing, especially considering the fact that Philippe Sarde's soundtrack has a very prominent role in the film, the LPCM 2.0 track boasts a surprisingly good range of nuanced dynamics. Overall intensity is also very good. In other words, the lossless track serves the film quite well. It is strange to see, however, that the advertised lossless 5.1 track did not make it on the market version of this Blu-ray release.

Quest for Fire Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary - this audio commentary by director Jean-Jacques Annaud was also included on Second Sight's 2006 DVD release of the film. It is incredibly informative. The French director spends a great deal of time explaining why special effects were not used in his film, where and how key sequences were shot, what type of research was needed for the film, etc. The audio commentary is in English.

• Audio Commentary - this audio commentary by Ron Perlman, Rae Dawn Chong and executive producer Michael Gruskoff appears on Second Sight's R2 DVD release as well as on Twentieth Century Fox's R1 DVD release of Quest for Fire. This is a more relaxed commentary with plenty of information about the production history of the film and its reception. The two actors also discuss their initial impressions of the final cut of the film, the characters they had to play (Perlman's serious acting job was in Quest for Fire), the difficult filming conditions, etc. The audio commentary is in English.

• Interview with Jean-Jacques Annaud - in this long video interview, director Jean-Jacques Annaud discusses the production history of Quest for Fire. In French, with imposed English subtitles. (34 min).

• The Making of Ques for Fire - this standard featurette contains raw footage from the shooting of Quest for Fire, as well as extracts from archival interviews with Jean-Jacques Annaud and different cast and crew members. In English, not subtitled. (25 min).

• Video Gallery with Jean-Jacques Annaud Commentary - in English, not subtitled. (48 min).
  
  1. Inspiration
  2. Locations - Ireland
  3. Locations - Kenya
  4. Storyboards
  5. Inspiration for Sets
  6. Set Designs
  7. Prop Design
  8. Casting & Training
  9. Costumes
  10. Make-up
  11. Burgees Dictionary
  12. Mammoths
  13. Behind the Scenes
  14. Production Shots
  15. Promotion

Quest for Fire Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I was hoping for a lot more convincing presentation of this epic film, but unless a superior Region-A release emerges this may turn out to be the definitive presentation of Quest for Fire. On the other hand, the supplemental features on Second Sight's disc, which were also included on their 2006 DVD release, are outstanding. BUY IT only if you can find it on sale.