BLU-RAY
REVIEW: BEAUTIFUL CREATURES
5/19/13

OVERVIEW: An electrifying love story unfolds as “Beautiful Creatures” arrives onto Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital Download on May 21, 2013 from Warner Home Entertainment Group. Directed by Oscar® nominee Richard LaGravenese (“The Fisher King,” “P.S. I Love You”), “Beautiful Creatures” takes you on a supernatural journey as two high school students pursue a tantalizing forbidden romance that leads them into a tangled web of spells and peril from which there may be no escape.
“Beautiful Creatures” will be available on Blu-ray Combo Pack
and on single disc DVD. The Blu-ray Combo Pack features the theatrical version of the film in hi-definition on Blu-ray, and the theatrical version in standard definition on DVD. Both the Blu-ray Combo Pack and the single disc DVD include UltraViolet which allows consumers to download and instantly stream the standard definition theatrical version of the film to a wide range of devices including computers and compatible tablets, smartphones, game consoles, Internet-connected TVs and
Blu-ray players.
SYNOPSIS:
A supernatural love story set in the South, “Beautiful Creatures” tells the tale of two star-crossed lovers: Ethan (Ehrenreich), a young man longing to escape his small town, and Lena (Englert), a mysterious new girl. Together, they uncover dark secrets about their respective families, their history and their town.
FILM REVIEW:
Yes, it is inevitable to compare this to Twilight. Is this the next Twilight? It could be, just slightly less juvenile and cheesy. This movie might charm you, pun intended. It is witty and fascinating, somewhat cool and intriguing. In a back drop of small town South Carolina, we have simple Southern folk to whom some more complicated folk arrive. Well these complicated folk have a dilemma to deal with and in the midst of the dilemma, let’s introduce a heaping of love to make it a truly bitter sweet complication. Don’t worry, we don’t have a love triangle situation here. It’s a more straight forward relationship that only has themselves to overcome to complete the everlasting bond of love. The fact that one of them is a bona fide witch could be a bit of a hurdle. Believe it or not, the story is not so bad and its presentation is pretty good too. It is a little more mature than Twilight because it is a little less insulting to our intelligence. The special effects are well done and not over the top which keeps the movie more grounded. This is a good thing. The cinematography is nice especially the various filming locations and sets. Plenty of nature, plenty of simple life, and plenty of modern life are demonstrated. Twilight has the edge here for sure though. Okay I will try to stop the comparison.
As far as performances go, Emma Thompson has the edge in that category. She was mesmerizing with her dual role which reinforces the fact that she is one of the better actresses of our time. Viola Davis comes in second with a sharp performance of a role that she was perfectly cast for. Jeremy Irons was good, but not as moving as in other films he has done. We get a decent performance along with some guy eye candy in the form of Emmy
Rossum. I’ve had a crush on Emmy ever since The Day After Tomorrow and I seem to always attribute her to that movie. To see her play her character in this film was a true eye opener. And what about the two main characters played by Alice Englert and Alden
Ehrenreich, well they did pretty good. Neither is very popular in mainstream big screen cinema yet, but I have a feeling they might get there. Alden gives us a convincing performance of a silly,
dorky, hopeless romantic. Only problem with him is he doesn’t quite look like a
high-schooler. Alice does well as a social outcast, troubled teen who wants nothing more than to be accepted and befriended, except she needs to get out of her own way first. Then there’s the director’s performance which was decent as well. Richard LaGravenese gives us a better than expected presentation of a tale that could have easily been weak. The movie does charm and if you like the genre, keeping in mind that the movie is not overwhelmingly grand, you won’t be disappointed.
Review
By Cine Marcos
cinemarcos@smartcine.com
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, Spanish and French that provides a
good complement to the picture. It also includes
English Spanish French
subtitles.
VIDEO:
2.40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen 1080P
AUDIO:
English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English DVS 2.0 Dolby Digital,
French 5.1 Dolby Digital Spanish
Subtitles -
ESDH, Latin Spanish
French
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Book to Screen
The Casters
Between Two Worlds
Forbidden Romance
Alternate Worlds
Beautiful Creatures: Designing the Costumes
ICONS by Margaret Stohl (Book Trailer)
Deleted Scenes
Theatrical Trailers
“Beautiful Creatures” Standard Definition DVD contains the following special features:
ICONS by Margaret Stohl (Book Trailer)
Deleted Scenes
DVD disc: Feature film in standard definition
UltraViolet Digital Copy of the film
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