6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Recluse Smith is drawn into a revolutionary struggle between guerillas and right-wingers in New Zealand. Implicated in a murder and framed as a revolutionary conspirator, Smith tries to maintain an attitude of non-violence while caught between warring factions.
Starring: Sam Neill, Ian Mune, Warren Oates, Nevan Rowe, Ian WatkinDrama | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Sam Neill’s role in The Commuter was so perfunctory and underwritten that I realized after I had posted our The Commuter Blu-ray review and The Commuter 4K Blu-ray review that I had completely neglected to even mention him. Let me make up for that oversight now by stating that Sam Neill is not only front and center throughout Sleeping Dogs, he offers a viscerally compelling performance in what was his first feature film starring performance. In what might be cheekily described as kind of a blending of certain elements from Thoreau’s Walden and Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People, Neill portrays a man known only as Smith, a kind of New Zealand Everyman who leaves his young family in the wake of his wife’s infidelity and who attempts to forge a new life for himself on an isolated island owned by some members of the Maori tribe. Smith’s idyllic refuge ends up colliding rather viciously with a simmering quasi-Fascistic sociopolitical climate that the film posits has taken hold of the island nation.
Sleeping Dogs is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Academy with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet doesn't contain a whale of a lot of information on the transfer, offering only a fairly generic:
Sleeping Dogs was digitally restored by the New Zealand Film Commission from original film elements. The film is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, with original mono sound.From a damage standpoint, this is a very nice looking transfer, with very few noticeable signs of age related wear and tear. And a lot of the outdoor sequences especially radiate a really warm palette, with typically very good detail levels. But there are a number of fluctuations both in terms of general color temperature as well as isolated moments of pulsing and/or brightness variances that can be spotted. Some scenes look considerably cooler in terms of flesh tones and the surrounding scenery, even when they, too, take place outside. While there are obvious differences in lighting and environments, compare screenshots 1 and 2 with screenshots 3 and 5 to get an idea of some of the differences that can be spotted. Grain resolves naturally throughout the presentation, but has a tendency to assume a slightly yellowish quality in some opticals like the opening credits sequence or some of the dissolves.
Sleeping Dog's original theatrical exhibition is recreated with an LPCM 2.0 mono track, while the Blu-ray disc also contains a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix that does open up the film's score and source cues, as well as some of the ambient environmental effects on the island and sounds of clashes between protesters and police (which can include gunfire). That said, the surround mix doesn't offer consistent immersion, and purists may want to stick with the LPCM track in any case. Fidelity is fine throughout, without any signs of distortion or other damage.
Neill's character of Smith is in fact kind of a commuter himself in Sleeping Dogs, in more ways than one. He travels physically from his home to an island to a prison to a trailer to the forest, but he also moves philosophically and emotionally to a whole new region as sociopolitical events in New Zealand shape him in a way he doesn't foresee and ultimately can't control. Donaldson's typically inerrant penchant for scenic visuals makes this a rather interesting travelogue for New Zealand (even if it's punctuated by disturbing scenes of political unrest in urban centers), and Neill offers a really convincing portrait of a man who can't outrun his fate. Technical merits are generally strong, and Arrow has also provided some nice supplements. Recommended.
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