Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Valhalla Rising Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 1, 2010

Nicolas Winding Refn's "Valhalla Rising" (2009) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Canadian distributors Entertainment One Films. The supplemental features on the disc include standard making of featurette and trailers for various E1 Entertainment productions. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Bloodland

Give Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn a lot of credit -- and wish him luck. His latest film, Valhalla Rising, is a brutal masterpiece which, I am convinced, will be passionately criticized by religious fanatics in this country after IFC Films release it in theaters across the nation this summer.

The film opens up in pagan Scotland where a mute warrior, One-Eye (Mads Mikkelsen, Open Hearts; Casino Royal), is held prisoner by a cruel Viking Chief and his men. He manages to break free and kills everyone but a young boy named Are (Maarten Stevenson). Together, they join a group of Christian crusaders heading to Jerusalem to reconquer the Holy Land from the infidels.

But the crusaders get lost at sea and instead of reaching the Promised Land arrive at a savage paradise, where they slowly begin to lose their minds. Some of the crusaders question God, as they don’t understand why he has betrayed them, and quickly get killed by their leader; others are murdered by the unseen natives. Eventually, One-Eye, Are, and the last two of the crusaders leave the dead behind and head deep into the heart of the unknown land.

Valhalla Rising is an intense, brutal and seriously disturbing film. However, it is also beautiful to look at. Most of the footage from the first half of the film, for example, was apparently shot in Scotland, at locations where no film crew has previously visited, though it really feels as if it was shot somewhere in Scandinavia.

The film is formally divided into six chapters -- Wrath, Silent Warrior, Men of God, The Holy Land, Hell, and The Sacrifice -- each marking a change in tone and direction within the narrative. All six chapters, however, share an identical rhythm.

The dialog is extremely limited. One-Eye, for example, does not utter a single word, but this seems to have worked to his advantage. Some of the most powerful scenes in the entire film are the ones where the camera simply studies his scarred face.

I have a difficult time summing up what the message of the film is, though I feel that it shares a lot with Carlos Saura's El Dorado. Certainly the manner in which Refn questions man’s dependence on religion seems quite similar to the way in which Saura analyzes religion's relationship with culture.

Admittedly, though, what makes this film so fascinating to behold is precisely the fact that it manages to confuse and ultimately seriously disturb its audience, without ever feeling trivial. In other words, this isn’t a film that needs to be understood; rather, it has to be experienced.

Refn’s direction is assured and his preferences for color and light very effective. He was assisted by cinematographer Morten Søborg, who collaborated with Susanne Bier on the Oscar-nominated Danish drama After the Wedding.

*According to TheFilmConsumer.com, Refn was inspired to shoot Valhalla Rising after he saw Mario Bava's cult classic The Planet of the Vampires and a runestone in Delaware, and read an unnamed 1950s sci-fi novel and comic.

Valhalla Rising Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Nicolas Winding Refn's Valhalla Rising arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Canadian distributors Entertainment One Films.

I don't see a sizable gap in quality between this high-definition transfer and the one Momentum Pictures used for their Blu-ray release of Valhalla Rising in the United Kingdom. If anything, the E1 Entertainment high-definition transfer looks just a tiny bit lighter, but the difference really is extremely small. There are still some minor inconsistencies - mostly soft halo-like effects, which, to be honest, are quite difficult to spot due to the manner in which Valhalla Rising was shot (Refn used the Red One camera) - but the basics are very much intact. For example, during the daylight scenes fine object detail and clarity are outstanding. The various color manipulations are also very effective. Once again, there are no serious stability issues. Blown through a digital projector, Valhalla Rising conveys terrific depth and tightness. Lastly, I did not detect any purely transfer-related anomalies to report in this review. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).

Valhalla Rising Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, Entertainment One Films have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is outstanding. There are some outstanding ambient effects (wind blowing, arrows hitting targets, etc) that create a truly unique atmosphere, one that I believe is amongst the key reasons why Valhalla Rising works so well. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and exceptionally easy to follow. Finally, while viewing Valhalla Rising I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, or audio dropouts to report in this review.

Valhalla Rising Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making of - a standard featurette with raw footage from the absolutely amazing locations that are seen in the film, as well as comments from director Nicolas Winding Refn, his assistant Saskia Pomeroy, and other cast and crew members. In English, not subtitled. (23 min, 480/60i).

• Trailers - Various trailers for other E1 Entertainment releases, which also appear when the Blu-ray disc loads up. (10 min, 1080p).

Valhalla Rising Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This very attractively priced Canadian Blu-ray release of Nicolas Winding Refn's Valhalla Rising is a great alternative for everyone in Region-A lands who could not take advantage of the Momentum Pictures Blu-ray release. It is a shame that this most unique film isn't getting a local U.S. Blu-ray release, but it is what it is. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.