7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
After a zombie epidemic, R (a highly unusual zombie) encounters Julie (a human survivor), and rescues her from a zombie attack. Julie sees that R is different from the other zombies, and as the two form a special relationship in their struggle for survival, R becomes increasingly more human – setting off an exciting, romantic, and often comical chain of events that begins to transform the other zombies and maybe even the whole lifeless world.
Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Lio Tipton, Rob Corddry, Dave FrancoTeen | 100% |
Comedy | 99% |
Romance | 57% |
Horror | 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 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
There have been a number of fanciful adaptations of William Shakespeare’s immortal Romeo and Juliet through the years, including everything from West Side Story to, well, Romeo + Juliet, but there has never been anything quite like the rewrite given to the iconic couple in Warm Bodies. There have been a glut of literary-horror mash-ups in recent years, outings like the soon to be filmed Pride and Prejudice and Zombies or perhaps (if one were to slightly extend the bounds of “literary”) even Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies or Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Warm Bodies plies much this same idea, retelling the oft-told tale of star-crossed lovers from different clans who learn to put aside their disparities to forge a more perfect union, while their kin fight mercilessly in the background. In this particular case the male just happens to be a zombie who can’t quite remember his name, though he thinks it started with an R, an abbreviation he now goes by. The girl is a still human Julie who ventures outside of a heavily fortified walled compound to retrieve much needed medical supplies, but who soon finds herself in a halting romance with R when R and his zombie buddies attack Julie and her human cohorts in a pharmacy. Warm Bodies is strangely reminiscent of slacker comedies at times, with a deadpan narration by R tying everything together and some weird but fitfully enjoyable turns by a very colorful supporting cast. The film may not be able to entirely support its rather twee conceit, but as far as zombie romantic comedies go, it has some spurts of life sparking through a somewhat moribund plot.
Warm Bodies is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Summit Entertainment and Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. Warm Bodies has been very aggressively color graded, as is patently obvious in the bulk of the screenshots accompanying this review, though in this case there is a definite method to the unnatural color scheme "madness". The bulk of the zombie scenes are bathed in an ice cold blue hue, while some of the memories have the amber glow of halcyon days of yore. Rather surprisingly, neither of these gambits deprives the image of much fine detail, which pops quite commendably throughout this high definition presentation. The color scheme was obviously thought through carefully, for as R and his zombie cohorts begin to rediscover their humanity, things start to look more and more natural, until by the final scenes we have something approaching a relatively normal looking palette. Some of the CGI (especially the Boneys) may leave some a bit underwhelmed, but overall this is a really sharp, clear and convincing transfer.
Warm Bodies' lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 is nicely nuanced, though those expecting an onslaught of nonstop LFE or other "summer blockbuster" sound effects may be at least minimally disappointed (there is some boisterous LFE at various points in the film, it's just sporadically utilized). The film features quite a bit of narration by R, which is of course anchored front and center, but there are some excellent sequences of immersion, notably in some of the zombie attack segments as well as the nefarious activities of the Boneys. Dialogue is very clearly presented and the appealing score (which contains a couple of cute source cues) also nicely fills the surround channels. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range is quite wide.
Films have long featured disaffected youth who, in the words of R, can't "connect". There's an obvious metaphor here at work that plays remarkably well into the seemingly eternally popular zombie framework. This film has a rather (sorry for the pun) deadpan humor that elevates it above much of its zombie kin, but there's also a preternatural sweetness about this film that makes it really, really enjoyable. This Blu-ray features superior video and audio and comes jam packed with excellent supplements. Highly recommended.
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