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Noah
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Paramount Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (28th July 2014). |
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The Film
 "Noah" may be one of the most troubled production in recent years, the studio was afraid of the religious themes, re-cut three different versions of the film to test with audiences, 3D conversions where done without director consent, delays in release quickly followed. Meanwhile articles popped up online about a feud between Darren Aronofsky and Paramount (see here, here and here). All negatively impacting the first impressions of this film and taking away any goodwill generated from the trailers and marketing. Many thought the film doomed. The initial problem was that Paramount Pictures were concerned about how the film dealt with the religious theme, whether it would be treated properly (read: will it offend people). So, without the director's consent or approval they re-cut three different versions of the film, all to be test screened to preview audiences. This all ended badly, as all three versions were met with deep criticism, the test audiences hated it. This news of course, did not bode well with the studio. After taking the heat for messing with the artistic vision of the director, Paramount relented and allowed Aronofsky to release his version of the film. From a filmmaker's point of view this was the right decision, audiences, however where divided, just read the message board on the film's IMDb listing for examples of this (critics on the other hand were more accepting of the film with a 77% rating on Rottentomatoes). "Noah" tells the story of Noah (Russell Crowe), who one day starts seeing visions of the end, he seeks guidance from his grandfather, Methuselah (Anthony Hopkins) and comes to the conclusion that he must build and ark, because a great flood is coming to wipe out all of the sinful things in this world. With the help of his family and giant rock monsters called the Watchers construct an ark to survive the apocalypse and carry with it two of every animal on Earth. Tubal-cain (Ray Winstone) hears of Noah's mission and with his hoard of people have other plans. I'm not a religious person, nor am I Christian, but I can see why so many Christians were offended by this film. The interpretation is quite fantastical, there is a scene that shows the evolution of creature, there are rock monsters, and Noah is portrayed as a man with little empathy for the human race, even to his own family among other changes to the Biblical story. Aronofsky has stated that he aimed to create “The least-biblical biblical film ever made” this statement holds the key to viewing and understanding this film, It may be difficult for some but if you look past these "changes" (after all it's just a movie) you'll find a fascinating and deeply impressive film. First impressions show off Aronofsky's aesthetic, he's a filmmaker with a unique visual eye, each of his films are as different as the last and memorable for their overall look. "Noah" is no different, from the film's impressive photography by long time collaborator Matthew Libatique to the stunning visual effects. The many different animals to the stop-motion like method of design and movement given to the Watchers (perhaps a tip of the hat to the late Ray Harryhausen) all form an interesting picture that you won't soon forget. Mixed with Clint Mansell's (also a long time collaborator) breathtaking score the film takes on a different life altogether, the score can easily be considered among the best of the year. Aronofsky populates his film with an impressive cast, starting off with Russell Crowe. Crowe has developed a reputation of being difficult and his tabloid antics have garnered him a bad-boy image. So who better to take on the role of Noah in this interpretation, Noah is a complicated character, one whom wants to make good on his visions from "the creator" and will take it to the extreme if he has to, his character arc from loving, devoted father to maniacal taskmaster is fully formed if not a little batty (considering he suddenly loses all faith in humanity including that of his family). Crowe delivers one his finest performances in recent times here and he has some equally impressive help along the way in his supporting cast. Jennifer Connelly and Emma Watson add some much needed level-headedness, meanwhile acting legend Anthony Hopkins makes the most of his limited role. But it's the terrifying Ray Winstone that manages to go toe-to-toe with Crowe that shines. Aronofsky took a long time to cast this role and had several options but needed someone with enough size and prescience to stand against Crowe's Noah. Winstone is clearly the right choice and breaths incredible life into Tubal-cain and one of the film's most impressive performances. The film's story and characterizations have certainly caused some controversy, but brushing that aside, and looking at the film from a purely unbiased objective point of view "Noah" is a terrific cinematic achievement, in line with some of cinema's other controversial religious films such as "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1988). You won't be able to please everyone with Religious based films, and much like the Bible itself, is purely up to one's interpretation.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 1.85:1 mastered in high definition 1080p 24/fps using AVC MPEG-4 compression. Paramount has delivered a fantastic image transfer, the high definition image features terrific detail right down to the grey hairs in Crowe's beard, the textures of the costumes and the dark, brooding and unforgiving Icelandic locations. The colors are beautifully rendered, blacks levels are dark and inky without any noise, the visual effects look brilliant in this format and the overall image is clean, gritty yet crisp and will look stunning on any HD display, easily one of the year's finest transfers and considered reference quality.
Audio
Four audio tracks are presented here in English DTS-HD Master 7.1 (48kHz/24-bit) surround as well as French (Canada) Dolby Digital 5.1, Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 surround tracks. For the purposes his this review I chose to view the film with its English DTS-HD 7.1 audio, the film's audio track is superb for the most part, but some of the mumbling and whispering dialogue makes it hard to maintain a consistent level, I found myself having to increase the volume during those scenes only to decrease the volume during the more action-packed scenes. This was an mild annoyance, otherwise the action scenes were robust and vibrant. Range is terrific, and the film's score breaths an incredible life into the film and aids in immersing the viewer. Optional subtitles are included in English, English for the hearing impaired, French, Portuguese and Spanish.
Extras
Paramount has released this film with a small, but interesting selection of supplements, three featurettes, plus a second disc featuring a DVD copy and a code to unlock a digital copy version of the film. Below is a closer look at these extras. DISC ONE: BLU-RAY "Iceland: Extreme Beauty" is the first featurette (1080p) and runs for 20 minutes 40 seconds, this clip takes a look at choosing Iceland as a filming location and what it brings to the overall production. "The Ark Exterior: A Battle for 300 Cubits" is the second featurette (1080p) which runs for 19 minutes 46 seconds, this is a solid production clip that takes a look at additional location shooting and on the production design, especially creating an accurate ark that would serve a practical purpose. The final featurette is "The Ark Interior: Animals Two by Two" (1080p) which runs for 19 minutes 55 seconds, this clip takes viewers inside the massive sets built to represent the inside of the ark. DISC TWO: DVD This is a DVD copy of the film, a promo code is also included to download a digital copy version of the film.
Packaging
Packaged in a 2-disc Blu-ray case housed in a cardboard slip-case for first pressings.
Overall
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