The
Climbers
(2019/Well Go Blu-ray)/Far
Country
(1954/Universal/MVD/Arrow Blu-ray)/Midway
4K (2019/Lionsgate
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: A Picture: B+ Sound: B+/B+/A- Extras:
C/B/B Films: B+/B/C+
These
films are set in the near past involving people who are in tough
positions of responsibility and in more highly responsible lives,
with all their own different situations and results...
1960,
3 Chinese explorers became the first Chinese to climb Mt Everest, but
due to the lost of their camera, they were unable to bring back the
proof of climbing of Mt. Everest and the international community did
not acknowledge their feat. Fifteen years later, China and it's army
wants to try one more time and prove that the Chinese people made it
to Mt. Everest in Daniel Lee's The
Climbers
(2019).
While
considered China's heroes, they were scorned by the public and the
international community. Without definitive proof, everything they
did, the sacrifices they made were place into question and they lost
face and honor. 15 years later, China once more calls Fang Wuzhou to
train the next generation of Chinese mountain climbers to climb
Everest. Wuzhou is a veteran climber knows the dangers of Everest
and seeks to lead the a young generation of climbers, eager and
naive, but like all who came before, Everest does not judge or
discriminate between race, gender and is just as deadly from one
person to the next.
Even
with the latest technologies and an army backing you up ...climbing
Mt. Everest means risking your life against dangers, ice, snow, high
winds, altitude sickness ...but for climbers it is the ultimate
adventure. Fang Wuzhou and his team made it to Mt. Everest in 1960,
but due to saving a team member's life they lost their camera. After
a massive failure, lost of lives, Fang Wuzhou has one last chance to
prove the to the world that they made it.
Based
of a true story of Chinese explorers climbing Mt Everest, it show the
dreams , strength and sacrifices of Chinese people. While it started
out for the honor and country, Mt Everest is a personal
story/challenge for any true mountain climber.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image is an HD shoot with some
obvious CGI and a few other flaws here and there, but it looks fine
otherwise, while the DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) Mandarin 5.1 lossless mix is impressive despite not
being a new, state-of-the-art 12-track sound film. Clarity and depth
impress throughout. Extras
include guest star Jackie Chan, behind the scenes and trailers.
The
1954 epic The
Far Country
gets a lavish two-disc presentation from Arrow Academy that is a must
see for fans. Starring James Stewart and Ruth Roman, this film looks
and sounds fantastic on disc and is a great time capsule piece.
Set
around at time of the Yukon Gold Rush, Jeff Webster (Stewart) is a
rootin' tootin' cowboy who drives his cattle from Wyoming to Yukon,
along with his partner Ben Tatum (Walter Brennan). Along the way,
they run into an adversary - a corrupt judge (John McIntire) and his
henchmen who are out for blood.
The
Far Country
has a brand new 4K restoration from the original film elements by
Arrow Films that bests previous versions on disc, including a DVD of
it we reviewed in a James Stewart DVD box set many years ago. The
film is presented in its original widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1
(its original three-strip Technicolor presentation better than ever)
and an original PCM 1.0 Mono audio mix. Both of which are of high
quality for the Blu-ray format. As mentioned in the below list of
extras, there is a different cut of the film on the disc with a
different aspect ratio of 2.00:1 which boils down to your personal
preference. This film is gorgeous to look at though with beautiful
landscapes show on film that certainly holds up.
Special
Features include:
Two
presentations of The
Far Country
in both original aspect ratios of 1.85:1 and 2.00:1
Limited
edition booklet with new writing on the film by Philip Kemp and
original reviews
Reversible
sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham
Humphreys
New
audio commentary by film scholar Adrian Martin
American
Frontiers: Anthony Mann at Universal,
an all-new, feature-length documentary with Mann biographer Alan K.
Rode, western author C. Courtney Joyner, script supervisor Michael
Preece, and critics Michael Schlesinger and Rob Word
Mann
of the West,
a newly filmed appraisal of Far
Country
and the westerns of Anthony Mann by the critic Kim Newman
Image
gallery
and
an Original Theatrical Trailer.
Finally,
another clunky big budget production to add to his resume,
Independence
Day &
The
Day After Tomorrow
director Roland Emmerich decides to go back to the past again (as he
did with 10,000
BC
and The
Patriot)
with Midway
(2019), a sort of remake of the 1976 film of the same name and a new
take on the real events. The big question is... did anyone ask for
yet another movie of this era/battle? The answer is clear when you
watch this film, as it doesn't necessarily have anything new in it
that you haven't seen before. It is miles better than Michael Bay's
Pearl
Harbor,
though, so I give it that!
The
film has a massive cast which includes Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson,
Luke Evans, Aaron Eckhart, Mandy Moore, Dennis Quaid, Woody
Harrelson, and Nick Jonas to name just a few.
Midway
4K
centers on the Battle of Midway, the infamous clash between the
American fleet and the Imperial Japanese Navy which marked a pivotal
turning point in the Pacific Theater during WWII. From the
perspective of several different commanders and officers, this
harrowing story is captured on film in grand fashion.
While
the film is loud and expensive, it can't escape the 'fake' look that
it is has going for it. It seems as if nearly this entire movie was
shot on green screen stages as most everything is digitally created.
The boats, thousands of soldiers, the environments are all fake.
While somethings obviously had to be done this way, it is interesting
when looking at what the 1976 version did for real, and how much this
one seems mainly created in a computer. All of this makes this
version of Midway
not feel as authentic as maybe it was hoping to be.
The
presentation of Midway,
however, is top of the line and it comes across very well here on the
4K Ultra HD 2160p HEVC/H.265, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD
Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image for a simply stunning
and clear image. Paired with that is a lossless Dolby Atmos 11.1
audio track (mixdown in Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) for older
systems) and even English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo lossless. This
is a very loud movie as mentioned, which makes it particularly fun to
watch at home if you have an immersive audio system. The clarity of
the image works for and against the film as it exposes (to my eyes
anyway) some of the lines between reality and digital effects.
Still, this is a fantastic presentation for 4K UHD and definitely
demo disc worthy.
Also
included is a 1080p Blu-ray edition with the same widescreen/ sound
specs that looks fine for the format and a digital HD copy too.
Special
Features:
Audio
Commentary by Roland Emmerich
"Getting
It Right: The Making of Midway"
featurette
"The
Men of Midway"
featurette
"Roland
Emmerich: Man on a Mission"
featurette
"Turning
Point: The Legacy of Midway"
featurette
"Joe
Rochefort: Breaking the Japanese Code"
featurette
"We
Met at Midway: Two Survivors Remember"
featurette
and
an Original Theatrical Trailer.
True,
Midway
is a big silly war movie, but it is a good way to exploit the range
of your home entertainment system with its impressive score and sound
mix. The film itself isn't terrible, but it just doesn't feel as
immersive as other recent war film entries like say Nolan's Dunkirk,
the recent 1917
(our 4K review for that film is next up), or even Mel Gibson's
Hacksaw
Ridge.
-
Ricky Chiang (Climbers)
and James
Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/