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Wednesday, July 15, 2009
BD impressions: The International
10:37 AM / BD Impressions / 
25 Comments
The International, the latest film from Run Lola Run director Tom Tykwer, is a plodding, muddled and not very interesting affair that is so infuriatingly po-faced that it collapses under its own weight. A terrifically staged shoot-out at the Güggenheim Museum in New York notwithstanding, this film is a waste of its director's talents. Clive Owen, an actor I've always found to be rather bland and unconvincing, is completely out of his depth here, and Naomi Watts is criminally underused as his sidekick of sorts. At least it looks like a million bucks: Tykwer has that slick, cold, ultra-modern, ultra-calculated visual sensibility that many of his fellow German filmmakers possess (Robert Schwentke is another), and it serves as a perfect antidote against the hyper-kinetic, unplanned shakycam fiascos favoured by many of today's action filmmakers (*cough* Paul Greengrass *cough*).
Why is it that the weakest films so often end up getting the best transfers? The International may be the best-looking BD title yet - it's certainly in the top three or four titles in my collection. The film was shot in a combination of Super35 and the Arri 765 65mm process, although it's not entirely clear which scenes are which. In any event, the film is as sharp as a tack throughout, whether we're talking extreme close-ups or extreme long shots. Some of the wide establishing shots are just breathtaking (see Example 18), and likewise the tighter shots allow you to see every pore and hair on the actors' faces. The grain looks dense and natural throughout, and I could spot nothing untoward in the way of compression artefacts. This really is a terrific, terrific-looking disc that I believe raises the bar in terms of what we should be able to expect from a BD release. Exemplary. 10/10
The International
studio: Sony Pictures; country: UK; region code: ABC; codec: AVC;
file size: 31.5 GB; average bit rate (including audio): 38.3 Mbit/sec
25 Comments
Dan:
Actually I believe this one was "only" 2K - at least as per Robert Harris (see Vincent's link) and the admittedly non-gospel IMDB.
Vincent:
Interesting. I'm aware of Michel Hafner via the AV Science Forum and his anti-DNR stance, but needless to say I disagree with him completely as regards this film. It's a shame he doesn't go into more detail about his dislikes - "too digital" and "processed" is a bit vague. The film certainly doesn't look "film-like" in the manner of a theatrical print or a non-DI title, but I would dispute the notion that it look processed.
Dom:
Clive Owen was the least of Closer's problems. :p
As for Ghostbusters, I don't have a burning desire to pick up a copy, but I'll add it to my rental queue. I must, however, stress that I'm unfamiliar with the film so wouldn't be able to comment on whether the BD looks "correct" or not.
(Posted on Thursday, July 16, 2009 at 2:14 PM)
No offence, guys, but can you all cool it with the sniping at each other? I'm all for differences of opinion, but dragging personal grievances from another web site on to here and resorting to name-calling isn't contributing anything to this discussion.
(Posted on Friday, July 24, 2009 at 12:51 PM)
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1. Kram Sacul said:
Ultra fine detail everywhere and that city shot makes Baraka look like a pile of mushy crap. All BDs should be this unfiltered.
(Posted on Wednesday, July 15, 2009 at 12:39 PM)