The Island Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

The Island Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 29, 2019

Well, maybe it’s a case of Life imitating Art, but then you’d have to agree that the frankly gonzo film The Island is “Art”, which may be a bit of a stretch, whatever admitted pleasures and perhaps provocative twists this truly odd outing offers. Perhaps some of you saw that our little blue planet was almost hit by an asteroid last week (if you managed to miss this potentially life threatening news flash, you can read about it here). It may be a meteor in the film instead of an asteroid, but there is another close call in The Island which precipitates a calamity, including a tsunami, something that in turn strands a bunch of people on an apparently deserted, isolated island. That may give the impression that The Island is some kind of weird riff on things like Lost: The Complete Collection, Lord of the Flies and/or even Gilligan's Island, and in what may be some indication of just how gonzo this film is, there are elements of all three of those entries running rampant throughout the story.

The Island posits a bunch of coworkers on one of those dreaded “team building” exercises, which (because this film is weird ) takes place on an amphibious bus that just drives off the road and into the ocean in one of the film’s first scenes. Director and co-writer Huang Bo also stars as a kind of hapless shlub named Ma Jin who desperately wants to develop a relationship with his gorgeous coworker Shan Shan (Shu Qi), though he’s way too shy to do anything about it. However as he and his work crew are getting situated on the bus, Ma has the unexpected glory of winning a multimillion dollar lottery (he accesses the results on his phone), which gives him a little jolt of adrenaline. That is soon curtailed by that aforementioned tsunami, which ends up stranding the characters on an island where they need to forge a new society. Sound familiar?

There are some fascinating ideas at play in The Island, and it’s in its “philosophical” aspects that it probably comes closest to either Lost or (perhaps especially) Lord of the Flies. But the film is also at least partially dependent on some shtick filled humor, which is where the whole Gilligan’s Island side of things at least occasionally intrudes. There are asides that involve competing ideologies like a kind of neo-capitalism versus a neo-fascism, and (in what may be a winking nod to one of Lost's more audacious images) even a moment with a polar bear. The star-crossed romance between Ma and Shan Shan also plays into things, but it’s probably to the film’s credit that expected happy endings don’t play out as, well, expected.

It’s hard to know what to make of an entry that is so tonally all over the map the way this one is, but The Island benefits from some lush visuals, even if it’s arguably too overstuffed with competing elements and also probably too long by at least a half hour (maybe more, depending on your patience).

The Island Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Island is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. The IMDb lists the Arri Alexa XT and a 2K DI as comprising the technical specifications. This is a really lush looking presentation a lot of the time, though there's a kind of intentionally dreamlike atmosphere that can keep some shots slightly soft looking. The palette is incredibly vivid, offering everything from the bright yellow of the amphibious bus to some really appealing pastel hues in elements like sunsets once the characters are stranded on the island. Detail levels are generally very good, and close-ups offer nice, precise renderings of fine patterns or texture like some of the woven ponchos that some characters wear. There are some night scenes that don't offer a wealth of detail, and I noticed some very minor tips toward banding in some sudden light changes, but otherwise this is a sharp, well detailed presentation.

The Island Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Island features a nicely immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that provides good surround activity and some rather forceful LFE in sequences like the big tsunami that strands the coworkers. Some weather phenomena on the island also offers good engagement of the surround channels, which are similarly regularly populated by ambient environmental sounds since so much of this story takes place outside. There are some unusual musical elements that also add some sonic energy, and dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly throughout.

The Island Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (1080p; 1:32)

As is typically the case with Well Go USA Blu-ray releases, the above supplement has been authored to move on automatically to trailers for other Well Go USA releases. Those trailers for other Well Go USA releases also play automatically at disc boot up.

The Island Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In a world of cookie cutter entertainments, it's kind of bracing to stumble across a patently outré offering like The Island. The film's huge tonal variances may be a hurdle for some viewers, but the film at least has the courage of its convictions to be both a drama and a comedy, as well as a romance of sorts. It's all very odd, but it's rather charming in its own bizarre way. Technical merits are solid for those considering a purchase.