{"id":10377,"date":"2015-10-11T22:48:23","date_gmt":"2015-10-12T05:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/?p=10377"},"modified":"2015-10-11T22:52:44","modified_gmt":"2015-10-12T05:52:44","slug":"review-aloft-bd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/2015\/10\/review-aloft-bd\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Aloft BD + Screen Caps"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>On some level, even though I didn\u2019t much expectations for Aloft<\/em><\/strong> going in, I was somewhat disappointed especially with Jennifer Connelly and Cillian Murphy starring and while both actors were perfectly fine in their respective roles, the screenplay falters and doesn\u2019t quite deliver with an unfocused message, partially about faith I guess, culminating with what could\u2019ve been a powerful climax.<\/p>\n

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Aloft<\/span>
\n(2015)<\/strong><\/p>\n


\nREVIEW NAVIGATION<\/strong><\/span>
\nThe Movie<\/a> | Special Features<\/a> | Video Quality<\/a> | Audio Quality<\/a> | Overall<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Genre(s): <\/strong>Drama
\nSony Pictures Classics | R \u2013 97 min. \u2013 $34.99 | September 29, 2015<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n <\/b>MOVIE INFO:
\n<\/u>Directed by: <\/strong>Claudia Llosa
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Claudia Llosa (written by)
\nCast: <\/strong>Jennifer Connelly, Cillian Murphy, M\u00e9lanie Laurent, Oona Chaplin, Peter McRobbie<\/p>\n

DISC INFO:
\n<\/u>Features: <\/strong>None
\nDigital Copy: <\/strong>No
\nNumber of Discs: <\/strong>1<\/p>\n

Audio: <\/strong>English (DTS-HD MA 5.1)
\nVideo: <\/strong>1080p\/Widescreen 2.39
\nSubtitles: <\/strong>English SDH, English, Portuguese, Spanish
\nDisc Size: <\/strong>NA
\nCodec: <\/strong>MPEG-4 AVC
\nRegion(s): <\/strong>A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


\n** Click Here to Purchase Aloft<\/em> on Blu-ray from Amazon.com<\/a><\/strong> **<\/p>\n

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THE MOVIE<\/strong> \u2013 2.5\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Note: <\/strong>This review contains plot spoilers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Aloft<\/em><\/strong>, a dour drama written and directed by Claudia Llosa (The Milk of Sorrow<\/em>), had plenty going for it but never quite reaches its potential thanks to a lackluster script that in spite of telling an interesting story doesn\u2019t make much of an impact when it came to the anticipated ending.<\/p>\n

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The story takes place in the past and present, the former on a young boy named Ivan (ZEN MCGRATH), his ill younger brother Gully (WINTA MCGRATH) and their brash, hard-nosed mother Nana (JENNIFER CONNELLY) as she deals with Gully\u2019s health issues as well as Ivan who at times is resentful of his brother and the attention he receives. Their lives are changed forever after the tragic and accidental death of Gully. The result finds the grief-stricken Nana abandoning Ivan to be raised by his grandfather.<\/p>\n

In the present, 20 years later, a now grown up Ivan (CILLIAN MURPHY) has a family of his own with a wife and son. Ivan, as he did as a child, is a falconer, and is approached by young journalist Jannia (M\u00c9LANIE LAURENT) who, at first, poses as a documentarian subject on falcons before revealing her true intent: finding Ivan\u2019s mother who now serves as a healer, located in a vastly remote area. After much reluctance, and to get some kind of closure to his abandonment, Ivan agrees to accompany Jannia to find his mother trekking through rough terrain after their bus gets stop due to an accident. On this journey, we get more details on Ivan\u2019s childhood.<\/p>\n

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On the surface, Aloft<\/em><\/strong> could\u2019ve been a powerful drama but instead it left me as cold as the environment Ivan and Jannia were traveling in. It\u2019s not an issue with the performances because both Jennifer Connelly and Cillian Murphy turned in fine performances but the plot itself is very slow and instead of building up any tension or drama, it was fairly dull in some spots.<\/p>\n

It should be noted that this version is about 15-minutes shorter than the one shown at various festivals but from my reading, those extra minutes didn\u2019t amount to very much and actually made for an even slower film. As it stands, though, as much as I wanted to like the movie, I had a hard time really delving into the dramatic aspects. Sure, the performances are good and technically speaking might be well made, but it seems Llosa\u2019s screenplay could\u2019ve used some work.<\/p>\n

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In the end, Aloft<\/em><\/strong> isn\u2019t terrible but should\u2019ve been so much better and perhaps had, pardon the pun, loftier goals. As a flyer rental it might be worth investing the time otherwise this is something one will catch on cable sometime in the future…<\/p>\n

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SPECIAL FEATURES \u2013 0\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

No features were included.<\/p>\n

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VIDEO \u2013 4.0\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment releases Aloft<\/em><\/strong> onto Blu-ray presented with a 2.39 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. The picture isn\u2019t incredible to look at yet does have decent, if not average, detail levels throughout while colors are intentionally muted at times.
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AUDIO \u2013 3.75\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is rather basic with nicely clear dialogue which makes up the bulk of this film with a variety of elements, such as ambient noises as well as the score, makes the most use, albeit limited, of the front and rear channels with the latter coming across a bit soft.<\/p>\n

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OVERALL \u2013 2.25\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Overall, on some level, even though I didn\u2019t much expectations for Aloft<\/em><\/strong> going in, I was somewhat disappointed especially with Jennifer Connelly and Cillian Murphy starring and while both actors were perfectly fine in their respective roles, the screenplay falters and doesn\u2019t quite deliver with an unfocused message, partially about faith I guess, culminating with what could\u2019ve been a powerful climax.<\/p>\n

The Blu-ray was distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and offers no bonus material though the video and audio transfers are more than adequate.<\/p>\n

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Published: <\/strong>10\/11\/2015<\/p>\n

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Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers<\/strong>.
\nThese are only here to give an idea of the movie\u2019s video quality and may not be truly representative of it.<\/p>\n