Cave
Rescue
(2022/Lionsgate Blu-ray)/Peaceful
(2021/Icarus DVD)/To
Kill A Mockingbird 4K
(1962/Universal 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: C+/C/B Sound: C+ Extras:
C/C-/B Films: B/C+/A-
Next
up are three dramas, two new, on a classic...
Based
of on the true story of thirteen boys who get trapped in underground
caves and by rising waters, Tom Waller's Cave
Rescue
(2022) brings the events to life a major dramatic film on the
incident.
For two weeks, the world watched and those who came to rescue them
and this is their story.
A
boys' soccer team goes into a natural cave to celebrate one of their
teammate's birthday. Little did they know the monsoons came early
that year and they forced to go deeper into the caves to escape the
rising waters. As the Marines were unsuccessful to dive so far in,
for so long and unable to find them. Specialists and volunteer
underwater cave divers came from all over the world to rescue those
13 boys, but in order to get the boys out, they are sedated and
divers must travel through blind underwater caves, where one false
move can cost a life.
This
movie reminded me of the movie The
33,
but the movie was more about the rescuers than the boys that were
trapped in the cave. It brought to life the drama of rescue, how
hard it is for the military to admit they failed to accept outside
help and the spirit of unity when the world comes together to save
lives. The cast includes Apa Bhavilai, Ross Cain, Lawrence de
Stefano, Erik Brown, Saman Gunhan, James Edward Holley and Thanawut
Ketsaro.
Extras
include making of the movie and trailers.
Emmanuelle
Bercot's Peaceful
(2021) offers cinema icon Catherine Deneuve as an older mother in
denial that her son (Benoit Magimet) has a serious illness, though
they are not alone in this as their nurse (Cecile de France) and
doctor (Gabriel Sara) to try and help them out, but the son is in as
much denial. This is an interesting angle with a difference for such
a film, but not enough of one.
Despite
its critical and commercial success, I sadly have to say that this is
still (especially at over two hours) what has commonly become known
as a 'disease of the week' film from the many such films in the late
1960s and definitely into the 1970 in theaters and from the original
cycle of network TV movies that figured if they made films with such
subject matter, it would be respectable, a hit and contest to win
during awards season for each respective medium. This does a good
approximation of such productions, but not much more and I was
ultimately disappointed. Too bad they did not try a few things
different, but the actors are giving it their best, to their credit.
If you want to see it too, just don't put your hopes up to high.
Trailers
for other Icarus releases are the only extras.
Finally,
Robert Mulligan's classic To
Kill A Mockingbird 4K
(1962) with its new picture upgrade that is now the best way to see
the film outside of a pristine 35mm or 16mm film print. We have
covered the film a few times over the years in the following formats:
Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/14524/Gregory+Peck:+The+Centennial+Collection+-+To
DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2792/To+Kill+A+Mockingbird+-+Legacy+Series
As
relevant as ever the new set has all the extras of the previous
Blu-ray release (adding a new Digital Code option) as the film
celebrates 60 years. As we've said everything we could about the
actual film in our previous reviews, there is one other thing to
note.
After
author Harper Lee's death, she had never written another book, but
had worked out a sequel book to this movie and the original book.
When it arrived, people were shocked by some revelations in it, but I
stick with the idea that she never really finished the book, would
not have approved of its release and that it is not true sequel. The
ideas themselves do not always gel with the original classic either,
meaning she was having serious indecisions about what to to with the
characters. Maybe if she had more time, she might have come up with
something she was satisfied with, but maybe this classic needed no
sequel of any kind. Hope the film world follows that idea.
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.85 X 1 black &
white, HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition
image on Mockingbird is not (though I wish it were) in Dolby
Vision, but still has its sharpness, depth and detail improvements
from the already-reviewed Blu-ray which is the same in this set as it
was in the last one of Peck's films. Some shots offer pleasant
surprises and just allow the film to work better overall, so 4K is
the way to go here.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Cave
has some good shots, but more than its share of darkness and
unfortunately, the transfer is not always able to handle that, though
it can do a good job often. A 4K edition would be the real test
here.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes on both Blu-rays are
shockingly on par with each other, with Universal deciding not to try
and upgrade the Mockingbird
soundtrack for the better, as it shows its age enough here, while
Cave
has a mixed soundtrack where some sounds are not as clear as other,
some of which is intended and some definitely not.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image on Peaceful
is just a little too soft for its own good throughout, though we
gather it might be the format and not the actual shoot. We get some
good shots still, but not enough. The lossy French Dolby Digital 2.0
Stereo fares a bit better with Pro Logic-like surrounds and seems
well recorded, but why no 5.1 mix?
-
Nicholas Sheffo and Ricky Chiang (Cave)
