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30 Days Of Night
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - Australia - Icon/Warner Brothers 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 its original theatrical ratio of 2.40:1, the image is delivered to us in high-definition 1080p 24/fps and has been created using AVC MPEG-4 compression codec. The resulting image is excellent, and considering the majority of the film takes place in the dark I was pleased to discover that there was little noise amid the black levels making them striking and bold. Some grain can be detected amid the white hues of the snow but this is nothing major. Sharpness was consistent throughout the print, detail holds up well especially down to the minute object. This is the benefit of high-definition is that detail appears crisper and sharper, also colours were well rendered and retained the darkish 'look' of the film. The overall image is also clean as a whistle without a single blemish, compression-wise or otherwise.
Audio
Two audio tracks are included in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 presented at 48kHz 24-bit as well as a standard Dolby Digital 5.1 track also in English. From past Icon releases I was expecting this title to retain the half bit-rate DTS track from the DVD but was pleasantly surprised the distributor opted for an HD audio track. While the DTS track displayed suitable power this DTS-HD takes the sound to another level, it feels much more rich, deep and the range seems more complex yet natural. All the basics are covered from clear dialogue, to subtle ambient sounds that place you within the confines of this arctic village to the aggressive nature of the mix in regards to the action/horror scenes. I've heard some impressive HD audio tracks in the past including some uncompressed PCM tracks that simply erupt (and I'd have preferred one myself) but this DTS-HD track is a winner in every sense of the word. Optional subtitles are only included in English.
Extras
The special features on the Blu-ray disc are quite worthwhile, and port over all the extras from the DVD and include an exclusive extra from this Blu-ray release. What we have is an audio commentary, several featurettes on the work that went in to making the film and a photo comparison is also included. Below is a closer look at these supplements broken down per disc. 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. 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" Rounding out the extras is "30 Images of Night" which is a photo comparison, this extra is exclusive to this Blu-ray release and here you can toggle between 30 images from the original graphic novel and the final filmed image. It provides a cool reference for fans as to how closely the filmmaker's used the source material.
Overall
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