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Cold Comes the Night
R2 - United Kingdom - Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (15th February 2014). |
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The Film
 ***This is a technical review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** Sometimes the fight of your life comes at the dead of night. Chloe (Eve) and daughter Sophia (Parker) live in a rundown motel on a lonely highway pit stop. As the proprietor of the motel, Chloe is in financial trouble and has let Billy (Marshall-Green), a corrupt cop, take advantage of her situation. One night, Topo (Cranston), a nearly blind career criminal, and his driver stop at the motel while en route to deliver cash to an unknown boss. After an accident kills his driver and impounds his car, he takes Chloe and Sophia hostage and forces Chloe to be his new driver and guide, using Sophia as collateral. They set out after Billy, who has stolen Topo’s money from the car. Hoping to escape to a better life, Chloe tries to strike a deal with Topo but soon finds herself in over her head, and a series of double crosses leaves a cloud of mayhem and murder. She found a fortune. He found a target.
Video
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment have released the thriller "Cold Comes the Night" onto DVD in the United Kingdom in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 (original aspect ratio is 1.85:1). The transfer is PAL, and looks great - no big surprise considering it's such a recent feature from one of the major studios. As with many suspense/thriller genre movies, "Cold Comes the Night" doesn't have many bright or vivid colours running through it, instead focusing on blacks and greys. The black levels here are very good indeed, and for the vast majority of the time look inky. In one or two segments, the blacks can be slightly lighter than they should be, but it's quite rare. Detail is also strong throughout, especially facial close-ups and the dark, drab environments, but it should be noted that shadow details can be somewhat clunky at times, lacking that additional clarity and sharpness. There's no major edge enhancement, and I noticed no aliasing. As to be expected, there are no scratches or other unsightly blemishes to the print either. The picture quality is of the usual high standard found on Sony's releases, with no issues that will cause any concern. The film runs 86:45.
Audio
The following audio options are available: - English Dolby Digital 5.1 - English Audio Descriptive Dolby Digital 5.1 The English Dolby Digital 5.1 track is good, but rather formulaic and not very exciting. You get the usual style of music in the score that we've heard countless times before, and it's similar enough to other Jeff Grace scores that it doesn't really stand out. That's not to say it's rubbish, because it isn't, but it's not fresh. The environmental effects are subtle, and sometimes a little too quiet, but directionality of the effects is good, and channel separation of the dialogue strong. There are no signs of damage to the track such as scratches or drop outs, and I noticed no signs of background hiss. It's good to see Sony including a descriptive track for those with poor/no sight, and it's even better to see the descriptive track is 5.1, rather than a stereo mix like they all too often receive. Optional subtitles are available in English, English HoH, and Hindi.
Extras
The only extra included is a small selection of deleted scenes: - Play All (6:34) - "Topo and Big T in Diner - Alternate" (2:47) - "Topo Questioned by Police" (0:37) - "Chloe Apologises to Topo" (1:17) - "Chloe Hides Money" (1:51) They seem to have been removed for pacing issues, which is always a fair enough reason, though I did enjoy the scene in which Alice Eve's Chloe apologises to Brayn Cranston's Topo, and feel that particular scene should have made the final cut. It would have been nice to have some reasoning included, whether by way of an optional commentary with the director, or by using a text screen before each scene.
Overall
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