Silk Road Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Silk Road Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf August 1, 2021

There have been multiple T.V. shows and documentaries created about Silk Road, a darknet market website that made it easy to purchase illegal drugs over the internet. The idea was hatched by Ross Ulbricht, and his story is a fascinating exploration of millennial ego, business opportunity, and online exploitation, making it irresistible to filmmakers. Dramatizing the events of Ulbricht’s build-up and breakdown is “Silk Road,” with writer/director Tiller Russell adapting a magazine article to get inside the mind of the main character, while the screenplay focuses on the operation of the website and the battle to bring Ulbricht down. Russell goes to David Fincher’s “The Social Network” for some of his inspiration, and while it’s rough around the edges, “Silk Road” connects as a study of corruption and temptation, dealing with the new frontier of online accessibility.

In 2010, Austin resident Ross Ulbricht (Nick Robinson) wanted to explore his fixation on the eroding liberties facing Americans, frustrated with the state of the union. Supported by his girlfriend, Julia (Alexandra Shipp), Ross begins to piece together a concept for Silk Road, a darknet site that allows users capable of finding it a chance to purchase illegal items, with drugs being its main source of income. Finding a middleman in Curtis (Paul Walter Hauser), Ross launches Silk Road, which soon becomes a sensation, allowing the twentysomething man to become rich and powerful seemingly overnight. In Baltimore, ex-DEA agent Rick (Jason Clarke) is fresh out rehab, moved to a desk in the cybercrimes division to ride out his law enforcement career. Initially irritated with the promotion, the luddite soon takes notice of Silk Road activities, newly inspired to pose as a customer and soon a business partner for Ross, building a case against the mastermind but also drawn to the money found in everything connected to Silk Road.

“Silk Road” tries to get some adrenaline pumping with an ill-advised opening scene, which flash-forwards to the moment of Ross’s 2013 arrest in San Francisco. While the film is based on a true story, such a reveal takes the sting out of the ending, giving Russell a false sense of motion with a saga that’s best served piece by piece, getting a chance to understand the players in the game. Time soon winds back to 2010, with Rick exiting rehab after taking a DEA case too far in Puerto Rico, losing control of himself to a point where it almost cost him his entire life. Such behavior is key to the character, as Rick loves the thrill of the hunt, only to return to a job that no longer wants him around, while his wife, Sandy (Katie Aselton), is hesitant to accept him, fearing for the future of their daughter, Edie (Lexi Rabe).

Rick is a restless man forced to remain in one place at cybercrimes, while Ross begins to create his valentine to American freedom in Silk Road, putting together a system of payment with Bitcoin, while Curtis puts packages together, sending drugs to happy customers. “Silk Road” charts the development of the business and the investigation, with Rick learning to use technology to battle it, relying on an informant to help him become a DM pal of sorts with Ross, working to build trust with the stranger. And Ross experiences the highs of success, raking in a fortune as his idea starts to consume his life, pulling him away from friends, family, and Julia, who begins to sense a dark transformation happening to her lover, creating relationship drama for Russell, who attempts to humanize Ross to the best of his ability. “Silk Road” follows both arcs of increasingly crazed behavior, and it’s a compelling study of paranoia, with Ross unaccustomed to such power, and Rick starts to salivate while inching toward a bust, and one undertaken on his own terms, away from the F.B.I. and their keyboard-clicking hunt for an I.P. address.

Silk Road Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (2.39:1 aspect ratio) presentation maintains a sharp view of room decoration, with the specifics of computer and office gear open for inspection, along with domestic additions. Exteriors retain dimension, with long city shots. Facial particulars are appealing, surveying unkempt characters, and costuming is fibrous, with tougher leather jackets, stiff suits, and soft shirts. Colors are precise, with bright, warm living spaces and cooler criminal habitats. Screen displays offer clear primaries, and greenery is exact. Skintones are natural. Delineation is satisfactory. Mild banding is periodically detected.

Silk Road Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track offers a heavier feel for electropop soundtrack selection, adding a pronounced thump to party sequences. Surrounds push out musical moods, with scoring cuts immersive and atmospherics active. Dialogue exchanges are crisp, with distinct performance choices and sharp emotionality.

Silk Road Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features writer/director Tiller Russell and editor Greg O'Bryant.

• "The Two Sides of Julia" (36:20, HD) is a video conference interview with actress Alexandra Shipp and the woman she plays in "Silk Road," Julia Vie. Writer/director Tiller Russell conducts the conversation.

• "Telling the Story" (49:01, HD) is a video conference interview with journalist David Kushner and producer Duncan Montgomery. Writer/director Tiller Russell conducts the conversation.

• A Trailer has not been included on this release.

Silk Road Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Silk Road" gets distracted with Rick's family life, focusing on his child and an educational future he can't afford to buy her. Such stress pushes the law enforcement officer to extremes meant to add some outrageousness to the picture. More exact is Rick's feeling of exclusion and obsolescence due to his age, with this subplot tapping into generational rage that's more alive than any exchange of text messages. "Silk Road" finds fertile ground there, adding something to the procedural routine, giving the feature an interesting perspective when surveying the real motivation of law enforcement as the job turns into an obsession.