6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.4 |
A father tries to track down his kidnapped daughter.
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Scott Speedman, Rosario Dawson, Mireille Enos, Kevin DurandThriller | 100% |
Crime | 66% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. At the time of the release of The Sweet Hereafter (still oddly missing on a bonafide domestic Blu-ray release), writer-director Atom Egoyan was hailed as one of the new giants of cinema, especially after the triumph of Egoyan’s previous film, Exotica. Since The Sweet Hereafter, though, Egoyan’s output has been variable at best, and in some cases stupefyingly mundane and tired. That unfortunately is largely the case with The Captive, an at times ludicrously over convoluted thriller that, like The Sweet Hereafter, traffics in a frigid ambience, both externally courtesy of a snowbound environment as well as internally courtesy of a gaggle of wounded, often desperate, individuals. The plot hinges upon one of the worst nightmares of any parent, the disappearance and probable kidnapping of a child, and then further hinges upon what is probably the second worst nightmare of any parent, finding out years later that the kid may in fact be alive, held captive by a crazed individual who has probably been indulging in child sexual abuse.
The Captive is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. This feature was digitally shot with the Arri Alexa, and a quite impressive range of tones in various shades of white offer a suitably bleak, wintry look to several key sequences. In fact a lot of the exterior footage here is decidedly (and no doubt intentionally) on the drab or monochromatic side of things, seeming to echo the barren emotional lives of Matthew and Tina. When pops of color do emerge, as in Nicole's stunning red evening gown at a hoity toity soirée, they look incredibly vivid simply by dint of the fact that they're generally surrounded by shades of white, beige or brown. Detail is quite commendable throughout the presentation, easily handling resolution of elements like steam in the frigid wintry air, or the prickly beard hairs on Matthew's face. Contrast is solid, though as I tend to be with some digitally shot features, I wasn't totally convinced by levels of shadow detail and even general detail in some dimly lit interior scenes. There are no compression artifacts of any note, nor any problems with image instability.
The Captive features a rather restrained though at times nicely nuanced lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. There's not a lot of sonic data here to exploit a really forceful surround experience, but exterior scenes feature good placement of ambient environmental effects, and there's also good attention paid to the differing ambiences of exterior and interior spaces. Dialogue is very cleanly presented throughout the film, and Mychael Danna's overwrought score also wafts through the surrounds.
The Captive actually ends up being a rather sad viewing experience, though not necessarily due to anything being portrayed on screen. It's simply hard to fathom what possibly could have motivated Egoyan to make such a largely dispiriting and chaotic feeling film. The cast does what it can with the material, but when you have an actor like Durand going off the rails with the Queen of the Night aria from The Magic Flute, you know you're into near camp territory, not exactly a good thing for a supposed thriller with "deep" psychological subtexts. Technical merits are generally very strong for those considering a purchase.
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