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30 Days of Night: Limited Edition
R4 - Australia - Icon Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Tom Williams & Noor Razzak (23rd June 2008). |
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The Film
 "30 Days of Night" is an adequate horror film, although enjoyment does require a willingness to absorb oneself in the subject matter. Where comparable films like "28 Days Later" (2002) draw viewers in, "30 Days of Night" suffers somewhat from a lack of focus on film fundamentals in search of atmosphere and style. The results are admirable but lack the sympathy and passion we need to fully engage. The premise of "30 Days of Night" (based on the graphic novel of the same name) is that vampires – not elegant and sophisticated people, but bestial, wild creatures that are almost reptilian in character – finally realise that towns near the Arctic Circle have extended periods during which the sun does not rise. Taking advantage of this fact with the help of the Stranger, a human who wants the vampires to “turn” him (Ben Foster, in one of the film’s few good performances), the vampires arrive in Barrow to wreak havoc on its residents, including local sheriff Eben (Josh Hartnett) and his estranged wife Stella (Melissa George). The havoc they end up wreaking is impressive, real stuff of terror, but fades fairly quickly – the town is beset by the undead and totally unprepared, so there’s a giant slaughter that simply runs out. A few set pieces continue the good work, like the one involving bait, but all of a sudden the cast is cut down, and the film is left with a small group of survivors. Normally this isn’t a problem, but "30 Days of Night" is trying not to be a stereotypical, cheap horror film and eschews the more predictable group of characters we might expect to find but fails to replace them with people we care about. Neither Eben or Stella have been given much backstory – he’s the sheriff, she’s a fire marshal, they’re estranged and it may or may not have had something to do with someone wanting children. The rest are simply a handful of townsfolk of varying and sometimes almost interesting backgrounds– a tick in the realism box, but a cross in the characterisation box. This is the film’s major downfall – without really caring about the fates of the major characters, it becomes a chore to invest emotionally in their fates. The major strength of the film is its creatures, who are clearly the product of some good honest hard work. The leader, Marlow (Danny Huston, in the film’s other notable performance) presents a minimum of herding to his group, who nonetheless follow his instructions unhesitatingly – presenting an almost hive mentality. The makeup and prostheses are excellent, although the DVD makes a major misstep in showing you the vampires when you start the film, as part of the animated menus that get presented as “features” of some DVD releases. Without this admittedly creepy snapshot, we wouldn’t get a good look at the creatures until about halfway through, and an unseen, or partially seen terror is always scarier than a detailed shot. "30 Days of Night" is totally watchable, but needs to be approached by an audience who want to involve themselves in a fright film that doesn’t do that for you. The effects arnd set are excellent, there are some very creepy moments, and creatures whose vileness is truly compelling. Had a little more effort been put in to the characterisation, something truly great could have been made.
Video
This film is presented in an anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen transfer, straight off the bat this image gets a failing grade despite its looking good. The transfer is not the original theatrical ratio, this image should be in 2.40:1 but instead Icon/Warner Brothers have decided to release the film with slightly open matte at 1.78:1. This is not consistent with the director's vision and the only reason I can speculate that this was done it to appeal to the mass market crowd that don't like big black bars across their screens. On the plus side the image is sharp, clean, includes great detail. Blacks are nice and bold and shadow detail holds up well.
Audio
Two audio tracks are included in English DTS 5.1 (Half bit-rate) as well as an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its DTS track. The audio here is excellent, it's bold, brash and aggressive. Dialogue is clear and distortion free, the action scenes, music and effects come across well and displays great depth and range. Overall it's an excellent track that thunders throughout the sound space. Optional subtitles are included in English and English for the hearing impaired.
Extras
The special features on the Limited Edition DVD are quite worthwhile, although perhaps not totally justifying the second disc. The first disc has only the feature film, with the option of audio commentary, while the second disc has several featurettes on the work that went in to making the film. A graphic novel sampler is also included, but sadly rather than being a full edition, as with the special edition of "Sin City" (2005) (Region 1), it’s composed of segments from "30 Days of Night" and some of the several books that have followed it. The result feels more like an advertisement that a feature, although it does help give a reference for the source material of the film. Below is a closer look at these supplements broken down per disc. DISC ONE: The audio commentary by producer Rob Tapert and cast members Josh Hartnett and Melissa George is certainly worth a listen – as they usually are – but is sorely missing the sort of information that might come from director David Slade. Slade’s passion and energy are evident in the featurettes (reviewed below), and it’d be fantastic to hear from someone so hands-on. Hartnett is surprisingly interesting to hear from, and George and producer Tapert add interest and energy to the commentary. DISC TWO: The eight featurettes that accompany the film are excellent, and leave you wanting more. The skill and artistry that went in to creating the set, lighting, unified look and feel for the vampires and almost every other aspect of work on the film are given the front seat. Watching a company of actors who are totally without speaking parts learn to move and behave in a subtly inhuman manner is fascinating. Seeing a stunt co-ordinator teach lets us see someone who is unselfconscious and without pretension and yet completely aware of their body and physicality, like a dancer. Even the featurette on the blood and gore, which emphasises how much was used, simultaneously reminds us that every detail needs to be perfect even when a shot only lasts a second. These featurettes can be viewed individually or with a 'play all' option, their total runtime is 50 minutes 19 seconds and they included: - "Pre-Production" - "Building Barrow" - "The Look" - "Blood, Guts & The Nasty #@$&!" - "Stunts" - "The Vampire" - "Night Shoots" - "Casting"
Packaging
This 2-disc 'Limited Edition' set is packaged in an amaray case housed in a cardboard slip-case with a mini graphic novel sampler.
Overall
This releases incorrect ratio is a sore point even though the disc offers a great soundtrack and decent extras I must warn purists to pursue another region of they want to see the film in its 2.40:1 ratio (or pick up the Blu-ray disc which is in the correct ratio).
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