Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.0

Siberia Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 27, 2018

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’s first Russia location is actually St. Petersburg, where Hill travels, ostensibly to meet his Russian partner (in crime?) Pyotr (Boris Gulyarin). The two have already Skyped (or something similar), but when Hill shows up at their preappointed hotel meeting place, a concierge who already knows Hill (in just one of way too many elided pieces of content) tells Hill that some nasty looking guys had shown up looking for Pyotr, and Pyotr has taken off. That leaves Hill with a meeting with local gangsters Boris (Pasha D. Lychnikoff) and Pavel (Rafael Petardi), who are none too pleased to discover they've raked together tens of millions of dollars for “product” that is nowhere to be found. Hill offers Boris (who seems to be the "main" villain, though even this is a bit unclear) a substantial discount if Boris is willing to wait a couple of days for Hill to track down Pyotr and, hopefully, the diamonds.

That sets up what is ostensibly the “McGuffin” that will drive the film’s plot, namely a hunt for Pyotr and the cobalt colored jewels, but kind of weirdly Siberia goes off on a number of detours almost immediately. The first of these comes courtesy of a seemingly random stop Hill makes in Siberia at a little diner run by local woman Katya (Ana Ularu). Hill kind of inadvertently chafes with a couple of local guys at the place, leading to a violent smackdown when Hill ventures outside. He’s already caught the eye of Katya, and when she finds him senseless on the ground out in the parking lot, she drags him back to her place for a little rest and rehabilitation, which almost instantly becomes a romantic entanglement. This part of the film is kind of interesting almost in spite of itself, with Katya being the aggressor, and some almost bizarre sidebar referencing of Hill’s wife Gabby (Molly Ringwald, seen fleetingly in a flashback and, later, courtesy of more “Skype moments").

Unsurprisingly, Hill and Katya take off together in hunt of untold riches, but again the film tips over into a morass of competing interests when a bunch of South Africans also enter the fray, something that may unintentionally recall Blood Diamond for some viewers with good memories. But screenwriter Scott B. Smith and director Matthew Ross aren’t really interested in the socioeconomic and sociopolitical aspects of the Leonardo di Caprio film, and instead almost incredibly go a softcore porn route with the romantic angle, repeatedly stopping whatever “plot momentum” has been generated so that Hill and Katya can get their freak on.

The supplemental EPK included on this release refers to Siberia as a “Greek tragedy”, which might sound odd for a film supposedly located in the frozen barrenness of Russia, but there is actually an inexorable quality to certain aspects of the plot, despite the needless detours the film repeatedly takes. Reeves is really tamped down throughout the film, something that is at least partially ameliorated by a rather winning, forceful performance from Ularu.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf was as relatively unimpressed with Siberia as I was. You can read Brian's thoughts here.

Siberia Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

Siberia Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Passion and Intrigue: Bringing Siberia To Life (1080p; 6:42) is the requisite EPK which features some okay interviews, behind the scenes footage and snippets from the completed film.

Siberia Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.