7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
They were 12 saboteurs. The Nazis killed 11 of them. This is the story of the one who got away...
Starring: Thomas Gullestad, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Marie Blokhus, Mads Sjøgård Pettersen, Vegar HoelWar | 100% |
History | 78% |
Foreign | 54% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Norwegian: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Norwegian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
This is a Norwegian film not Danish
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The extraordinary and miraculous journey of Norwegian saboteur Jan Baalsrud has been told cinematically before in Ni liv (Nine Lives, 1957), which was not only nominated for Best Foreign Language Film but later polled by Norwegian TV audiences as the greatest Norwegian movie ever made. Written and directed by journalist-turned filmmaker Arne Skouen, Nine Lives told a taut and fast-paced story of Baalsrud's arduous trek across the Arctic plains as he tries to dodge his Nazi pursuers and reach neutral Sweden. It was adapted by Skouen from David Armine Howarth's 1955 book, We Die Alone. Baalsrud personally supervised the production.
After several years of research into Baalsrud's story, authors Astrid Karlsen Scott and Tore Haug published their book Defiant Courage:
Norway's Longest WWII Escape; a True Story in 2000. (It was later slightly re-titled and twice reissued in paperback as Defiant Courage: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance by Skyhorse Publishing.) Dutch filmmaker Harald Zwart also became interested and bought the film rights from the authors in 2004. Co-author Haug has written on social media that The 12th Man (2017) isn't a remake of Nine Lives and I'd agree. It's apparent to me that Zwart and screenwriter Petter Skavlan (who's credited as the pseudonymous Alex Boe) studied Nine Lives closely as the narrative trajectory of Baalsrud's trek is similar across both films.
Do these two really know who the other is?
The 12th Man has been released on Blu-ray in the Scandinavian countries, Germany, and most recently in France. In conjunction with IFC Midnight, Shout! Factory has put out Zwart's ninth feature on a BD-50 using the MPEG-4 AVC encode. (My screener came with a slipcover.) The picture appears in its original theatrical aspect ratio of about 2.40:1. The image is free of compressional artifacts and source defects. Colors are muted and drained. Cinematographer Geir Hartly Andreassen uses little artificial light and we sometimes get to see bright winter light cascade through windows (see Screenshot #s 8 and 20). Cold and pallid tones dominate the palette. Andreassen often employs semi-sharp focus for one half of the frame and softer, shallow focus for the other half. The viewer should note his artful use of the rack focus where one area becomes blurry and the other sharper. The total bitrate for the full disc reaches 43.38 Mbps.
In a nice departure from their normal twelve scene selections, Shout! has provided twenty to accompany the 135-minute feature.
Shout! supplies a total of four lossless audio tracks: the original Norwegian/German 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio Surround (24-bit), a downsampled Norwegian/German 2.0 DTS HD Master Audio Stereo (24-bit), as well as a dubbed English 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio (24-bit) and a downconverted English DTS HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (24-bit). I listened to the uncompressed 5.1 mixes. All tracks feature some English in the opening reel but the picture is mostly spoken in Norwegian and Swedish dialect. I listened to the dubbed track in full and while not a poor dub, it's only mediocre in terms of sounding authentic. I prefer the original uncompressed mix which makes active use of the surround channels when bullets are spewing from machine guns and Christophe Beck's orchestral score is amplified during the most thrilling moments.
The New York Film Critics Circle were shown a DI print of The 12th Man with yellow subtitles but Shout!'s disc has white subs that are optional. See frame grabs numbered 19 and 20. (The UK DVD from Signature Entertainment has compulsory subtitles that can't be switched off.)
The 12th Man is a stunning adventure epic and tribute to the indomitable spirit and courage of Jan Baalsrud. I'd very much like to see its predecessor, Nine Lives (1957), given a full restoration by Criterion, Eureka, or Arrow. (The Nordisk Film R2 PAL DVD, which comes with optional English subtitles, has decent resolution and sharpness when upscaled but a panoply of age-related artifacts scattered sporadically throughout the transfer.) I'd also like to see the UK documentary miniseries, The Man with Nine Lives: The Baalsrud Story (2014), reach high-def. Shout! Factory delivers a rock-solid transfer and four audio options but extras are zilch except the trailer. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED and a MUST OWN for Jonathan Rhys Meyers fans, too!
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