Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

The Bridge: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Dividing points.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 24, 2014

There’s a lot of newsprint and bandwidth being burned up lately with talk about how “porous” the United States border is, with reports of literally tens of thousands of people scuttling purposefully into the arms of border guards as they attempt to escape various harsh environments in South America. And yet, even the concept of a border can seem somewhat odd when you get right down to it, as if there were a magical line in the sand that delineated the difference between two countries. Sometimes that demarcation can be a naturally occurring “line” like a river, but even that might provoke some to question what would happen should the river’s course change—would the border change right along with it? Many of the lines dividing the actual states are arbitrary at best, and the sheer artificiality of this formulation can result in odd opportunities like being able to stand bent over with your two feet and two hands in four different states at the location known as Four Corners. Both the artificiality and hardnosed reality of international borders are central to the conceit of The Bridge, an often riveting FX series based on a similarly named Danish/Swedish co-production. In this Americanized (in the continental connotation of that word) version, the border in question is between the United States and Mexico, specifically that between El Paso, Texas and Cuidad Juarez, two disparate cities which are joined at the figurative hip by the rather impressive Bridge of the Americas. When a mysterious blackout casts the bridge and its approach in darkness for a few minutes, border guards are understandably alarmed, but things get even more tense when the lights come back on and it becomes evident that someone has left a corpse directly on the imaginary line which separates the two countries. Two different jurisdictions show up to investigate the crime, and when it turns out that the corpse is actually two corpses, with the top half belonging to a well known American judge with an anti- immigration stance and the bottom half belonging to hapless Mexican murder victim who may have been part of a serial killer’s spree, all sorts of intercultural and interdepartmental conflict arises. While there are certainly procedural elements aplenty in The Bridge, what really sets this series apart is a fine eye toward the morés and lifestyles of a widely variant population that is portrayed in the show.

For those wanting an instructive if incredibly disturbing companion piece to The Bridge, Shaul Schwarz’s absolutely first rate documentary Narco Cultura may help to provide a bit of context as well as highlighting the fact that in some ways The Bridge only skims the surface of a roiling disconnect between the “next door neighbors” of El Paso, Texas and Juarez. As Narco Cultura details, almost incredibly at times, El Paso has been cited as one of the safest—if not the safest—mid sized cities in the United States, while Juarez, weighted down by extreme poverty and the rise of an “entrepreneurial” drug dealing and distributing class, has seen its murder rate spike from just a few a year to literally thousands. While certain aspects of The Bridge may strike the uninitiated as at least slightly hyperbolic or exaggerated, the fact is the series actually does a superb job of weaving this societal breakdown into several overarching stories that tend to focus on linked but not necessarily overtly linked characters.

What may strike some viewers as a bit of overkill—literally—is the fact that The Bridge’s supposed “real” focus turns out to be the mayhem unleashed by a serial killer who soon becomes the subject of an interagency hunt which involves both Texas based Detective Sonya Cross (Diane Kruger) and her Mexican counterpart, Chihuahua homicide investigator Marco Ruiz (Demián Bichir). Giving the series this “hook” is understandable, especially since the series is (as mentioned above) culled from a preexisting premise, but locating the show in this particular place (or places) and then shunting the real life horror into a somewhat tangential space seems at least odd. Another structural issue arises almost immediately with the somewhat off putting behavior of Cross herself, the reason for which astute viewers will probably be able to ferret out long before it’s revealed, somewhat perplexingly, several episodes into the show.

While The Bridge may try to stuff a bit too many characters into the story (and the occasional car trunk, a reference you’ll understand if you watch the show), a bit of patience will go a long way, for after a handful or so of episodes, enough backstories have been revealed and the interplay between various plotlines elucidated to the point where the show’s really visceral qualities start to shine through more and more impressively. Among the many subplots and characters that viewers need to navigate are ones involving a journalist (Matthew Lillard in a rumpled performance) and a wealthy widow (Annabeth Gish) who begins to understand that her late husband had a few skeletons in his closet (not to mention his isolated and secret ranch house).

The Bridge has a lot of strong elements, but it tends to be a bit too meandering for its own good in the early going, with too obvious attempts to reel the viewer in with little snippets of information or quick views of unfolding situations that are meant to pique interest but which may in fact tend to annoy some. Kruger’s performance may be chief among the more serious annoyances, even after her character’s supposed “affliction” becomes relatively more clear. But the central mystery of the series is probably going to be compelling enough to satisfy most viewers who flock to this kind of dark, brooding show. Those who have seen Narco Cultura may nonetheless be thinking that not only is truth stranger than fiction, it can even be more disturbing and disquieting.

The Bridge: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Bridge: The Complete First Season is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This show is but the latest in what has been a small but significant string of recent releases to bathe many scenes in a kind of syrupy amber color. This does give a sun drenched and arid feel to many sequences, but at times it tends to suck at least a minimal amount (and sometimes a bit more than that) of fine detail out of the image. Shot digitally with the Arri Alexa, the series benefits from both the teeming squalor of Juarez, as well as the somewhat more sophisticated urban climes of El Paso, both locales set against the wide open vistas that surround the metropolises. Colors are very accurate looking and aside from the occasional yellow suffusion, color grading is surprisingly minimal. Contrast is also generally strong, though some elements, especially in the early going, take place in very dark environments and shadow detail can be slightly lacking at times. The series' overall image clarity and stability is excellent and there are no major artifacting issues to note.

The Bridge: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Bridge: The Complete First Season's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is a bit restrained at times, offering some bursts of surround activity with regard both to environmental effects and score, but otherwise remaining relatively straightforward, with an emphasis on clear presentation of dialogue. There are some nicely done foley effects which help to establish various ambiences, including everything from the wind swept environment of a barren prairie (in some scenes that look like outtakes from Breaking Bad, courtesy of an underwear clad character traipsing around a trailer) to the sterile industrial feel of an autopsy room (with Mary Pat Gleason as just the latest in a long string of quirky medical examiners). While this may not be as bombastic a mix as some might be expecting, it offers excellent fidelity and clarity and occasional eruptions that increase dynamic range.

The Bridge: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• "Pilot" Audio Commentary by Diane Kruger, Demian Bichir, Elwood Reid, and Meredith Stiehm


• Building The Bridge (1080p; 20:36) is a decent series overview featuring lots of interviews and scenes from the show.


• Cuidad Juarez: The Other Side of The Bridge with Damien Cave (1080p; 9:33) is a disturbing piece hosted by New York Times reporter Cave looking at border issues and some of the issues facing the Mexican side.


• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 20:52)

The Bridge: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Bridge is an ambitious series, but part of that ambition may tend to alienate viewers who don't want to sort through the almost insanely large cast and number of intersecting plot points. Still, the through line of the serial killer mystery, and especially the solid characterization of Bichir as Ruiz, help to anchor the series. There are some nicely detailed peeks at the difference between American and Hispanic culture—both generally and in terms of police procedure—that also give The Bridge an authentic ambience. If the bridge (and The Bridge) is a bit too crowded for its own good, it at least offers a visceral accounting of the chaos that often surrounds our border with Mexico. The series is still finding its legs, but the good news this first season improves as it goes along. Recommended.