BLU-RAY
REVIEW: BURIED
01/15/11
OVERVIEW: Ninety minutes to save his life. Experience the claustrophobic thriller, Buried, as Lionsgate brings the film to Blu-ray Disc Combo Pack (two discs including Blu-ray and DVD). The film will also be available on Digital Download and On Demand. An Official Selection and favorite at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, the film garnered critical acclaim across all media. Ryan Reynolds delivers “a tour-de-force performance” (Access Hollywood), as Paul Conroy, an American contractor in Iraq faced with an impossible situation. The Blu-ray disc includes a 1080P High Definition version of the feature film plus the featurette, “Unearthing Buried.” An unbelievable ride of emotions that’s certain to keep audiences on the edge of their seats, Buried debuts on shelves on January
18th.
SYNOPSIS: Paul Conroy (Reynolds) is not ready to die. Beaten and buried in a wooden box by Iraqi insurgents who attacked his civilian convoy, Conroy is left with only a cell phone, a lighter and 90 minutes to save his own life. He has only the voice of his kidnapper to help him piece together clues that could lead an elite team of special agents to his location and time is not on his side. Fighting despair, panic and delirium, Conroy focuses on his only link to the outside world – a cell phone with poor reception and a rapidly draining battery – to keep himself alive for himself and his family back home.
FILM REVIEW: The biggest question about this movie going in was, what was it going to be like? We’ve got the general premise but we know little about the details of its presentation. Well, first off let’s say that this movie is powerful and it will take you through a broad range of emotions, mostly negative ones. As you’d expect, there is plenty and I do mean plenty of desperation and confusion but not just for the character, for the viewer as well. This film presents a truly horrific, surreal experience of unimaginable torture that is not for the faint of heart. The helplessness of the situation will depress you. In a way, it reminded me of the movie Cast Away but in a box. Imagine that! Or you could look at it this way, if you remember the scene where Beatrix is also buried alive in Kill Bill 2, that was Sesame Street compared to this. Needless to say, if you consider yourself to be claustrophobic at any level, you are better off not watching this movie because it will test you severely.
Ryan Reynolds has come a long way from his masterful work in his stint in Van Wilder. I’m not saying that this will get him an Oscar nomination, but if it doesn’t, he was pretty darn close. He does an amazing job with this role, the story, and the uber compressed filming location. And he very literally is the star of this show, the only visible star. That would add a lot more pressure to any performer and he handled it smoothly. It is the best aspect of this film. Heck, I even laughed out loud a couple of times in the midst of this deflating dreariness thanks to Ryan being Ryan with his wit and sharp line delivery. However, there are some aspects that just plain turned me off. Without going into too much detail as to not give too much away, I can best summarize what I mean but the following statement. But first, as a reminder, one of my characteristic disclaimers is that I consider myself more of an average movie goer who happens to write reviews as opposed to a typical film critic. So the statement is, simply put, average movie goers will be turned off by this film. This movie is a cinematic work of art that is critically acclaimed so if you can appreciate movies for their artistic value, chances are you will like this movie. If you are more of a mainstream, pop movie viewer, you might not enjoy it. I mean you really have to be in the right frame of mind to watch this. The story is impressive but its presentation is narrow. Even so, the movie is definitely not boring which is quite a feat considering the limited filming set. That is thanks to a fantastic job with cinematography among other things. You practically feel like you are in the box with him. It is also thanks to a poignant direction by Rodrigo Cortes who not only takes on this challenging project head on but manages to present a political critique as well.
Film
Review
By Cine Marcos
cinemarcos@smartcine.com
BLU-RAY:
The film is
presented in 1080P widescreen in a 2.35:1 aspect ration
preserving its theatrical format. The picture is just
flawless, bringing to perfection the quality of the film. Not only the picture looks great in
this release, also the sound it is good, a 7.1 DTS-HD Master
Audio (48kHz/24bit) in English and a 5.1 Dolby Digital French that provides a
good complement to the picture. It also includes
English and Spanish subtitles.
In terms of special features
the blu-ray doesn't include much. It just includes a making of
featurette and a standard DVD copy of the film.
VIDEO:
2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen 1080P
AUDIO:
English 7.1 DTS HD Master Audio and French 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles -
English and Spanish
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Unearthing Buried” – making of featurette
Standard Definition DVD of the feature film
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