Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

The Edge Blu-ray Movie Review

Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Himself, Hopkins vs. Baldwin

Reviewed by Casey Broadwater May 11, 2010

By now, most movie trivia buffs are familiar with the apocryphal Alec Baldwin “beard” incident as recounted by producer Art Linsom in his book What Just Happened? As the story goes, Baldwin showed up to the set of the David Mamet-scripted The Edge with a massive Grizzly Adams beard, feeling that his character—a self-possessed fashion photographer—would indeed sport a facial hair piece of Walt Whitmanesque proportions. Linson, on behalf of the studio—which was already wary about casting Baldwin in the first place—had to ask the future 30 Rock star to shave. This did not go well. Baldwin, known for his tantrums, erupted with some choice words for those present, calling them, among other things—and I’m paraphrasing here—maternal copulaters. Besides all of the obvious reasons, the incident is funny (and ironic) because having an outwardly macho man explode because he feels inwardly insecure about himself seems like something that could very easily happen in a Mamet script.

Baby, it's cold outside.

Mamet, known for his uber-masculine stories and clipped, Harold Pinter-ish dialogue, has created in The Edge a Hemingway-meets-Jack London survival story that’s just as much about man versus man as it is about man versus the wild. The two men in question are billionaire Charles Morse (Anthony Hopkins) and urbanite fashion photographer Bob Green (Alec Baldwin). Green is up in the wilds of Alaska to do a shoot with Charles’ supermodel wife (real supermodel Elle McPherson) and Charles is being dragged along because it’s his birthday. You can probably see where this is going. There’s an unspoken rivalry between the two men. Charles has a hunch that his wife is being shot by the photographer in more ways than one, if you catch my drift, and Bob is intimidated by the billionaire’s wealth, power, and intellectual cunning. The worst thing for these two men would be to get stranded in the wilderness, fighting together for survival, but mentally mistrusting one another every step of the way. And that’s exactly what happens. While flying to a remote cabin, their seaplane collides with a flock of geese and crashes into the lake below. The only survivors are Charles, Bob, and Bob’s assistant, Stephen, played by Lost’s Harold Perrineau. Three’s a crowd, though, and Stephen is basically the equivalent here of a “red shirt” from Star Trek—he exists in the story solely to get mauled by the monster, in this case, an enormous Kodiak brown bear. And, no spoiler alert required—really, you can see this coming from the get go—it’s a grisly death indeed.

The film functions on two levels. Taken most directly, it’s a gripping adventure yarn, a tale of survival where two men are tested by nature and emerge surprisingly capable. Well, one of them does anyway. Charles has an encyclopedic knowledge of the great outdoors, and though his experience is book-learned and “mostly theoretical,” he has little trouble applying it to real life, creating compasses from paper clips, teaching Bob how to make fire from ice, and building squirrel traps. At every turn, the two are hounded by the hulking, snarling brown bear, which seems to be just as much of a symbol for the unsympathetic cruelty of the universe as it is an actual flesh and blood being. Played by screen veteran Bart the Bear—who appeared in eleven films before succumbing to cancer at age 23—the Kodiak is something of a distraction from Charles and Bob’s largely unspoken jealousies. All his life, Charles has wanted to do something “unequivocal,” something unmistakably real and daring, and he becomes almost maniacally obsessed with felling the mighty beast. Bob just wants to get out of the woods with all his limbs intact. As long as the bear lives, the men need one another to survive. Once the brute is out of the picture, though, the film becomes a full-on psychological thriller, with Charles keeping his wits about him while Bob plays a dangerous long con. Ultimately, Charles’ battle with the bear is the more thrilling conflict, as the man versus man scheming isn’t developed enough to make much of an impact during the final act.

Still, David Mamet and director Lee Tamahori (Mulholland Falls, Die Another Day) do smartly subvert many of the clichés and expectations of the survival genre, making The Edge a rather intelligent action film (As opposed to a high-minded, to-be-taken-seriously drama with action elements). The use of intentionally over-obvious foreshadowing is darkly clever —sometimes things pan out as you’d expect, other times they don’t—and there’s an undercurrent of bleak humor that runs throughout the film. It all works because of the acting. Baldwin would be easily replaceable here—apparently Bill Pullman was in the running at one point, a much better choice, in my opinion—but he gives the kind of performance he’s good at, playing a wise-guy with issues. The real reason to watch is Anthony Hopkins, who plays Charles like a man in a staring contest; that is, he’s straight faced, but there’s a hint of a grin to his performance, as if he knows this is all in good fun and shouldn’t be taken too seriously. And it shouldn’t. The Edge might best be described as dad-friendly Saturday afternoon entertainment, the kind of man’s man film that’s smarter than your average beat ‘em up/blow ‘em up extravaganza but still packs plenty of visceral masculine thrills. Basically, it’s Deliverance, but without the gap-toothed, rape- happy rednecks.

The Edge Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Edge makes its Blu-ray debut with a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that's surprisingly strong. For whatever reason, I really hadn't expected the film to look this good in high definition. The 2.35:1 framed image is generally sharp, nicely toned, and beautifully defined, with a sense of depth and presence that's very impressive at times. Take, for instance, the scene around the campfire in the rain, right before the bear attack. The combination of clarity, spot-on black levels, and effective lighting creates a genuinely stunning picture. And for the most part, all of these traits hold up throughout the film. There are a few scattered soft shots, but fine detail is easily visible almost all of the time, displaying every wrinkle on Hopkins' wizened face, and giving lucidity to other textures, from the knobby weft of a wool blazer to tree bark and bear hide. Contrast is tight, with deep, rarely crushing blacks and bright highlights. Color is appropriately bleak most of the time, but it's also vividly saturated when called for, as with the cherry red float-plane or the intensely green forest foliage. The film's grain structure has been left intact, but it's thin, natural, and unobtrusive, only spiking occasionally during some of the darker scenes. Really, I have very few complaints. Some early scenes display a bit of telecine wobble—when the image shakes subtly—and there are a handful of white/black specks on the print, but I didn't spot any compression related anomalies, and overcranked edge enhancement is entirely absent. All in all, The Edge looks fantastic.

The Edge Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Likewise, I was quite taken with the film's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, which may not offer the insane sonic theatrics of more direct action films, but certainly works well for David Mamet's man-to-man dialogue and the film's aurally diverse Alaskan setting. Voices throughout are clear of any muffling, drop-outs, or clipping, and the conversations are perfectly balanced among the other elements of the mix. Jerry Goldsmith's score is as huge and dynamic as the mountainous landscape, filling the entire soundfield with rich horns, sweeping strings, and satisfying low-end presence. The various sound effects are just as beefy and effective. Right off the bat we get the hushed whistle of wind blowing snow through the rear channels, and the environmental ambience rarely lets up, giving us thunder that cracks and ripples all around, rain pouring down heavily, and other outdoorsy sounds. The crash of the seaplane is the film's sonic showpiece, as geese shatter the glass windshield and a metal pontoon gets ripped from the fuselage. Then, when the plane dives into the lake, water gurgles up all around us. It's a scene that sounds great with the volume turned up.

The Edge Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Unfortunately, there are no bonus materials on this disc besides a theatrical trailer (1080p, 2:27) and collection of trailers for other dad-friendly 20th Century Fox films, including Broken Arrow (1080p, 2:28), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1080p, 1:00), Flight of the Phoenix (1080p, 2:20), and The Siege (1080p, 2:09).

The Edge Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If I remember correctly, The Edge was the victim of a pretty crappy non-anamorphic DVD treatment, so it's good to see the film get the proper home video release that it deserves. No, it's not a masterpiece of survival cinema, but it is a fun time at the movies, thanks mostly to Anthony Hopkins and his man versus beast showdown with Bart the Bear. Audio/Video specs are impressive here, and the only thing holding back this release is a lack of supplementary materials. Otherwise, The Edge is well worth your time if you're looking for a smart, outdoorsy thriller, and it would make a great Father's Day gift. Recommended.