Gravity is certainly one of the better movies, though not the best, to come out of 2013 and between the technological achievements by Alfonso Cuarón and the VFX crew, a taut story and Sandra Bullock’s performance, it’s one heck of a journey that I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s not a movie for everybody and admittedly Cuarón utilization of symbolism is at times a bit laughable, I still recommend this movie.
Salvador
(2013)
Genre(s): Drama, War
Twilight Time | R – 123 min. – $29.95 | September 9, 2014
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MOVIE INFO: Directed by: Oliver Stone Writer(s): Oliver Stone & Richard Boyle (written by) Cast: James Woods, Jim Belushi, Michael Murphy, John Savage DISC INFO: Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1), English (DTS-HD MA 1.0) |
PLOT SUMMARY
Writer-Director Oliver Stone’s Salvador is a look at the Salvadoran revolution through the eyes of two funky Americans, the sometime journalist Richard Boyle (JAMES WOODS)—a con artist/loser in love with the country and with his beloved Maria (ELPIDLA CARRILLO)—and his bewildered pal, Doctor Rock (JIM BELUSHI), along for a ride he has no hope of understanding.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.0/5
As with other TT releases, there is a 6-page essay booklet.
Audio Commentary – This track from writer/director Oliver Stone is, as with Stone’s others, fairly engrossing as he goes through the development of the movie and insights into the story.
“Into the Valley of Death”: The Making of Salvador (1:02:52) is an old featurette/documentary delving into every aspect of filming and includes archival interviews with the cast and crew.
Deleted Scenes (27:47) has some scenes removed for a variety of reasons, though presumably due to pacing issues.
Theatrical Trailer (1:58)
VIDEO – 4.0/5
Salvador rides into town presented with a 1080p high-definition transfer and 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio. The picture here has sharp detail levels and colors look to be natural enough if not a tad drab, however that very well may have been Stone’s intent. Even so, dust marks, artifacts and other flaws are at a vast minimum.
AUDIO – 4.25/5
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is effective enough providing mostly for clear dialogue levels while other parts, including spattering gunfire and action, makes OK use of the other channels. It’s nothing I would call fantastic but not bad on the whole.
OVERALL – 3.5/5
Overall, Salvador is a well acted film from Oliver Stone, though I question how authentic some of the story is. Even so, James Woods is fantastic, well deserving of his Academy Award nomination and the writing at least is crisp and by and large, it is a compelling enough of a film. The Blu-ray released by Twilight Time offers up a fine selection of features and the video and audio transfers are both well done.
Published: 09/21/2014