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Category:    Home > Reviews > Thriller > Primal Fear – Hard Evidence Edition (Paramount Blu-ray + DVD)

Primal Fear – Hard Evidence Edition (Paramount Blu-ray + DVD)

 

Picture: B+/B     Sound: B+/B     Extras: B     Film: B+

 

 

Out of all the suspense/thrillers that came out of the 1990’s (and there were many of them) 1996’s Primal Fear may well be one of the best, if not certainly the most memorable.  No one knew who Edward Norton was at the time and certainly never expected him to turn into one of the best actors of his generation.  He would use this film to catapult him into stardom in the next few years in films like American History X, Rounders, and Fight Club.  Since then he has done exceptional work with filmmakers Spike Lee and Ridley Scott.  Richard Gere also turns in a convincing role here and makes most people wonder why he can’t get more consistent work like his performance here. 

 

The film also stars Laura Linney and Francis McDormand in fine supporting roles as well.  Together with fine casting and a solid screenplay by Steve Shagan the film works and Gregory Hoblit’s directing makes for a great film, certainly underrated.  He would direct Fallen two years later, which audiences are still trying to catch up with along with another great film in 2002’s Hart’s War, which has be sorely missing an audience as the film went under the radar of so many.

 

Gere plays a Chicago hotshot attorney who takes on a case involving the murder of a priest and the accused is an oddball altar boy (Norton), but he takes the case knowing that this pro-bono deal could get some serious media hype, which he thrives on.  What he doesn’t realize is that this case is full of more corruption than your typical political case and more importantly many double crosses including some that despite how obvious they seem, there are more twists still coming.  This is without a doubt a film that gets the magic right with believable and convincing performances that manage to keep audiences always second-guessing. 

 

While I wouldn’t exactly say that the film has been lost over the past few years since its release, it would be fair to say that it’s worth rediscovery and obviously Paramount believes that to be true as well with this recently released DVD and Blu-ray edition of the film, which has been dubbed “Hard Evidence Edition”.  This is perhaps one of the best catalog films to date released by the company on the Blu-ray format and we are excited to see more from the vault.

 

The DVD and Blu-ray are identical in their special features, which include commentary by director Hoblit, writer Ann Biderman, and producer Gary Lucchesi, plus the casting director and executive producer.  There are also several featurettes includes as well that examine the films production, acting, overall direction, and the story’s leap from novel to film.  All of which are great additions considering the previous DVD of the film had zero extra and was released way back in 1998. 

 

However, this new transfer looks very good, although the Blu-ray is certainly sharper with more definition and overall fidelity presenting the film in a High Definition 1080p transfer framed at the original scope aspect ratio of 2.35 X 1.  There are some minor moments of softness, but overall the detail is stunning on the Blu-ray and demonstrate some of the films memorable camerawork, in particular the jail cell scenes between Norton and Gere.  Darker scenes hold up particular well on the Blu-ray, the DVD shows limitations to grayscale and there is more softness and skin tones are rendered far better with the Blu-ray.  Fans of the film will also notice how much more pronounced the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is on the DVD, but that is taken to a whole new level with the Dolby Digital TrueHD 5.1 mix on the Blu-ray that showcases the films suspenseful soundtrack along with a good clean and clear dialogue mix. 

 

The film was always a strong contender even with the limitations of DVD, but with this new Blu-ray edition it only makes the film a necessary re-watch with stunning picture and sound.

 

 

-   Nate Goss


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