Black Limousine (2012/Anchor Bay DVD)/The Hunter (2011/Magnolia DVD)/The Flowers Of War (2012/Lionsgate Blu-ray)

 

Picture: C/C/B     Sound: C+/B-/B     Extras: D/C/C+     Films: C/C/C+

 

 

Here is a group of interesting dramas that may not have always worked, but were actually ambitious, which is something we do not see enough.

 

 

Carl Colpaert’s Black Limousine (2012) has David Arquette as an alcoholic father divorced from his wife, but having found some success composing a music score for a high profile science fiction film.  Without a follow-up project, he gets a job as a limo driver and the results are being in the vicinity of the business.  This includes becoming interested in an actress (Bijou Phillips), riding around a high profile actor (Nicholas Bishop) and meeting others as he fights his personal demons.

 

Arquette is really good here and this starts out well, including appearances by Vivica A. Fox (as a producer, not playing herself) and other good lesser-known actors.  I was with this one most of the time enjoying and buying most of what was going on.  However, it starts falling apart in the end and seems to run out of ideas.  It is sad this became so desperate because it was on track to being one of the better films on Hollywood in a while, but it instead implodes and I was disappointed.

 

There are no extras.

 

 

Daniel Nettheim’s The Hunter (2011) plays the same way, starting out well (despite some scenes and dialogue that ring false at times) before collapsing into improbability in the last half hour.  Produced by the makers of the hit Animal Kingdom (reviewed elsewhere on this site), this is also set in Australia as Willem Dafoe plays a mercenary (the title character) sent by a university to find the Tasmanian Tiger.  It was thought to be extinct, but now, some new information suggests otherwise.

 

An outsider not welcome in the community, he digs deep into the woods and finds all kinds of things, investigating how the father of a family disappeared and might have been murdered because someone (or a group of someones) do not want anything to be found or explored at all.  He gets to know the family better and is helped by an assistant contact (Sam Neill), but keep turning up clues as to what is really happening and it is not always pretty.

 

The early flaws eventually catch up with the film as it just becomes unrealistic and this coincides with it becoming too predictable halfway through.  I hoped it would recover, but it did not.  What a shame, but at least the acting is good.

 

Extras include a Theatrical Trailer, Making Of featurette, Deleted Scenes with commentary and feature length audio commentary by Nettham and Producer Vincent Sheehan.

 

 

Finally we have Zhang Yimou’s epic drama The Flowers Of War (2012), the most expensive Chinese film production to date telling a story of the Rape of Nanking in 1937 as the Imperialist Japanese enter and do what they want, take what they want and torture and kill who they want.  In the middle of this is a Westerner (Christian Bale) whose individualistic money-making priorities suddenly take a backseat to the raping, murdering and pillaging around them.

 

Bale is top rate as usual and Yimou has already had international success with the links of the Jet Li hit Hero, showing once again he can juggle a big movie with a big cast.  The actors are fine and even brave throughout, but at two hours, 22 minutes, this is a bit long.  In addition, the way violence against the women is handled tries to be honest and not too ugly, but this backfires slightly as the film has too many longer scenes of the violence being played out.  If this had been shortened, this would have been a tighter film and a better one.

 

Also, it shows how ugly the Japanese could be, but it has some awkward moments on that issue as well.  Still, despite its flaws, this is the best film here and worth a look.  I also hope this leads to us seeing more of the Asian actors here because they are really, really good.

 

Extras include a five-part making of featurette worth your time after seeing the film.

 

 

The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image on both DVDs are a little softer throughout and overall than I would have liked, though they would likely look better on Blu-ray.  Both are stylized down a bit and this can backfire in ways it should not, but that is the risk you take when you take this approach.  The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Flowers is easily the visual champ here, looking fine throughout with limited styling and fine clarity throughout. We also get some good depth shots.  This was a mix of HD and 35mm, brought together well enough, though a pure film shoot might have been better, it has been a huge hit in China and is getting to more audiences worldwide.

 

The lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix on the two DVDs are not great, but Limousine is especially dialogue-based and weak, as if it were a simple stereo recording.  Hunter has more of a soundfield when it does, though in fairness, it has its share of necessary silences.  The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 7.1 lossless mix on Flowers can sometimes be towards the front speakers, but the real problem is that you have to turn this up more than usual to hear all the channels so be careful of volume switching.  The mix does use the extended channels well when needed, but this is not as well rounded as it should be.  Also, the extras have audio issues (something we rarely have to discuss) including Bale’s interview audio being recorded way lower than it should, than being overwhelmed by the added music.

 

Otherwise, I liked the mix on Flowers very much despite the minor issues on the actual film.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo