Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

Small Axe Blu-ray Movie Review

Steve McQueen against the machine.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III July 14, 2023

The BBC's lauded 2020 historical drama anthology series Small Axe is made of five films directed by British filmmaker Steve McQueen, better known to American audiences for 2013's Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave. These five separate "episodes" -- Mangrove, Lovers Rock, Red White and Blue, Alex Wheatle, and Education -- follow different West Indian immigrants in London during the 1960s-1980s, and quite interestingly were originally planned as a more conventional TV series. Among other benefits, the greater headroom of its varied runtimes (which range from 63 to 128 minutes) gives Small Axe a flexible enough spine to effectively articulate the self-contained string of stories that, despite their "as-is" non-chronological listing below, can be watched individually or in the order of your choosing.

Fittingly, these films have made the transition from streaming to domestic home video exclusively from Criterion, in the form of a multi-disc collection that also includes the three-part companion documentary series Uprising (co-directed by McQueen and James Rogan) and other supportive bonus features. This is a very well-rounded package overall, and one that's more than worth it at the current asking price -- it's practically budget-friendly by Criterion standards.

DISC ONE

Mangrove (133:36) - Steve McQueen’s multi-strand anthology of West Indian immigrant life in London opens in the late 1960s with this stirring ensemble film. In a Caribbean restaurant, a group of black activists, intellectuals, and ordinary people converge and unite in struggle against incessant police harassment, leading to an explosive showdown on the streets and a courtroom drama that challenges the racist power structures of British society. Based on real events, this is a passionate vision of community as a form of resistance, performed by a dynamic cast (led by Shaun Parkes, Letitia Wright, and Malachi Kirby) and bolstered by McQueen’s eye for vivid sensory detail. This unavoidably exhausting opener nonetheless gets Small Axe off to a potent and fiery start, as Mangrove crackles with intensity while still managing to maintain the somewhat cold and observant tone present in McQueen's other films.

Lovers Rock (73:24) - Suffused with the intoxicating sounds of reggae, dub, and lovers' rock (a small subgenre of reggae music with heavy romantic overtones), the second installment in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe series unfolds over the course of one rapturous night into dawn in early-1980s West London, as a young woman (the luminous Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn) sneaks out to attend a house party. As alternately languorous and ecstatic rhythms pulse from a homemade sound system, romance sparks on the dance floor, small human dramas play out, and, for a moment, this gathering is a safe haven from the outside world. Aided by the sensuous cinematography of Shabier Kirchner, McQueen captures an exhilarating expression of black joy in a society often intent on stifling it. An undeniably more relaxed and warmly intoxicating slice of life than the other films in this series, Lovers Rock dials back considerably on external conflicts by letting its intimate rhythm and atmosphere dictate the pace, energy, and mood.

DISC TWO

Red, White, and Blue (84:25) - Both a hard-hitting indictment of structural injustice and a penetrating portrait of a complex man, Red, White and Blue boasts a passionate, multilayered performance from John Boyega as Leroy Logan, a research scientist whose decision to join London’s notoriously racist Metropolitan Police, in hopes of reforming it from the inside, brings him into conflict with his family, community, and very sense of self. Based on a true story, this nuanced exploration of Margaret Thatcher–era racial tensions powerfully portrays the psychic struggle of a lone man going up against a system designed to crush him. In direct contrast to several other films in this series (especially Mangrove), Red White and Blue plays more like a warning about the specific dangers of trying to take on an establishment alone, which gives it a more accessible and broadly engaging symbolic appeal.

Alex Wheatle (69:09) - An intimate account of a decisive moment in British history unfolds via the true story of one man’s awakening black consciousness. Raised in a cold, oppressive children’s home that has left him estranged from his West Indian roots, the eponymous orphan Alex Wheatle (Sheyi Cole) gradually finds his voice as an artist, activist, and writer on the streets of Brixton—a transformation that intersects with the 1981 uprising in which the neighborhood’s youth erupt in protest against police violence. Interwoven with the vibrant reggae that inspired its subject’s journey, Alex Wheatle crackles with the heady political and cultural energy of a singular time and place. This is a somewhat unsurprisingly distanced but nonetheless effective portrait of a truly multi-talented man, and Alex Wheatle also benefits from a warmer narrative that maintains Small Axe's push-and-pull level of emotional intimacy.

Education (66:11) - A black boy’s journey through an ineffectual public school system reveals the racial inequities built into everyday British life. Young Kingsley Smith (Kenyah Sandy) is a spirited aspiring astronaut with a love of drawing whose life is turned upside down when he is thrust into a new school for the “educationally subnormal”—a harrowing experience that gradually awakens his mother (Sharlene Whyte) to the institutional mistreatment of the children of West Indian immigrants. Shot on Super 16mm to evoke BBC television dramas from the 1970s, the final Small Axe film concludes the pentalogy with a hopeful vision of the power of black-led collective action. As the child of an educator who grew up in a similar school system during the same time period (though from a different cultural background), Education hits home as a sobering but ultimately hopeful story of social imbalance. It's also one of Small Axe's few purely fictional narratives, and the only one based on McQueen's own childhood experiences.

Small Axe Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Advertised as being sourced from brand-new masters, one can only assume that means a bit of legwork was required to convert Small Axe from its native 25fps to a more Blu-ray-friendly 24fps. Other than that, these five films -- which were all shot by acclaimed cinematographer Shabier Kirchner, who earned a BAFTA award for his efforts -- look more or less similar to their streaming counterparts, though with an unsurprising uptick in fine detail and overall clarity thanks to the more forgiving storage space of a dual-layered Blu-ray. These all run at a supportive bit rate from start to finish and show only sporadic encoding hiccups, such as trace amounts of posterization and macro blocking, but substantially less so when compared with their much more compressed Amazon Prime streaming counterparts.

As these 30 screenshots imply (a half-dozen per episode, below), the visual aesthetic unsurprisingly varies between installments -- not to mention aspect ratios, which are respectively 1.78:1, 1.85:1, 2.00:1, 2.35:1, and 1.60:1 -- but they overwhelmingly share more base-level similarities than differences, with the primary distinction being that each film evokes a different time period and the various photographic styles reflect that. (Even the source materials differ somewhat dramatically: Mangrove and Red White and Blue were both shot on 35mm, Lovers Rock and Alex Wheatle on 4K digital video, and Education on Super 16mm, with the refined grain levels that come with it.)

Without resorting to ranking each one individually -- as this would purely boil down to personal preference rather than an objective breakdown -- my collective judgment is that they're all proportionately great efforts, which isn't surprising given their age. But while those who first saw Small Axe via streaming may not notice a night-and-day improvement on Blu-ray from across the room, this is the best way to watch it and each film holds up well to trained eyes.

Mangrove - Scereenshots #1, 6-10
Lovers Rock - Scereenshots #2, 11-15
Red, White, and Blue - Scereenshots #3, 16-20
Alex Wheatle - Scereenshots #4, 21-25
Education - Scereenshots #5, 25-30

Small Axe Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Despite their wildly varying aspect ratios, the five films of Small Axe all share a uniform DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix that supports each film's particular atmosphere very well... but, like their different-yet-similar visual aesthetics, there are key differences to be heard along the way. Self-contained events provide most of the variety here, with different segments in each film opening up and pulling back depending on their levels of intensity; as such, the resulting quiet-loud dynamic ranges from appropriately intimate to thunderously chaotic. Perhaps the most consistent and thus wholly memorable mix in this series is the unsurprisingly music-driven Lovers Rock, where diegetic cues played during the house party will test the dynamic limits of both your surround speakers and especially your subwoofer, which gets a robust workout indeed. Overall, then, it's no surprise that the collective sonic experience is impressive, one with a high level of fidelity and dynamic range that easily rises above its streaming counterpart from start to finish.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during all five films, but not the bonus features.

Small Axe Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This three-disc set ships in two separate digipak cases housed inside a decently thick outer slipcase with attractive new cover art by British-born graphic designer Greg Bunbury. Also tucked inside the larger main case is a 32-page booklet with photos, cast/crew summaries for all five main films and the bonus documentary Uprising, the essay "Seared Into Consciousness" by Ashley Clark, and details about the A/V presentation. The bonus features detailed below are divided amongst all three discs; the third is reserved for the multi-part Uprising, which gets its own interior case.

DISC ONE

• Steve McQueen and Paul Gilroy (28:57) - This engaging mid-length conversation between the filmmaker and professor was recorded exclusively for Criterion and covers a wide variety of topics, mostly touching upon all five films, the importance of the source stories, and many of their shared inspirations.

• Interviews (2 clips, 7:46 total) - Various members of the cast and crew speak briefly about the inception and production of both Mangrove and Lovers Rock in this promotional featurette.

• The Music of "Small Axe" (25:20) - This second exclusive mid-length conversation brings together McQueen and Small Axe music producer Dennis Bovell to discuss music's crucial role during each of the five films. It's a good chat made ever better by the welcome presence of Beastie Boy Mike D, who serves as moderator.

• Trailers (2 clips, 3:44 total) - Promotional pieces for Mangrove and Lovers Rock.

DISC TWO

• Interviews (2 clips, 14:42 total) - Various members of the cast and crew speak briefly about the inception and production of Red White and Blue, Alex Wheatle, and Education in this promotional featurette.

• Trailers (3 clips, 3:11 total) - Promotional pieces for Red White and Blue, Alex Wheatle, and Education.

DISC THREE

• Uprising (185:57) - This long-form 2021 documentary, co-directed by McQueen & James Rogan and divided into three parts ("Fire", "Blame", and "The Front Line"), focuses on the 1981 New Cross fire in Lewisham, South London and race-related turmoil that plagued the country for decades. It's an engaging and full-bodied piece that expands upon certain items portrayed in the main feature through a more objectively historical lens.

Small Axe Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Steve McQueen's Small Axe is a consistently solid anthology series with an engaging atmosphere that ties its five core films together while still rightly presenting them as separately digestible productions. While the whole may or may not be better than the sum of its parts, it would nonetheless feel somewhat incomplete if these were offered piecemeal so Criterion's all-inclusive package is appreciated. Serving up all five films with a uniformly supportive A/V presentation despite their varying visual and sonic aesthetics, this collection is further improved by a solid collection of supplements including a three-part companion documentary Uprising co-directed by McQueen and James Rogan. All told, it's a very well-rounded package that comes Highly Recommended, and even more so at its current price point.