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The Way Back
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Image Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Andy James & Noor Razzak (20th May 2011). |
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The Film
 "The Way Back" is Peter Weir’s own journey back to the cinema screen, having been absent since 2003’s "Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World". And even then, his last big “hit” was 1998’s "The Truman Show". I find it somewhat interesting that this is the only Weir film I’ve ever seen while at the cinema; he’s hardly the most prolific film-maker and his last two, for one reason or another, just didn’t appeal at the time. With his new film, he purports to tell the tale of a group of men who escaped from a vicious Soviet gulag and walked thousands of miles to freedom. There has been some doubt cast on the “truthiness” of this tale, but when has the truth ever stood in the way of a good story? The film itself is solid enough, with the required beautiful landscape photography from cinematographer Russell Boyd and fine performances from the entire cast (including Weir regular, the non-more grizzled Ed Harris). Jim Sturgess, who’s been popping up in a fair few films lately, is Janusz; a Pole who is sent off to a Siberian Gulag after a “confession” of his guilt is forced from his wife. He’s your typical unflagging hero, and Sturgess carries the weight of the film admirably. As mentioned, Harris is grizzled and ornery as Mr. Smith; he's the veteran survivor of the Gulag, carrying a tragic history. Colin Farrell is the ruthless and petty thug Valka, who loves Russia despite being tossed in a Gulag and just wants a man to lead him. One of the few actual Eastern Europeans in the film, Dragos Bucur ("Police, Adjective" (2009); "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu" (2005)) is the comedian of the group, Zoran. And Saoirse Ronan is a young girl who joins up with them on their trek, melting Mr. Smith’s exterior and helping all the men to learn more about one another. Yes, they’re all largely types serving a story purpose more than anything, but they all work so well together and, oddly perhaps, help to lend the film its old school feel. This is not an escape film, like "The Great Escape" (1963). This is not about planning and building up to the big break-out; this is about what happens after. This is a film that focuses on the plodding determination of a group of men fleeing though no-one is chasing them (though, yes, they have to avoid the authorities), across vast tracts of land. It's an interesting approach to the "escape film" and it becomes something of an endurance to get through, just as it is for these men (and girl). You know that not everyone is going to make it and part of the expereince becomes guessing who's going to fall by the wayside first. Some characters become easier to relate to and care about, with a lot of the early deaths coming when it's hard to distinguish between them. "The Way Back" is a solid film, with an incredible story and stunning vistas at its centre. It begins to drag in places, not helped by an emotional distance to the journey but Jim Sturgess, on the strength of this alone, deserves to be getting more leading roles.
Video
Presented in 2.35:1 widescreen in HD 1080p 24/fps and mastered using AVC MPEG-4 compression. This film looks great but certainly has a visual style that roller-coasters between crisp and beautiful and dark and dreary. The overall color palette is quite muted with a somewhat washed out look capturing the feel of the locations and truly places the viewer in the film especially the gulag scenes. The film's photography has and epic feel and the wide frame helps create this sense of grandeur. the HD image processes detail and texture consistently well, skin tones are natural, blacks are deep and grain is evident adding weight to the filmic nature of the image. The picture is clean from flaws, no edge-enhancement, no specks or dirt, no compression issues. It's a solid image, no complaints here.
Audio
A single English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio track is present mixed at 48kHz/24-bit, the audio is in a word terrific. The audio space features incredible depth in a complex mix that immerses the viewer instantly. The dialogue is clear and distortion free, ambient sounds are mixed naturally and combined with the active surrounds makes for a powerful audio experience. The gulag is exactly as you'd expect, the sounds are robust and make you wish you'll never have to suffer anything remotely close to what these characters had to endure. The sounds are sometimes haunting, adding to the overall tone of the film. It's occasionally dark, dripping, dreary, and the audio represents this well. Optional subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired and Spanish.
Extras
Image has released this film with only a scant collection of supplements, a documentary and a single theatrical trailer. Below is a closer look at these supplements. "The Journey of the Journey" is the a documentary running for 30 minutes 57 seconds and presented in standard definition. It's a solid feature offering insight into the genesis of the film, it's development, filming and comments on the story and themes. The feature includes some excellent behind-the-scenes footage and insightful and candid interviews with key cast and crew. It's nice to see a clip that doesn't feel like a studio trying to sell you on a film, it's not a promotional piece and that's what more releases need to include. The only other extra is the film's original theatrical trailer that runs for 2 minutes and is also in standard definition.
Overall
The film review was originally published on the blog Rockets and Robots are Go! by Andy James. ----------------------- Support us by purchasing this disc online at Bluraysforeveryone.com, they specialize in store exclusives and limited editions both new and used, plus have a wide range of new releases and catalogue titles. Join their reward program and earn points towards your purchases. Best of all for overseas customers they are customs friendly and offer great cost-saving shipping options. Check them out for some cool limited editions. 
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