6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Mike Max is a Hollywood producer who became powerful and rich thanks to brutal and bloody action films. His ignored wife Paige is close to leaving him. Suddenly Mike is kidnapped by two bandits, but escapes and hides out with his Mexican gardener's family for a while. At the same time, surveillance expert Ray Bering is looking for what happens in the city, but it is not clear what he wants. The police investigation for Max's disappearance is led by detective Doc Block, who falls in love with actress Cat who is playing in ongoing Max's production.
Starring: Bill Pullman, Andie MacDowell, Gabriel Byrne, Frederic Forrest, Pruitt Taylor VinceThriller | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
There’s little doubt that Wim Wenders can be straightforward when he wants to be, as evidenced by some of his acclaimed documentaries like Buena Vista Social Club. But whatever clarity Wenders brings to his nonfiction enterprises is often lost in what seems like a deliberately obfuscatory approach in his works of fiction, and there is perhaps no more opaque piece in Wenders’ odd but provocative filmography than his 1997 outing The End of Violence. The very title of the film hints at a near impossible pipe dream, and there’s a similarly hallucinatory aspect to the film, one which darts in and out of several supposedly interlocking storylines without ever providing much narrative grist to effectively link them. Often described as a metaphor or allegory, The End of Violence has a lot—maybe too much—on its cinematic plate, and like many overstuffed “all you can eat” buffets, finds that it can’t quite digest everything in front of it. Filled with some of Wenders’ typically piquant observations about life and, in this particular instance, the vagaries of the movie industry itself, The End of Violence seems oddly prescient at times, especially with regard to one of its plot arcs which details a high tech surveillance system and a questioning developer of that system that seems to presage the NSA, along with the crisis of conscience that evidently sparked Edward Snowden’s massive data dump (Citizenfour). Filled with a bit more black (and/or bleak) humor than many of Wenders’ films, The End of Violence can’t quite escape its own overblown ambience and instead succeeds—when it does succeed—as a collection of intriguing vignettes that never really congeal into a satisfying whole.
The End of Violence is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Olive has been releasing some really interesting cult items in surprisingly solid shape recently, and The End of Violence is among them. The Los Angeles (and environs) locations offer Wenders and cinematographer Pascal Rabaud the chance to exploit everything from outrageously sunny beachsides to more shaded, almost noir feeling, interiors, and this high definition presentation supports changes in lighting with consistent contrast and an appealingly organic look. There are some minor issues with the elements, once again in the form of tiny nicks and the like, but nothing is very distracting. Colors are generally accurate looking, though flesh tones tilt a bit toward the ruddy pink side of things at times. The grain field is very natural and resolves without any problems throughout the presentation. There are likewise no problems with image instability and as is Olive's stock in trade, no signs of artificial digital manipulation of the image harvest.
The End of Violence sports a surprisingly robust DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix, one which provides excellent support for both the film's dialogue as well as a propulsive score by a consortium of talents including Ry Cooder. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range is unexpectedly wide for this sort of drama. There are no issues with damage like dropouts in this problem free track.
There are parts of An End of Violence that I liked—a lot. The opening scenes with Max by his pool wheeling and dealing and needing to "take a call" from his wife who is mere feet away from him are darkly hilarious and completely on the nose (at least for anyone who's hung out with a certain type in Hollywood). And some of the plot points about the moral implications of having Big Brother peeking anywhere and everywhere are tantalizing and probably even more a propos now than they were when the movie first came out. But the film goes off in so many weird directions that it ultimately becomes hard to divine exactly what Wenders is trying to achieve. Viewed as something of a portmanteau, there are certain pleasures to be had in this film, but as a unified whole, it's an unfocused mess a lot of the time. Technical merits are very strong for those considering a purchase.
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