The Balcony is Closed

Hello All.

Now that my Reviews of Quantum and the Dark Knight on Blu-Ray are published, I have decided to make those my final reviews, meaning that there will be no more new posts after these.

The site will remain open as an archive but as Siskel and Ebert once said, The Balcony is Closed.

My thanks to all of you who posted.

Sim W.

Blu-Ray Review - The Dark Knight (2008)

The Movie:

The Dark Knight continues one year after Batman Begins ended and this time Batman and Lt. Gordon are joined by new D.A. Harvey Dent as they wage war on the city’s crime syndicates, but things are going to get ugly when a new criminal known only as The Joker comes on the scene and unleashes the full extent of his insanity.

The Dark Knight is not just another superhero movie or a sequel, this is simply a terrific piece of movie making in its own right, dark, ambitious and hugely exciting, director Christopher Nolan keeps a tight hold on the reins and the late Heath Ledger lets his manic ness come to the forefront as the Joker, I wish I could say more but you really have to see this film for yourselves: 5 out of 5.

The Blu-Ray:

The Dark Knight arrives on Blu-Ray in a special IMAX presentation, in which certain scenes were shot using this format, the rest was shot with normal 35mm cameras, this will be outlined below.

The Video as I said is a special presentation, the IMAX footage expands to a 1.78:1 aspect ratio whilst the normal footage is the 2.35:1 footage which was used for theatre screenings, the clarity of the IMAX footage is sensational, allowing you to pause to study the shots to see the detail of it all, the regular footage looks good as well but don’t expect an eye popping video as the film is dipped in dark and muted colours, something I’m very glad to see replicated here.

The Audio is again very well done but viewers need be warned that the mix at times is a little uneven, with some areas louder than others, but apart from that, its clear and well done.

The Movie comes with 2 discs full of HD content, the first of which is sadly uneven like the film’s audio transfer, its called “Gotham Uncovered: The Creation of a Scene” and in various segments talks about the planning and production of various scenes from the film, my favorites being the use of the IMAX cameras on the Prologue and Hong Kong sequences as well as the creation of the Joker theme music, but most of the segments range from okay to boring.

Following that, we move to the second disc which is full of extras, which are outlined below in the three main sections:

Behind the Story:

Batman Tech: The first of two documentaries in this section, this details some of the technology Batman comics have had throughout the years and how that has mirrored real world technology, worth watching once but that’s about it.

Batman Unmasked: Batman Unmasked is the second of these documentaries and examines the psychology of Bruce Wayne/Batman as well as his gallery of villains, although it has some good sections (The exposure segment was very informative), the rest gets rather boring if you have seen any of the previous Batman DVD Documentaries.

Extras:

Gotham Tonight News Segments: This is easily one of the best extras on this set, here Mike Engel who appears briefly in the film hosts a faux news shows which has appearances from the actors in the film, the show stealer being Eric Roberts in his segment, I really enjoyed seeing these after I saw the film and that opinion hasn’t changed.

Still Galleries: Here a 4 photo galleries detailing conceptual art, the Joker’s cards from the destruction of the Judge’s car, production photos and the poster art, having really enjoyed the film and its ad campaign, it was nice to see it fully represented here.

Trailers and More:

Teaser and Theatrical Trailers: Easily my favourite extra on this set is the three main trailers for the film, with only the third one being the first released after Heath Ledger’s sad demise in January, I dare anyone to tell me they didn’t want to see the film after seeing these.

TV Ads: Here a 6 TV ads, although one or two are good, this extra is most likely worth watching once and then leaving it, sadly something you could also say with most of the extras on this set.

Final Thoughts:

Although the Dark Knight is a strong film that will and has mesmerized many, this Blu-Ray is sadly uneven, ranging from well done to boring, it also comes up trumps compared to the excellent work done on Iron Man, hopefully given the amount of money Warner Brothers has earned with this movie, they will do better next time around.

Film Review - Quantum of Solace (2008)

Quantum of Solace once again stars Daniel Craig as James Bond as he tries to avenge the death of Vesper Lynd as well as deal with a man named Dominic Greene, whose powerful influence could prove fatal for the world.

Quantum is a tough film to review and I’ll explain why because on its own it does deliver the goods, there are some good action scenes and some emotion as well but the movie is also the last half of the last movie, and I mean that literally but if I do have some complaints its that some of the hand to hand fight scenes are a little too hyper edited and the title song doesn’t fit the movie at all, where as “You Know my Name” did for the last one.

But all in all, I was very satisfied by this film and have no hesitation giving it a 4 out of 5.