BLU-RAY REVIEW: ALLIED
02/26/2017

OVERVIEW: Hailed as “gripping, powerful, and epic ” (Scott Mantz, “Access Hollywood”) Academy Award®-winning* director Robert Zemeckis’ (Forrest Gump, Cast Away) seductive thriller ALLIED makes its home entertainment debut on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand February 28, 2017 from Paramount Home Media Distribution. The film arrives two weeks early on Digital HD February 14.

The ALLIED 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray Combo Packs include over an hour of behind-the-scenes special features, with in-depth looks at the film’s production design, costumes, cast, visual effects, vehicles, music and more.

SYNOPSIS: Oscar® winners Brad Pitt** and Marion Cotillard*** star as Max Vatan and Marianne Beauséjour, two of the world’s deadliest spies, who fall in love while undercover on a top-secret mission and marry during World War II. But when Max learns his wife may be secretly conspiring with the enemy, he has only 72 hours to prove her innocence and save his family before he must do the unthinkable. The film features an outstanding supporting cast including Lizzy Caplan (“Masters of Sex”), Jared Harris (“The Crown”), August Diehl (Inglourious Basterds) and Matthew Goode (“Downton Abbey”).

FILM REVIEW:

Max Vatan: Heard a lot about you, saying you were beautiful... and good.

Marianne Beausejour: Being good at this kind of work is not very beautiful.

Yeah but the fact remains that she IS beautiful and this is where the whole complication starts. This is a very well made period piece with an excellent cast, an excellent director, and an excellent story. Let's break that down shall we starting with the period piece. We pretty much start our journey with these two in Casablanca of all places. Can it get any more enchanting than that? The various scenery and backdrops, sets and props, costumes, hairdos, make-up, etc. were all just perfect. And don't get Priscilla started on the dresses, I mean even I was impressed. And who better to drop some of these breath taking gowns on than Marion Cotillard. This takes us to the second bullet point, the cast. Marion really stole the show but of course Brad Pitt is a very, very close second. Marion was perfectly cast for this role. She has the right acting skill and nationality to nail it. Plus, especially if you've seen Dark Knight Rises, she is very good at playing a deceiving character.

Marianne Beausejour: I'm very good at pretending, Max.

Then there's Brad. What can possibly be said about Brad Pitt. He is one of the most handsome men in the world and his looks are only surpassed by his acting abilities. Opposite Marion, well yeah, he is right on and overall he does about as good as you'd expect with his performance. Now this might be a good moment to discuss the elephant in the room. This is kind of like a "newer" but "older" Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Two agents, opposite sides, get married and all kinds of havoc is unleashed as a result. Well getting down to the realistic aspect of it, I will have to admit that there was a more palpable chemistry between Brad and Angelina than Brad and Marion. I would guess that the rumors about these two that Marion immediately shot down are indeed not true. Nonetheless, there is some good chemistry between them in the film. As in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, it is quite the predicament the main characters find themselves in. In the Smiths it is a bit more fun, action based, and exciting whereas in this film it is a much more serious tone, with plenty of tension, doubt, thrills, and chills.

S.O.E. Official: Commander, tell me about your wife.

Max Vatan: We met at Casablanca, where together we assassinated the German ambassador. She's the mother of my child.

S.O.E. Official: We believe your wife is a double agent.

The rest of the cast supported these two and the story very well. Everything flowed nicely. So we already touched on the excellent story bullet point which only leaves the excellent director to discuss. Well, the director of this film is Robert Zemeckis . . . does anything else really need to be said? Let's wrap it up with some other good features of the film such as it's sharp dialogue. They did a pretty good job with cinematography too. Lastly, let's just say that we are treated to a poignant climax. So we have a WWII film starring Pitt and Cotillard with Zemeckis at the helm. Of course it's good!

Review By Cine Marcos 
cinemarcos@smartcine.com

BLU-RAY: The film is presented in widescreen in a 2.39:1 aspect ration preserving its theatrical format. The picture is just flawless. Not only the picture looks great in this release, also the sound it is good, a 5.1 Dolby Digital in English that provides a good complement to the picture. It also includes  English subtitles.

VIDEO:
Widescreen (2.39:1) 16x9

AUDIO:
English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital

Subtitles - English Audio Description with English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Blu-ray™ unleashes the power of your HDTV and is the best way to watch movies at home, featuring 6X the picture resolution of DVD, exclusive extras and theater-quality surround sound.

DVD offers the flexibility and convenience of playing movies in more places, both at home and away.

DIGITAL HD with UltraViolet™ lets fans watch movies anywhere on their favorite devices. Users can instantly stream or download.

Story of Allied From Stages to the Sahara: The Production Design of Allied

Through the Lens: Directing with Robert Zemeckis

A Stitch in Time: The Costumes of Allied

‘Til Death Do Us Part: Max and Marianne

Guys and Gals: The Ensemble Cast

Lights, Pixels, ACTION! The Visual Effects of Allied

Behind the Wheel: The Vehicles of Allied

Locked and Loaded: The Weapons of Allied

That Swingin’ Sound: The Music of Allied