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The Edge
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (24th July 2010). |
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The Film
 Any film which largely relies on a small, intimate cast needs to be sure that whoever is handling the lead duties be able to carry a picture with their acting abilities. I can think of few examples as succinct as Tom Hanks in “Cast Away” (2000), a film where we literally spend 2 hours with nothing but Hanks and his personified volleyball, Wilson. “The Edge” (1997) has the benefit of adding one more body to the mix, but the fact remains that the majority of the film rests on the laurels of just two actors: Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin. Now, I know that there are some other notable cast members, and they are initially stranded with one other guy, but the majority of the picture deals with a psychological battle between these two talented actors. Set against the backdrop of the incredibly beautiful Alaskan wilderness, the film deals with two long-standing, primal struggles: man vs. nature, and man vs. man. A harmonic symbiosis is truck between balancing those two conflicts, but the battle against nature becomes physically manifested in the form of a man-eating grizzly bear, and requires much more of the men’s attention. Scripted by David Mamet, this is a fascinating look at how men who come from cultured, wealthy society can shrug off their pretensions and resort to primitive instinct when faced with insurmountable obstacles. Charles Morse (Anthony Hopkins) is a man who seems to have it all, with billions of dollars made from his publishing empire, and a beautiful supermodel, Mickey (Elle Macpherson) as his wife. He accompanies Mickey and his fashion photographer, Bob (Alec Baldwin), to a photo shoot in the Alaskan wilderness. Charles is a wealthy and powerful man, but he questions his wife’s fidelity and her relationship with Bob. There, they stay at the riverside lodge of Styles (L.Q. Jones), a local who happens to have a photo of his Native American friend, Jack Hawk (Gordon Tootoosis), hanging near the front door. Bob immediately is drawn to the beauty of his stark image, and he demands to use his for their shoot. The only problem is that Hawk lives 20 miles away. So, Bob, Charles and their friend, Stephen (Harold Perrineau) head out in a small plane to find him. However, once they arrive at his cabin they find he’s gone out hunting. Bob insists that they track him down, but once they’re back in the air a flock of birds disables the engines and the plane crashes down into a lake. The pilot is killed instantly, but the trio of friends manages to escape unharmed. Now, though, they are faced with the arduous task of getting back to the lodge since no one knows their exact coordinates. As each man slowly begins to devolve back to a more survivalist state, motives are questioned and underlying suspicions rise to the surface. Making matters worse, the three men find themselves being stalked by a bear with a taste for human flesh… and with little resources to fend him off, they must use what little skills they have to make it out alive. I absolutely love the dichotomy between Hopkins’ and Baldwin’s respective characters here. Hopkins’ Morse is a man who has billions of dollars, assistants, a supermodel wife and anything he desires at his disposal. But it’s obvious that he lacks one crucial element in his life: friends. With all that money, most people end up using him as a means to an end, never really wanting to form a genuine relationship with the man. Baldwin, on the other hand, plays a sarcastic, playboy type photographer with an eye for Morse’s wife who envies the money and power Morse commands. The film establishes early on the undercurrent of mistrust that runs through Morse’s relationship with Mickey and Bob. Though he may be unable to prove anything, you can tell by his facial expressions and subtle gestures that he knows something is amiss. Their friendship is rendered tenuous during a conversation on the plane when Morse casually asks Bob how he plans to kill him once they’re deep in the woods. Bob laughs it off and jokes back, but you can see in his eyes that the thought had registered in his mind long ago. As the situation surround both men turns dire, the true feelings of each of them come forth, culminating in a tense scene at a lone cabin where the mettle of both is tested. Hopkins seems to be ageless – though I think that can be said of a great many celebrities. He displays all the age and wisdom and life that we would expect a man who has billions of dollars and has lived a well-traveled life to offer. His quiet cunning and strategy is in stark contrast to someone like Baldwin who, while a damn good actor and one of the most likely to steal a scene from anyone, tends to ham things up a bit. There were a couple of minor scenes that reminded me of his “Canteen Boy” sketches from “Saturday Night Live” (1975-Present), only because he has a tendency to get this look in his eye on occasion that reminds you he’s having a ball acting. The pair seem too impossibly different in their styles, but that’s exactly why they make a perfect pair for this script. It was fun to see Hopkins resort to a more primal sense of self when his character decides that the only way they have any chance is if they can kill the bear before even attempting to get back to civilization. Baldwin tries to show he has a macho edge, but it’s the quiet cool of Hopkins that reminds you he’s the man in their situation. Of course, I’d be remiss not to mention the film’s two other co-stars: Harold Perrineau and Bart the Bear. Perrineau is probably best known for playing the handicapped narrator of HBO’s acclaimed prison drama, “Oz” (1997-2003). Unfortunately for him, he’s co-starring in a film about three guys stuck in the wilderness trying to escape the clutches of a blood-crazed grizzly bear. When those other two guys are Hopkins and Baldwin, and you’re the black guy, well… I think we all know how things end for his character. It really shouldn’t be much of a shocker to hear that. I’ll say this, though: he does have a chilling death. On the delivery side of said death we have Bart the Bear. Though he might seem like any other bear on the surface, people might recognize him from such films as “Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues” (1983) and “White Fang” (1991), where he almost managed to eat Ethan Hawke. I’ll say this: the bear can definitely hold his own on-screen. He is a massive mass of muscle, and the fact that he’s so well trained that he didn’t even try to eat anyone is a miracle in and of itself. The film was directed by Lee Tamahori, best known for handling the reigns of “Die Another Day” (2002), arguably the nadir of the James Bond series. He did, however, make a damn fine film with “Mulholland Falls” (1996). Last I heard about him, he was in the news for an arrest where he was found dressed in drag and charged with prostitution, though that was later reduced to something lesser. I think he’s a terribly inconsistent director – he’ll put out something worthwhile like “The Edge”, only to then make “xXx: State of the Union” (2005). Hey, I guess a guy’s gotta eat, right? I think a large portion of the success he had with this film was thanks to the well-written script from celebrated scribe David Mamet. Now, I won’t even being to pretend that I’m well-versed in Mamet’s work, which was mostly in the form of plays until he got bit by the film bug. But I do know that he is an exceptional writer, and the few films of his that I have watched were all consistent in their ability to tell a dramatic story with strong masculine characters and concise dialogue. Those standards carry over here quite well, as I really enjoyed how he wrote this film, particularly Hopkins character. Mamet wrote a script with a deliberate pacing which allows the events of the film, both in the foreground and not, to unfold slowly. Coupled with Tamahori’s direction, this makes for a rewarding experience when you settle in to see what lengths men will go to in the name of survival.
Video
The only available edition of “The Edge” before this Blu-ray was a non-anamorphic DVD, so to say this is an appreciable upgrade would be putting things mildly. The 2.35:1 1080p 24/fps MPEG-2 encoded image looks better than I’ve ever seen the film appear before. There is a light sheen of grain present throughout, but it never becomes obtrusive or distracting. As you’d expect, the best looking shots the film has to offer appear during the daytime. But a good portion of the film takes place at night or during rain, and I’m pleased to say that these scenes also hold their own quite remarkably. In particular, fine detail looks sharp and well-rendered during some of the film’s darkest scenes. I thought I detected some telecine judder during the film’s opening moments, but it wasn’t anything that was noticeable enough to warrant making a fuss – just some minor wobble. The idyllic Alaskan forests, mountains and lakes look astounding in full high-definition. The palette is decidedly bleak and drab, echoing the dire situation the men are in, but when a shot of color hits the screen the image springs to life in rendering it.
Audio
Though it sounds much more front-loaded than I was anticipating, in terms of the score, the film boasts an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound track mixed at 48kHz/24-bit which sounds robust and powerful. Jerry Goldsmith composed a wonderful score for this film, and it is delivered with an aural blast that absolutely envelopes the viewer in his music. The remote Alaskan wilderness offers up some great opportunities for surrounds to fill out the track: the roar of the rainstorm, the flock of geese as our small plane is shattered and, most unsettling, the bear’s low growls, which add a hefty layer of tension to some already intense scenes of man vs. beast. I found little to be disappointed with here, as this is a genuinely well-composed track that perfectly suits the film. Also included are French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound tracks. Subtitles are available in English, Spanish, Cantonese and Korean.
Extras
Fox hasn't included much in terms of supplements for this catalog release, only the film's original theatrical trailer and a collection of bonus trailers are the only extras that make an appearance on this disc. Below is a closer look. The film’s original theatrical trailer (HD) runs for 2 minutes and 26 seconds. Also included are bonus trailers (HD) for some other Fox titles on Blu-ray: - “Broken Arrow” runs for 2 minutes and 28 seconds. - “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” runs for 1 minute. - “Flight of the Phoenix” runs for 2 minutes and 20 seconds. - “The Siege” runs for 2 minutes and 8 seconds.
Packaging
The single disc comes housed in an amaray eco-case.
Overall
Solid performances and a great script aid in making this a fun romp through the woods. Hopkins and Baldwin are both in top form here, especially Hopkins and his infamous line before he goes out to hunt that bear. Speaking of which, the bear alone makes the film a fun ride. This could have been yet another entry in the survivalist subgenre, but instead it strives to be a little something more, and it’s a better film because of it. Since the old DVD wasn’t even anamorphic, the picture quality improvement makes a decision for fans purchasing this an easy one. Audio quality is equally as impressive. I wish they’d seen fit to include some worthy extras, though. A commentary, behind-the-scenes featurette and maybe a piece on Bart the Bear would have made this a slam dunk. Still, since it can be found for cheap, I’d highly recommend it.
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