Pirate Radio (2009 aka The Boat That Rocked/Focus/Universal
Blu-ray)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: B- Film: B-
The story
of people standing up to conformity through Rock music is a played out tale,
but despite following some of that tired approach, Richard Curtis’ Pirate Radio (2009) is more watchable
than expected thanks to its cast, music and the feel of the film. Starting in 1966, it is about a boat that
became the only radio channel in England
where you could hear any Rock songs at all since all the mainstream British
channels refused to play the songs despite huge sales and the many hits the
British acts were having in the United
States.
That does
not stop the fans and DJs on board form playing the music. This is not a comedy like the self-amused Good Morning Vietnam, but closer to Almost Famous, if not as effective or
ringing as true. Still, leaning towards
the better of the two helps and though its realism is more like the musical
version of Hairspray, it is still
worth suffering through the flat parts to get to the good performances and
interesting music choices throughout.
The cast has some interesting chemistry too.
Most
names would be ones British and European audiences are more likely to
recognize, but you would know some of them to see them. Philip Seymour Hoffman is the big American
actor here and many in the U.S.
still do not know his name. We also have Rhys Ifans, Jack Davenport, Michael
Hadley, Bill Night, Nick Frost, Stephen Moore, Ian Mercer, Tom Sturridge, Lucy
Fleming, Ike Hamilton, Rhys Darby, Duncan Foster, Gemma Arterton and two
successful duos you may know. Kenneth
Branagh and Emma Thompson show up, as well as two of the three co-stars of the
great British TV comedy The IT Crowd
(reviewed elsewhere on this site), Katherine Parkinson and Chris O’Dowd,
totally convincing and funny as totally different characters.
This is
loosely base don the real life tale of a ship called the Radio Caroline and the
makers did not follow the tale too closely.
That has its advantages, but more disadvantages, so the film tends to
drift (no pun intended) more often than expected. However, I had heard about this film for a
while, am happy enough with it to recommend it to those who think they would
like it and see why Universal treated it like an artsy import via the Focus
name. It is definitely one of the best
films they issued in the last 18+ months.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image was lensed in the Super 35mm format by
Director of Photography Danny Cohen and though I like the look of the film, it
is softer here than a new film should look and reminds us of some of the soft
transfers that have plagued Focus releases since they started to surface on
DVD.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) lossless 5.1 mix is too quiet and weak for my tastes,
but the many songs used sound good, often very good, if not on the level of
multi-channel excellence Super Audio CD delivers. The sound mix is too much towards the front
speakers, yet there are many good surrounds just the same. Unfortunately, the makers used some songs in
the film in its timeline before they were released, which is sloppy
judgment. However, that was not as fatal
as it was to Air America.
Extras
include feature length cast/crew audio commentary and Deleted Scenes, plus the
Blu-ray exclusives include BD Live interactive features, pocket Blu features
for iPods, some nice featurettes and more Deleted Scenes you’ll only find here.
- Nicholas Sheffo
