6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.3 |
The lives of a young couple intertwine with a much older man as he reflects back on a lost love while he's trapped in an automobile crash.
Starring: Britt Robertson, Scott Eastwood, Jack Huston, Oona Chaplin, Alan AldaRomance | 100% |
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 7.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB 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 | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
The pull quote adorning the cover of The Longest Ride states with breathless alacrity, “The best Nicholas Sparks movie since The Notebook,” which may be somewhat analogous to someone saying that the Britannic was the most successful White Star Line ship since the Titanic. Critical hyperbole and/or damning with faint praise aside, The Longest Ride traffics in many of the tropes which by now will be old hat (and/or Stetson) to Sparks aficionados. Doomed love, semi-doomed love, unrequited love, slightly requited love, a tragic accident or several, and messages from long ago, all unfolding in a North Carolina that is picturesque if slightly overheated (in several ways) some of the time. Like many cinematic Sparks adaptations before it, The Longest Ride survived a fairly brutal critical drubbing at the time of its theatrical release (including by Blu-ray.com’s Brian Orndorf here) to do at least reasonable box office, proving that Sparks’ fan base doesn’t much care what critics say. The film also supposedly established Scott Eastwood as a leading man, in a film that features at least two other progeny of famous movie folks (co-stars Jack Huston and Oona Chaplin have surnames at least as redolent as Eastwood’s). For a certain demographic of the populace, one of the more interesting elements in The Longest Ride is its emphasis on Jewish culture, something the presumably goyische Sparks may have thought seemed “exotic,” but which I suspect will often come across as almost hilariously labored within the film, at least to Jews like myself who have a penchant toward eye rolling curmudgeonly behavior. (My hunch is screenwriter Craig Bolotin may be a member of the tribe, at least if my genetically enhanced Jew-dar recognition of surnames is operating correctly.)
The Longest Ride is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. Shot digitally with the Arri Alexa, the presentation offers excellent sharpness and clarity most of the time, especially in close-ups, where fine detail reveals elements like individual drops of perspiration dotting Luke's face as he attempts to wrangle the bull named Rango. Some of the herky jerky POV shots showing what it's like to be atop a bull suffer from a bit of inherent shakiness and tend to often be a blur. While a couple of nighttime sequences offer sterling detail and precision (see screenshot 7), some of the dimly lit sequences, especially the black and white and/or sepia toned flashback sequences, lack the superb levels of detail that the contemporary sequences offer. Aside from the intentional color grading of the flashback sequences, the palette looks appealingly natural and is very vividly suffused. Contrast and black levels are both solid, and there are no issues with compression artifacts.
The Longest Ride's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix offers some excellent immersion in the bull riding scenes, where everything from the roar of the crowds to the thunk of the bull galloping around the arena are delivered with suitable force and good directionality. Quite a bit of the film plays out in tamer sonic environments, and in these sequences surround activity tends to be limited to ambient environmental effects and Mark Isham's evocative score. Fidelity is top notch and dynamic range very wide for a "romantic drama."
Lovers of Nicholas Sparks will probably get exactly what they're expecting in this film, but that's part and parcel of what will probably be problematic for everyone else. The Longest Ride revisits so many (too many) Sparksian tropes that it fails to develop an identity of its own. Alda and Chaplin take the acting honors here (though Lolita Davidovich does quite well in an underwritten role as Luke's mom). The film is certainly scenic, but the story would have been more focused and effective had it centered solely on the more touching story of Ira and Ruth. Technical merits are first rate for those considering a purchase.
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