{"id":8255,"date":"2014-10-15T15:52:03","date_gmt":"2014-10-15T22:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/?p=8255"},"modified":"2022-01-01T19:46:11","modified_gmt":"2022-01-02T03:46:11","slug":"review-vanishing1988-bd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/2014\/10\/review-vanishing1988-bd\/","title":{"rendered":"The Vanishing Blu-ray Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Vanishing<\/em><\/strong> is a well made and one of the more disturbing dramas ever highlighted by a wholly creepy performance from Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n

The Vanishing<\/span>
\n(1988)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Genre(s): <\/strong>Drama, Crime
\nThe Criterion Collection | NR \u2013 106 min. \u2013 $39.95 | October 28, 2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n <\/b>MOVIE INFO:<\/span>
\nDirected by: <\/strong>George Sluizer
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Tim Krabb\u00e9 (novel \u201cGolden Egg\u201d); Tim Krabb\u00e9 and George Sluizer (screenplay)
\nCast: <\/strong>Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Bervoets, Johanna ter Steege<\/p>\n
\n

DISC INFO:<\/span>
\nFeatures: <\/strong>Interviews, Theatrical Trailer
\nNumber of Discs: <\/strong>1<\/p>\n

\n

Audio: <\/strong>French (LPCM 1.0)
\nVideo: <\/strong>1080p\/Widescreen 1.66
\nSubtitles: <\/strong>English
\nDisc Size: <\/strong>19.8 GB
\nCodec: <\/strong>MPEG-4 AVC
\nRegion(s): <\/strong>A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n

THE MOVIE<\/strong> \u2013 3.75\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Based on the novella \u201cThe Golden Egg\u201d by Tim Krabb\u00e9, The Vanishing<\/em><\/strong> was helmed, and co-adapted, by George Sluizer unfolds with a disjointed plot structure and throughout its relatively short, yet still exhausting, 106-minutes running time, has a foreboding and dark cloud hanging over it. This isn\u2019t to mention some disturbingly dark humor.<\/p>\n

The story revolves around young couple Rex (GENE BERVOETS) and Saskia (JOHANNA TER STEEGE) on vacation when, during a stop at a gas station\/rest area, Saskia suddenly disappears without a trace, leaving Rex beside himself and helpless. Meanwhile, we are introduced to mild mannered family man Raymond (BERNARD-PIERRE DONNADIEU) who, as we know by this point, is the man responsible for Saskia\u2019s abduction.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s different from other abduction movies is this one takes us inside his methodology even going through his planning stages of luring young women, honing the skills, meticulously researching such as the time someone remains passed out after being chloroformed and just an all around fascinating, if not disquieting, examination that is beyond anything seen on \u201cCriminal Minds\u201d and is even more shocking because of his precision.<\/p>\n

On the other side, with Rex, we find his obsession never waning over the course of years still putting up posters and going to the media, this despite having a new, and supportive, woman in his life. But his not knowing what happened Saskia drives and sets him on a collision course with Raymond leading to one of the more memorable cinematic endings.<\/p>\n

The Vanishing<\/em><\/strong> is a slow-burn thriller but the performances by Gene Bervoets and Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu are fantastic and once the pair finally meet up, it\u2019s makes for a wonderful, and calmly tense, sequence that makes it all worthwhile.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

SPECIAL FEATURES \u2013 2.0\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As with other Criterion releases, this comes housed in a clear HD Keep Case. Inside is a small booklet. Features-wise, this is rather light:<\/p>\n

Interview with George Sluizer (19:05; HD)<\/strong><\/span> \u2013 In this 2014 interview, Sluizer discusses the challenges of adapting from the source novel, the psychology of its characters, and his approach to building suspense.<\/p>\n

Interview with Johanna Ter Steege (14:24; HD)<\/strong><\/span> finds the actress as she recalls the extensive back story she created for her character, working with the director, and how the experience shaped her approach to acting.<\/p>\n

Trailer (1:32; SD)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

VIDEO \u2013 4.5\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Vanishing<\/em> <\/strong>is found on Blu-ray presented in its original 1.66 widescreen aspect ratio and a new 1080p transfer (from a 4K master). The visuals on this film looks fantastic with crisp and clear detail levels, colors appear to be nice and bright. Although I did notice some unusual light marks and in one shot the film element looked a bit rough, this is a clean enough transfer with no signs of aliasing or pixilation.<\/p>\n

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

The disc comes with a well done LPCM Monaural track which offers good dialogue levels and the iconic 1980s synthesizer music comes through nicely enough. It\u2019s not the most dynamic or expansive track but it does get the job done.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

OVERALL \u2013 3.5\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Overall, The Vanishing<\/em><\/strong> is a well made and one of the more disturbing dramas ever highlighted by a wholly creepy performance from Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu. This Criterion Blu-ray is one of the lighter releases in terms of features but the video and audio transfers are both well done and worth the price if you\u2019re a fan of the film.<\/p>\n

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Published: <\/strong>10\/15\/2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Vanishing is a well made and one of the more disturbing dramas ever highlighted by a wholly creepy performance from Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu.    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2592],"class_list":["post-8255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blurayreviews","tag-criterion-collection"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8255"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27938,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8255\/revisions\/27938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}