6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A family takes a trip to Africa to visit their scientist father when they come afoul of some ferocious felines.
Starring: Tippi Hedren, Noel Marshall, Melanie Griffith, John Marshall (IV), Jerry Marshall (I)Thriller | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.29:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
My high school Health teacher, who was also the high school football coach and therefore had the rapt attention of most of the boys by default, led a unit in sex education in Health where to a roomful of “eager” (and mostly virginal) young males he imparted the timeless wisdom, “The anticipation is greater than the realization.” That adage may be equally applicable to viewers who have heard about but never seen the patently odd Roar, a film which bears a supposed release year of 1981, but which was a multiyear ordeal for star-writer- producer-director Noel Marshall and his family, most of whom contributed to the film as either cast members or crew. This assemblage included Marshall’s then wife Tippi Hedren, Hedren’s then young daughter Melanie Griffith, and Marshall’s sons John and Jerry. Probably the very definition of a “passion project”, Roar includes a heartfelt text crawl at its close urging folks to help with efforts to protect wild species in Africa, suggesting that tourism is an appropriate way to bolster those attempts (this was obviously in the days before the rise or at least the widespread knowledge of a so-called “tourist hunter” syndrome like that which brought down Cecil the Lion). The fact that Marshall evidently thought that the way to inspire others to prevent the widespread decimation of “big cats” was to let some of those very felines apparently decimate himself, his family and his crew may lead some to wonder about the mental health of the filmmaker, especially given Marshall’s perserverance in what can only be described as a horrific series of life threatening injuries to various folks which ensued over the course of the shoot. Due to these and other breathlessly reported aspects about the film which have appeared over the years, Roar has attained something of a cult status, though perhaps ironically, many members of this putative cult have actually never seen the film, relying instead on printed accounts about the rigors of the incredibly long shoot and the hubris of some of those involved in the production to gin up their excitement. The film itself does in fact turn out to be riveting, though probably not in the way that was intended, and it's the "backstory" informing this piece that will probably continue to fascinate.
Roar is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.29:1. Roar was lensed by future all star Jan de Bont (who would go on to lens films like Die Hard and The Hunt For Red October before ultimately moving on to directing films like Speed), and de Bont's often gorgeous location footage (in both Africa and California) lends the film much of its exotic appeal. (De Bont suffered one of the more gruesome injuries during the shoot, when basically the back half of his scalp was taken off by a lion. Those with strong stomachs can find still images of his sutured head online.) Elements show a pretty standard amount of age related wear and tear, though nothing is overly problematic. The palette has weathered the vagaries of time pretty well generally speaking, and some of the shots offer really nicely vivid blue skies and other appealing hues that help to establish the wild environs. However, this transfer is marred by excessive filtering, which lends a waxy, artificial and overly processed look to many shots, especially close-ups, where pores all but disappear (though some other fine detail like downy hair can still make it through the DNR gauntlet relatively unscathed). Grain can be seen in some minimal amounts in wide shots of outdoor vistas, where slight amounts of movement can be detected on elements like background mountain ranges, but overall this has the look of processed video and not of film. Within that ambience, the palette is still relatively fresh looking and incremental amounts of detail are still able to manifest themselves, but this is not an optimal looking presentation.
Roar features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix which provides ample support for some appealing music and elements like the cats' huge roars in either playful or more menacing moments. The film's dialogue (such as it is) is rendered faithfully as well. The track tends to have a slightly boxy sound at times, with a somewhat muffled sounding high end, but fidelity is generally very good and there's no real damage of any kind to report.
Roar's backstory is probably a good deal more compelling than the actual finished film. (This review didn't even get into tidbits like Ted Cassidy—yep, Lurch from The Addams Family—providing help with the "screenplay".) Because of that fact, this is the rare release where the content of the film and the less than stellar video presentation ultimately don't sink the final scoring status. If for no other reason, get this one for some of the supplements. Recommended.
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