The American Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

The American Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 22, 2022

Mill Creek has released the 2010 film 'The American' to Blu-ray. At time of release, it is exclusively available from Mill Creek as part of a two-film bundle with 'Leatherheads.' Universal relesed the film to Blu-ray in 2010 and that disc contained superior video and supplementary content, all of which is absent here.

Ken Brown summarized The American thusly: After a near fatal run-in with a Swedish sniper leaves his lover (Irina Björklund) dead and his whereabouts known, a master assassin and skilled gunsmith named Jack (George Clooney) seeks solace in Castel del Monte, an Italian comune far removed from his cagey handler, Pavel (Johan Leysen). There, he indulges in the company and counsel of two locales: Father Benedetto (Paolo Bonacelli), an elderly priest and perceptive confidant, and Clara (Violante Placido), a lovelorn prostitute who develops genuine affection for her newest client. But peace and quiet aren't in the cards for Jack, and trouble soon comes calling. The exhausted assassin accepts one last assignment from Pavel -- supplying a custom-built sniper rifle to a fellow hitter named Mathilde (Thekla Reuten) -- and begins to suspect his old friends, the Swedes, have tracked him to Italy. What follows is a meticulous, unexpectedly tense game of cat and mouse in which Jack has to decipher Pavel's intentions, approach Mathilde with caution, determine whether Clara is worthy of his trust, dodge whatever would-be assassins roll into town, and face the realities of his chosen profession.

For a full film review, please see Brown's writing accompanying the 2010 Universal Blu-ray by clicking here.

The American Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Universal's 2010 Blu-ray included the antiquated VC-1 video encode. Here, Mill Creek uses the more modern MPEG-4 standard. I do not have the old Blu-ray with which to compare this one, but it is likely this was struck from the same master as the previous Universal disc. Brown awarded the 2010 disc a very high score for video, and Mill Creek's disc also looks great. It holds up very well for clarity and detail output, which offer viewers exemplary performance in terms of skin sharpness and clarity, clothing textures, location details, and the like, all with pinpoint command. This is impressive for a Mill Creek disc, and the colors also hold serve for depth and accuracy. Skin tones look great, black levels are deep, and white snow seen in the opening minutes is brilliantly crisp and pure. The full palette is consistently healthy and pleasing, offering well defined tones that are never gaudy or overly vivid nor depressed and bleak; what is here is grounded and pleasing to the eye in all situations. All of that said, the usual cautionary measures remain here as well for compression related issues, which do make an appearance. Backgrounds can fall into light, usually; moderate, occasionally; and severe, rarely; macroblocking; look at the 24:52 mark for an example of the macroblocking at its worst. As noted above the film does share a disc with Leatehrheads so space is at more of a premium here. Plus, Mill Creek's authoring is never quite so stellar as it should be, even when things probably could be better. Still, for fans who don't have the Univeral disc, this is a fair comparison overall.

The American Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

It is highly probable that this is the same DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack Universal used for the 2010 release. The film's soundtrack is not particularly robust, which is not a bad thing because general simplicity is in its blood and reservation is a hallmark. The track is rather low key, even in action. Gunshots ring out with appropriate depth, a few of which are suppressed, some of which are not, but there's always a nice sense of stage engagement at work. Light environmental atmosphere is nicely filling as well, with precise accuracy in drawing the listener into the proceedings, Light music is nicely spaced and detailed. Dialogue is clear and center focused. Reading the review for the 2010 disc, it fits this track precisely, so please also refer here for a more detailed breakdown.

The American Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Unfortunately, there is no supplemental content included on this disc. The Universal disc included an audio commentary track, deleted scenes, and a featurette. This absence is par for the course for a Mill Creek disc. As it ships with the above-linked two-film bundle, no DVD or digital copies are included with purchase and the bundle does not ship with a slipcover.

The American Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is a slow but compelling film featuring a nuanced performance from George Clooney. The film might frustrate audiences looking for something more "turbo charged," but audiences willing to invest the time and become absorbed in the story, not simply observe another empty action film, will find this one very satisfying. Mill Creek's Blu-ray is fine, but video could be a little tighter on the compression end and the dropped extras are disappointing, if not par for the course. Recommended, but remember that at time of writing the Mill Creek bundle costs $18 whereas the standalone Universal can be had for half that.