{"id":8791,"date":"2010-08-02T21:35:00","date_gmt":"2010-08-02T20:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/?p=8791"},"modified":"2010-08-05T20:57:32","modified_gmt":"2010-08-05T19:57:32","slug":"uk-dvd-blu-ray-releases-monday-2nd-august-2010-shutter-island-the-lives-of-others-the-most-dangerous-man-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/2010\/08\/02\/uk-dvd-blu-ray-releases-monday-2nd-august-2010-shutter-island-the-lives-of-others-the-most-dangerous-man-in-america\/","title":{"rendered":"UK DVD & Blu-ray Releases: Monday 2nd August 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"

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DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shutter Island<\/a><\/strong> (Paramount Home Entertainment): Director Martin Scorcese followed the Oscar success of The Departed<\/a> with an adaptation of Dennis Lehane\u2019s 2003 novel<\/a> about a US Marshall (Leonardo DiCaprio) sent to investigate strange goings on at a secure psychiatric hospital off the coast of Massachusetts. Haunted by his past, he finds it difficult to trust the chief psychiatrist (Ben Kingsley) and slowly begins to suspect that something is afoot.<\/p>\n

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Although the performances are all solid and the technical aspects first rate, the underlying premise of the story feels an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.<\/p>\n

Appropriately it references Hitchcock a lot (especially Vertigo), but never reaches the heights of Scorcese\u2019s finest work, even if that is superior to most living directors.<\/p>\n

This was a film that divided critics<\/a> and I\u2019m still split myself over where this fits into Scorcese\u2019s body of work.<\/p>\n

As one of the great directors of his era he is a victim of his own high standards and some observers<\/a> felt Shutter Island was simply a hollow bag of tricks.<\/p>\n

How you feel about the final act will possibly shape your overall perception, but keep listening to the very end and you may find there is more substance than some have alleged.<\/p>\n

The extras include the following production featurettes, both of which are in HD:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Behind the Shutters (17:11)
\n\u2022 Into the Lighthouse (21:11)<\/p>\n

The technical aspects of the film, in particular the production design and costumes, are terrific and it appears that it has got a worthy transfer on to Blu-ray.<\/p>\n

Gary Tooze of DVD Beaver says<\/a> that it is \u2018visually pristine\u2019 and is also impressed with the audio:<\/p>\n

This is dual-layered with a fairly high bitrate and contrast exhibits healthy, rich black levels.<\/p>\n

\u2026 the DTS-HD Master 5.1 at, a powerhouse, 4725 kbps is as perfect (or more?) than the video transfer. There really is no way to critique it as it appears to be replicating the filmmakers intent with zeal.<\/p>\n

\u2026Audio is a good part of this presentation and the lossless track can’t be criticized.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Interestingly, there are some striking similarities between this and Christopher Nolan\u2019s Inception<\/a>: both feature a haunted protagonist played by Leonardo DiCaprio and explore the clash of appearance and reality.<\/p>\n

> Buy Shutter Island on Blu-ray<\/a> or DVD<\/a> from Amazon UK
\n> Shutter Island<\/a> at the IMDb<\/p>\n

The Lives of Others<\/a><\/strong> (Lionsgate UK): The striking feature debut of writer and director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck brilliantly explored tensions and repressions in communist East Germany. Set in East Berlin during 1984, the story involves a Stasi Captain (the late Ulrich M\u00fche) who secretly monitors a playwright (Sebastian Koch) and his partner (Martina Gedeck), a prominent actress.<\/p>\n

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The chilling drabness of a totalitarian regime is wonderfully evoked and the contrast of the historical setting against the personal desires at the centre of the story make it all the more moving.<\/p>\n

One of the reasons the film opened to such enormous and richly deserved acclaim<\/a> back in 2006, was the way in which it wrapped a powerful human story within the framework of a thriller.<\/p>\n

There are numerous sequences filled with tension and the pacing means that it never gets bogged down in clumsy symbolism or pretentious longeurs. The clever plotting and surprising twists also give the film an extra emotional kick in its final stages.<\/p>\n

Details of the extras are sketchy but are probably the same as the DVD release, which were:<\/p>\n