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Where to Invade Next
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - United Kingdom - Dogwoof Pictures Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (7th August 2016). |
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The Film
 ***This is an A/V and Extras review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** Prepare to be liberated. Academy AwardŽ-winning director Michael Moore is back with Where to Invade Next, a provocative and hilarious comedy in which Moore will stop at nothing to figure out how to actually make America great again. Just in time for election season, America's favorite political provocateur, Michael Moore, is back with his new film, Where to Invade Next. Honored by festivals and critics groups alike, Where to Invade Next is an expansive, hilarious, and subversive comedy in which the Academy AwardŽ-winning director confronts the most pressing issues facing America today and finds solutions in the most unlikely places. The creator of Farenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine has returned with an epic movie that's unlike anything he has done before - an eye-opening call to arms to capture the American Dream and restore it in, of all places, America.
Video
Independent British distributor Dogwoof Pictures steps back into the Blu-ray arena after a ten month absence from the format with Michael Moore's latest documentary "Where to Invade Next". The feature is presented in the original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and receives an AVC MPEG-4 encode. There is an elephant in the room here though... the transfer is 1080/50i, and not 1080p like the US and German releases. The 25fps 1080/50i transfer is pretty unproblematic throughout with no major issues and only some very light combing along some longer straight edges that is barely noticeable every now and again. Unlike some documentaries where pre-planned interviews are set-up to give the best possible footage, Moore adopts a more direct approach, and whilst the interviews are still pre-planned, the camera is not usually stationary, following Moore and the subjects, or panning around the locations. Still, detail is strong, and there are no causes for concern. There is a lot of archive footage included throughout, all of various quality wholly dependent on the source (old news footage etc). Whilst some of the older archive footage has seen better days, there is nothing worth even a minor complaint. In fact, my only issues with the transfer presentation, is the picture is a little sketchy on a couple of occasions with compression artefacts noticeable, and the brief interview footage at 85 minutes is hindered slightly by digital noise (and again at 90 minutes with the same interviewee). There are no signs of damage, and no obvious aliasing or edge enhancement. The feature is uncut and runs 115:52.
Audio
Dogwoof have provided not only an original language English/Italian/French/German/Finnish/Norwegian/Portuguese/Arabic DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1 track, but an audio descriptive track for the blind (also DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1) too. As to be expected for such a new documentary from a revered director, there are no issues to be found with this track, and I actually found it to be surprisingly full of life considering the genre. Sure, the surrounds are generally used only for the intermittent score, but the LFE and surrounds also come to life during some stock footage of war with blistering effect. Directionality is fine, and volume levels are consistent. Speech is coherent at all times, and there are no issues with crackles, pops, scratches, or background hiss. 6.1 might be overkill considering the US and German releases are 5.1 only, but it is very welcome and the sound stage is utilised as well as can be expected for a documentary. English subtitles are available for the entire film, or for non-English dialogue only.
Extras
The US and German discs are vanilla, but Dogwoof have nailed this package with a couple of excellent and substantial extras. First up, we have a Satellite Q&A with director Michael Moore (56:13). The Q&A is hosted by Owen Jones, journalist for the guardian, and he is an excellent moderator. Jones kicks off proceedings with a couple of questions himself, which undoubtedly sets the tone for the Q&A. What is interesting here is that not all the audience members agree with Moore at all, and believe he has focused only on the good things and not the bad that happens in some of the countries covered. One guy talks about how he was disappointed at the lack of political analysis. Moore answers the question well, and I'm extremely happy that questions like this were not removed from the extra feature as it adds an additional level of discussion. Next up is one of my favourite extras in recent memory, The Channel 4 Interview: Michael Moore which clocks in at an absolutely mammoth 92:01. This is an on-stage interview with Michael Moore filmed at the Sheffield Doc Fest 2016, chaired by Channel 4's Ralph Lee. This interview is immensely detailed and covers Michael Moore's entire career with plenty of clips and tidbits of information along the way. Lee is an excellent interviewer and has certainly done his preparation, asking Moore a series of interesting questions about all aspects of his work whether it taking Columbine victims into K-Mart in Bowling for Columbine is considered as a 'staged' segment, through to how Moore's profile was elevated after Fahrenheit 9/11. For anyone with an interest in documentary film making, or Moore's career in general, this is truly fascinating. We finish the extras with a theatrical trailer (1:21).
Overall
It's been almost a year since Dogwoof last released a title on Blu-ray, and it has been well worth the wait. This thought-provoking documentary receives a technically sound disc (despite 1080i transfer) and a couple of the better extras I've viewed in a long time. For fans of Michael Moore, this is an essential purchase.
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