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Dragon Wars - Blu-ray
Dragon Wars isn't a good movie, but that doesn't stop it from being entertaining from start to finish. The Korean production is full of fantastical monsters lead by the evil serpent called Buraki who seeks a young woman named Sarah who has the power to turn the serpent into a dragon. The story plays second fiddle though, as it's really the onslaught of monster computer imagery that steals the show. Sure it's not the best you will have seen, but the scale of the action is impressive.
The Blu-ray also shares similar traits to the movie, failing to match its blockbuster ambitions. At times the image quality really impresses, but is let down by numerous periods where it seems to lose all sharpness and there are even moments where artefacting rears its ugly head. Audio is also hit and miss, with very loud action sequences often overwhelming dialogue.
It was fun and better than I expected but D-Wars is probably a rental at best.
Verdict: 2/5
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In The Valley of Elah
This heavily character driven piece sees Hank Deerfield (Tommy Lee Jones), a Vietnam veteran and former military investigator go in search of his son who has gone AWOL from the US military. With the help of detective Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron), Hank slowly uncovers the truth behind his son's disappearance and just why the military has been doing its best to keep the investigation in-house. It certainly touches on some controversial subjects and the performance by Jones is worthy of its Oscar nomination, but while the build up was well managed the final third left me disappointed.
This isn't a flashy movie and while the Blu-ray certainly didn't blow me away there's very little to complain about. For the most part the image is sharp, with excellent black levels and good fine detail. The audio is dialogue heavy and performs excellently - just don't expect much action from your surrounds. Extra content is slim, with a documentary and a collection of deleted scenes being your lot.
Verdict: 3/5
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Before The Devil Knows You're Dead - Blu-ray
A tragic tale of a family torn apart after a robbery of a jewellery store goes badly wrong. It's a simple story which unfolds for the viewer through the use of a chopped up timeline and multiple takes of the same story but from the perspective of different family members. At the heart are brothers Andy and Hank, portrayed on screen wonderfully by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke respectively. There are also some fine performances from Albert Finney as the father and Marisa Tomei as Andy's cheating wife. With every jump to another moment in the timeline further information is revealed until everything comes together at the climax.
What impresses most about the Blu-ray presentation is the startling level of fine detail, particularly noticeable on skin textures. The picture is also very sharp and features no noticeable edge enhancement or artefacting. While the audio isn't up to the same high standards of the video, it's still fine in its own right and was able to lift the moments of action with impressive use of the surrounds. Extra content is small in number, but the commentary with director Sidney Lumet and actors Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke is certainly worth a listen.
Verdict: 3/5
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