Edge Of Darkness (2010/Warner Bros. Blu-ray w/DVD)
Picture:
B/C Sound: B/B- Extras: C+ Film: C+
Back in
1985, Martin Campbell made a Cold War Thriller into a British TV Mini-Series
that was a critical and commercial success called Edge Of Darkness. After two
James Bond films, he has decided to do a post-Cold War remake of that hit as a
feature film with the comeback lead performance of Mel Gibson and sporting an
R-rating, it is the most hard-hitting, violent film (action or otherwise) he
has made to date.
Gibson is
a Boston
policeman trying to be close with his somewhat estranged daughter again, but
the reunion is short-lived when they are shot at as they leave his house and
she is shot to death. The killer only
yells out their last name and he thinks she may have been killed in an
assassination meant for him, but things turn out to be much worse than he could
have ever imagined. Now, he’ll seek out
revenge against her at any price while uncovering the truth and annihilate
anyone in his way.
The
William Monahan/Andrew Bovell screenplay cuts out the TV cliffhanger build-ups
and other unevenness of the TV version, updating the story well enough, but
they are not able to add anything new, give us an ending that does not ring
true and this could have used a few more contextual action sequences. Otherwise, Gibson is intense and the
supporting cast that includes Ray Winstone, Danny Hudson, Bojana Novakovic,
Sean Roberts, David Aaron Baker, Damian Young, Caterina Scorsone and Jay O.
Sanders keeps the film moving. You could
do worse, but I expected more and was a little disappointed. Still, this is more of the hard-hitting kind
of action film we do not see enough, especially from major studios, so they get
points for ambition. Now you can see for
yourself.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image was shot in Super 35mm film format by Campbell’s longtime
Director of Photography Phil Meheux, B.S.C., definitely delivering another
good-looking film. The Blu-ray looks
good, but has some softness and a little motion blur that was not on the 35mm
film print of it I saw, but this still looks really good. The anamorphically enhanced DVD included is
much more pale and weak than expected and does not do much justice to the film.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on the Blu-ray seems a bit limited
throughout as if there was a slight compression not on the film print mix I
encountered, but this is an aggressive mix at times and the soundfield is
balanced. Howard Shore
delivers an interesting score too. The
Dolby Digital 5.1 on the DVD also has the compression issue, but is not as rich
as the DTS on the Blu-ray as it stands.
Extras in
both format versions include Additional/Alternate Scenes, while the Blu-ray
adds several Focus Point featurettes, BD Live interactive capacities and Digital
Copy for PC and PC portable devices.
For more
on the 1985 version, try this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9272/Edge+Of+Darkness+(TV+Mini-Series/1
- Nicholas Sheffo
