6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Tolkien explores the formative years of the orphaned author as he finds friendship, love and artistic inspiration among a group of fellow outcasts at school.
Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Lily Collins, Colm Meaney, Anthony Boyle, Patrick GibsonBiography | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, French, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien has one of the most recognizable names, or at least surnames, in the entire annals of literature, and there may be some fans of his most noted works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, who may feel like that surname sounds very much like a character or location in one of those very works. Despite the ubiquitous recognition of Tolkien’s name, how many fans really know all that much about the man? Saliently, how many fans could correctly identify what the “J.R.R.” stands for? (In a similar fashion, and indeed with regard to another author famous for creating a labyrinthine world of his own populated with all sorts of outlandish creatures, how many folks could correctly identify what the “R.R.” in the creator of Game of Thrones stands for?)* That lack of true intimate knowledge about Tolkien may provide ample reason for a biographical film about the famed author, but kind of like Tolkien’s work themselves, Tolkien seems to harken back to a distant age, perhaps in this particular example not some distant, mist enshrouded Middle Earth, but Hollywood’s Golden Era. For Tolkien is a big, glossy, and perhaps somewhat fusty account of Tolkien’s life. It’s often sumptuously beautiful in some of its recreations of a now arcane English way of life, and it’s equally harrowing in its depiction of the horrors Tolkien witnessed during his World War I experiences, but despite some obvious attempts (and arguably a few successes) in connecting emotionally with both its focal subject and the ostensible audience, there’s the same distancing, almost mythologizing, aspect to this biography that often attends films about vaunted historical figures.
Tolkien is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. For such a relatively high profile picture (even if it didn't do much at the box office), I'm frankly surprised that I wasn't able to dredge up much if any technical data on the shoot, but as usual I'm presuming a digitally captured source was finished at a 2K DI (I always welcome authoritative data on subjects like this, so if anyone has it, private message me and I can update the review). This is another beautiful looking Blu-ray from Fox, one that preserves some of the almost amber tones that cinematographer Lasse Frank Johannessen and director Dome Karukoski favor in some of the British material when Tolkien is growing up. The wartime sequences are often an interesting study in lots of cool slate grays with almost spooky pops of blotches of rust colored blood. Detail levels are excellent throughout the presentation,
Tolkein's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track gains some expected oomph from the battle scenes, where gunfire and explosions and even the hiss of poison gas dot the sound field (I kind of wondered what an Atmos track might have done for the battle scenes in particular). Other scenes, while probably not as showy, also have some nice surround activity, including little moments like a rugby match that initially gets Tolkien into trouble at school but which provides him an entré into a kind of closed "boys' club" . The film has quite a bit of outdoor material (even apart from the World War I trench sequences), and ambient environmental sounds regularly dot the side and rear channels. Dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free track.
Tolkien does manage to touch the heart as it gives an at times fairly surface deep overview of this iconic author's life. The film may best be approached as an introduction rather than a final statement, and as such it suffices rather well, with some impressive performances and a handsome if occasionally harrowing production design. Technical merits are solid, and Tolkien comes Recommended.
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