5.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
For centuries, a secret Order of priests has existed within the Church. A renegade priest, Father Alex Bernier, is sent to Rome to investigate the mysterious death of one of the Order's most revered members. Following a series of strangely similar killings, Bernier launches an investigation that forces him to confront unimaginable evil and the terrifying knowledge that there is a fate worse than death.
Starring: Heath Ledger, Shannyn Sossamon, Benno Fürmann, Mark Addy, Peter WellerHorror | 100% |
Thriller | 54% |
Mystery | 21% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
I’ll admit to having a critical soft spot for religious, especially Catholic-themed, horror films. When they’re done well, like The Exorcist or The Omen, the sense of ritual, the wrestling between belief and doubt, the archaic imagery and mantra-like prayers all evoke the terrifying possibilities of a cosmic conflict that wages just beneath the veneer of everyday reality. Irrespective of whether you actually believe in a supernatural struggle for the souls of mankind, the good versus evil dichotomy is a potent storytelling tool that's capable of exploiting our most primal feelings—fear and awe of the unknown. The religious horror sub-genre made a minor resurgence in the late 1990s and early 00s, but, almost without exception, the films were mediocre or worse. Frailty was good, but movies like End of Days, Stigmata, Lost Souls, and The Ninth Gate did little but play up the world’s collective anxieties about the millennium. The Order, from 2003, came a little after that initial crop— you’d think writer/director Brian Helgeland could’ve learned from the others’ mistakes—but it might be the worst of the bunch. Schizophrenically scripted, unsure of its intent, and—worst of all—dull, The Order is purgatory at 24 frames per second.
So, The Order on Blu-ray: the second coming or an unholy union? The truth is somewhere in the middle. The film's 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer is merely satisfying at its best, and dim, murky, and indistinct at its worst. I'll get the PQ sins out of the way first. There are several scenes in The Order—like the child demon confrontation in the graveyard, or Thomas meeting the Black Pope—that are almost impenetrably dark, with deep, crushing shadows that make it nearly impossible to see what's happening. (Don't watch the film during the day with the windows open if you have a screen that's prone to glare.) Contrast also has a tendency to be flat and lifeless. Colors are restrained and somewhat dull as well, with occasional exceptions like Mara's sunflowers. At the same time, to be fair, the film seems like it's intentionally going for a slightly antiquated, less glossy look than most modern horror movies. Watching the grainy opening scene, with its credits in a font similar to the one used for The Exorcist, you could easily imagine that The Order was made sometime in the mid-1970s. There are definitely some soft shots scattered throughout, but the transfer's clarity is decent, and certainly presents an improvement over the DVD, especially in close-ups. There are no DNR or edge enhancement abuses, and aside from some noise in some of the darker scenes, I didn't spot any overly apparent compression issues.
Horror films usually have hectic, immersive, frequently scary sound design, but since The Order really isn't a horror film, none off that applies to the movie's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. Don't get me wrong, there are some good uses of the multi-channel mix here—bats fluttering through the rears, glass shattering across the soundfield, wind blowing all around—but there's nothing noteworthy, and there are many situations where the track could've been much more active than it is. Still, there's nothing inherently wrong with this mix. The dialogue is perfectly prioritized, David Torn's score has a sweep and menace that the film's story never matches, and the track has appreciable low-end oomph and high-end clarity. Unfortunately, this is a dull movie, and the soundtrack reflects that with merely so-so sound design. Optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles are available in easy-to-read white lettering.
There's not much here, but I wasn't really expecting much either. First up is a rather joyless audio commentary with writer/director Brian Helgeland, who dwells quite often on the over-obvious. We also have seven deleted/expanded scenes with optional commentary—running nearly twenty minutes— and a theatrical trailer. Both the scenes and the trailer are in standard definition.
The Order makes early attempts at horror, but eventually lapses into a liturgical "thriller" that's distinctly short on thrills and moves at the pace of the Pope-mobile. It'll put you to sleep faster than a midnight Mass. The film gets a decent presentation on Blu-ray, but unless you're holding a Heath Ledger movie marathon, The Order isn't worth your time.
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