5.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
An American diamond merchant travels to Russia to sell rare blue diamonds of questionable origin. As the deal begins to collapse he falls into an obsessive relationship with a Russian cafe owner in a small Siberian town. As their passion builds, so does the treacherous world of the diamond trade from which he is unable to extricate himself. Both collide as the American man desperately looks for escape in a world with no exit.
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Molly Ringwald, Ana Ularu, Aleks Paunovic, Veronica FerresThriller | 100% |
Crime | 63% |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
After watching Siberia, some longtime Keanu Reeves fans may feel that the already announced John Wick 3: Parabellum can’t get here soon enough, especially since it’s evidently not due until May 2019. Keanu Reeves has had more than his fair share of career peaks and valleys, and the original John Wick was seen by many (rightly or wrongly) as helping to resuscitate a somewhat moribund stretch Reeves had gone through prior to its release. If John Wick: Chapter 2 didn’t quite resonate as strongly, at least in terms of whatever “added value” it provided to Reeves’ career path, it, too, was arguably at least a step up from some of the films that Reeves appeared in between the two Wick outings, some of which (Knock Knock, anyone?) probably made few if any “Top 10” lists aggregated by either critics in general or even Keanu Reeves films in particular. Now, Siberia is probably not at the baseline level of Knock Knock, but it’s also a curiously flat and kind of surprisingly uninvolving “thriller” that posits Reeves as Lucas Hill, a “good man who’s made some bad decisions”, to paraphrase the sole featurette included on this Blu-ray as a supplement. Hill journeys to the titular region in order to facilitate the sale of some extremely rare blue diamonds, but as so often happens in films of this ilk, fate has other plans, which involve (again, pretty predictably) both romance and terror, in about equal measure.
Siberia is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb is once again devoid of technical data on the shoot, but the sole supplement included on this Blu-ray clearly shows Arri cameras, though I'd be hard pressed to identify exactly which model is being utilized. The cool wintry climate that is featured throughout much of the film tends to keep the palette skewed toward icy blues and slate grays a lot of the time, leaving pops of color to perhaps unexpected items like some of the vivid lipstick Katya wears. There's a lot of dimly lit interior material included, quite a bit of which looks kind of murky, with occasionally milky blacks and somewhat anemic contrast. The outdoor material tends to pop the best in terms of fine detail levels. Grading tends to ping pong between the aforementioned blue tones and warmer honey coloring which tends to be applied to some of the "hot and heavy" scenes between Lucas and Katya.
Siberia features a decent if rather restrained DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that admittedly delivers good immersion in a lot of scenes, both interior and exterior, but really tends to shy away from any overtly "showy" sonics. The film is pretty relentlessly talky, with occasional breaks for "heavy breathing", and those elements are all delivered cleanly and clearly. Fidelity is fine throughout the presentation, and there are no issues with damage or dropouts.
Perhaps surprisingly, Reeves was a guiding light behind the project, as divulged in the making of featurette. That may actually speak to his altruism as an actor, since Lucas Hill is frankly not that interesting of a character, and a lot of the more hyperbolic aspects of this film come courtesy of the supporting cast. Technical merits are generally solid for those considering a purchase.
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