6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
fter Frankie, a British private security contractor, is killed under mysterious circumstances on the "Route Irish," a dangerous stretch of road in Baghdad, his childhood friend and fellow soldier Fergus investigates the incident, determined to find out the truth behind Frankie's death.
Starring: Geoff Bell, Najwa Nimri, John Bishop (XIII), Andrea Lowe, Mark WomackDrama | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Nominated for the prestigious Palme d'Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Ken Loach's "Route Irish" (2010) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye. The only extra feature on the disc is the film's original theatrical trailer. In English and Kurdish, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
This is what we had to do...
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Ken Loach's Route Irish arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye.
I am yet to see a Blu-ray release from Artificial Eye that disappoints. Everything they have released and we have reviewed has been of exceptionally high quality. There are no surprises with Route Irish -- the high-definition transfer replicates perfectly the indented by director Ken Loach and cinematographer Chris Menges gloomy, washed out look of the film. Despite the fact that some of the darker scenes look soft, detail is consistently strong. Clarity is also pleasing. Edge-enhancement is never an issue of concern; neither is macroblocking. Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, the film does look soft, but the softness is not a byproduct of post-production filtering. Artifacting and aliasing do not plague the high-definition transfer either. Lastly, there are absolutely no stability issues to report in this review whatsoever. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).
There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English Dolby Digital 5.1 (with portions of Kurdish). For the record, Artificial Eye have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is unlikely to test the muscles of your audio system - even the raw footage with the shootouts isn't overly intense - but I believe that the wide range of nuanced dynamics will impress quite a few of you. When the piano theme is played, for instance, the film opens up very well. Additionally, the dialog is always crisp, clean, stable, and exceptionally easy to follow. For the record, I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, hissings, or audio dropouts to report in this review.
Ken Loach's Route Irish is a dark and intense film that focuses on the traumatic effects war has on security contractors and specifically their inability to reacclimatize to civilian life after they return home. The film looks terrific on Blu-ray. The only criticism I have for Artificial Eye is that we do not see enough of their films on Blu-ray. It is a shame, really, as their releases are always of exceptionally high quality. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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