BLU-RAY
REVIEW:SAVAGES
11/11/12
OVERVIEW: Acclaimed director Oliver Stone (Born on the Fourth of July, Platoon, Wall Street) plunges deep into the brutally violent world of Mexican drug cartels in the crime thriller Savages, coming to Blu-ray™ Combo Pack, DVD, and On Demand on November 13, 2012, from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Also available through Digital Download. Based on Don Winslow’s audacious 2010 novel, Savages is an intense and graphic drama set against the harsh, swift justice of the illicit drug trade as a pair of peace-loving Southern Californians find themselves locked in an all-out war against a merciless drug lord.
The Combo Pack and DVD include an Unrated Edition of the film not shown in theaters. In addition, the Combo Pack also includes exclusive deleted scenes and a behind-the-scenes featurette with the entire cast that reveals the secrets of the visceral and sexy film that Ty Burr of The Boston Globe calls “a stylish, violent, hallucinatory thriller.” The Combo Pack includes a Digital Copy of the film that is compatible with iPhone®, iTunes®, iPad®, iPod®, iPod® touch, Android™ or online retail partners, as well as UltraViolet™.
UltraViolet™ is the revolutionary new way for consumers to collect movies and television shows in the cloud to instantly stream and download to tablets, smartphones, computers, and TVs. Consumers can now truly enjoy their movies anytime, anywhere on the platform of their choice.
SYNOPSIS:
Three-time Oscar®-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone returns to the screen with the ferocious thriller Savages, based on Don Winslow’s bestselling crime novel, one of The New York Times’ Top 10 Books of 2010. Laguna Beach entrepreneurs Ben (Aaron Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch) raise and sell some of the best marijuana ever developed, while sharing a one-of-a-kind love with the extraordinary beauty Ophelia (Blake Lively). Their idyllic life is shattered when the Mexican Baja Cartel demands that the trio partner with them. But the cartel’s merciless boss, Elena (Salma Hayek), and her brutal enforcer, Lado (Benicio Del Toro), underestimate the unbreakable bonds among these three friends. Ben and Chon—with the reluctant, slippery assistance of a dirty DEA agent (John Travolta)—launch a seemingly unwinnable war against the drug lords that escalates into a savage, high-stakes battle of wills.
FILM REVIEW: Every so often a movie comes along that puts certain industries in perspective. Such examples would be The Social Network (2010) showing the upstart “dot.com” details, or better yet, the iconic flick Wall Street (1997), showing how vulnerable the US economy can be when “greed” is embraced as an attribute. What movies of the sort would do is shed light on the inner workings of its respective markets or industries. Well, such is the case of Savages, where it sheds light on the emerging legal “Pot” market and the influence of the Mexican drug cartel. Three-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Director Oliver Stone does a terrific job with showing how legalizing marijuana on limited levels in southern California, can actually attract the all too enterprising and ambitious drug cartel.
This flick seems to start out very charming and straightforward about sexually charged drug addicts, but quickly turns into all out “narco-warfare.” It captivates you with an astounding line-up of “A-listers” and a few relatively new-comer actors including Taylor Kitsch (Peter Berg's Battleship - 2012), Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy - 2009), screen veterans John Travolta and Benicio Del Toro (Two of the greatest supporting actors anyone can ever ask for), then gives you a ride from hell that never seems to end. The movie gives a fascinating story line that keeps you conjecturing up possibilities of what could happen next. It also does a great job putting the audience into the characters’ world and eventually one begins to feel some level of sorrow for the positions that they are in. Overall, you end up developing lots of mixed emotions for characters on both sides of the conflict. With this type of approach, Stone is able to keep the audience completely engaged in every aspect of the movie, to include the extremely interesting twist to the romance that play out throughout the two hour and ten minute thrill ride. I have to say, for a movie that I thought would be just another kill or be killed drug-lord ‘shoot-em-up movie’, it kept me intrigued from beginning to end. Savages really gives you a real-life feel to the plot and shows a good example of how the drug cartel can, if not already, be maneuvering themselves in ways that will let them survive, even if it becomes totally legal to buy and sell illicit drugs.
An action flick cannot be a complete action flick without some real eye-candy and not many can deliver better than the likes of Selma
Hayek, Blake lively (Gossip Girl) and Karishma Ahluwalia (What Happens in Vegas – 2008). Overall the movie was outstanding, a great story, lots of incredible actors and the ending had everyone in the theater is shock and awe! I would predict there will be a follow-up to this great story and I give it four out of five stars for magnificent delivery.
Review
By Movie-Man Stan
BLU-RAY:
The film is
presented in 1080P widescreen in a 2.40:1 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 DTS-HD Master
Audio (48kHz/24bit) in English that provides a
good complement to the picture. It also includes English,
French and Spanish subtitles.
VIDEO:
2.40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen 1080P
AUDIO:
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1/DVS2 2.0 and Dolby Digital 2.0, Spanish and French DTS DigitalSurround 5.1
Subtitles - English SDH, French, Spanish
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Feature Commentary with Oliver Stone
Feature Commentary with producers Moritz Borman, Eric Kopeloff, Co-Screenwriter/Novelist Don Winslow, Executive Producer/Co-Screenwriter Shane Salerno and Production Designer Tomás Voth
STONE COLD SAVAGES—A five-part profile of the film showcases the entire cast and crew as Oliver Stone pushes his loyal and talented company far past their limits in order to bring this story to life. From concept to completion, viewers get unprecedented access to a master storyteller’s creative process.
DELETED SCENES
Digital Copy: Viewers can redeem a digital version of the full-length movie from a choice of retail partners to watch on an array of electronic and portable devices.
UltraViolet™: The revolutionary new way for consumers to collect movies and TV shows, put them in the cloud and stream instantly to computers, tablets and smart phones, currently available in the United States only.
BD-LIVE™: Access the BD-Live™ Center through your Internet-connected player to watch the latest trailers and more!
pocket BLU™ app: The groundbreaking pocket BLU™ app uses iPad®, iPhone®, iPod® touch, Android™, PC and Mac® to work seamlessly with a network-connected Blu-ray™ player. Plus iPad® and Android™ tablet owners can enjoy a new, enhanced edition of pocket BLU™ made especially to take advantage of the tablets’ larger screen and high resolution display. Consumers will be able to browse through a library of Blu-ray™ content and watch entertaining extras on-the-go in a way that’s bigger and better than ever before. pocket BLU™ offers advanced features such as:
ADVANCED REMOTE CONTROL: A sleek, elegant new way to operate your Blu-ray™ player. Users can navigate through menus, playback and BD-Live™ functions with ease.
VIDEO TIMELINE: Users can easily bring up the video timeline, allowing them to instantly access any point in the film.
MOBILE-TO-GO: Users can unlock a selection of bonus content with their Blu-ray™ discs to save to their device or to stream from anywhere there is a Wi-Fi network, enabling them to enjoy content on the go, anytime, anywhere.
BROWSE TITLES: Users will have access to a complete list of pocket BLU™-enabled titles available and coming to Blu-ray™ Hi-Def. They can view free previews and see what additional content is available to unlock on their device.
KEYBOARD: Entering data is fast and easy with your device’s intuitive keyboard.
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