{"id":9082,"date":"2015-02-24T13:37:07","date_gmt":"2015-02-24T21:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/?p=9082"},"modified":"2015-02-24T13:37:51","modified_gmt":"2015-02-24T21:37:51","slug":"review-dyingofthelight-bd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/2015\/02\/review-dyingofthelight-bd\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Dying of the Light BD + Screen Caps"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Dying of the Light<\/em><\/strong> seems to be a cautionary tale as well as show the perhaps seedy side of Hollywood when a project gets taken away from the filmmaker. In fairness, and it is a distinct possibility, that there might be more to the story but the final cut we get here is a mess and worse, a boring and dull mess at that. Nicolas Cage actually wasn\u2019t too bad and there are some interesting elements but I would\u2019ve loved to have seen Shrader\u2019s version.<\/p>\n

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Dying of the Light<\/span>
\n(2014)<\/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, Suspense\/Thriller
\nLionsgate | R \u2013 94 min. \u2013 $24.99 | February 17, 2015<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n <\/b>MOVIE INFO:
\n<\/span>Directed by: <\/strong>Paul Schrader
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Paul Schrader (written by)
\nCast: <\/strong>Nicolas Cage, Anton Yelchin, Alexander Karim, Ir\u00e9ne Jacob<\/p>\n

DISC INFO:
\n<\/span>Features: <\/strong>Featurette, Interviews, Deleted\/Extended Scenes, Trailer
\nDigital Copy: <\/strong>Yes
\nNumber of Discs: <\/strong>1<\/p>\n

Audio: <\/strong>English (DTS-HD MA 5.1)
\nVideo: <\/strong>1080p\/Widescreen 2.35
\nSubtitles: <\/strong>English SDH, English, Spanish
\nDisc Size: <\/strong>23.0 GB
\nCodec: <\/strong>MPEG-4 AVC
\nRegion(s): <\/strong>A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


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

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THE MOVIE<\/strong> \u2013 2.0\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Nicolas Cage\u2019s latest release, yet another direct-to-video (as well as VOD) affair which seems to have far more interesting background than the movie itself. Dying of the Light<\/em><\/strong> is one of the duller flicks I\u2019ve come across and one that had so much potential monkeyed with by a production company more interested in ego and instead got a director, two of its stars and an executive producer to disown the entire thing.<\/p>\n

Dying of the Light<\/em><\/strong> centers on CIA agent Evan Luke (NICOLAS CAGE) who, 22 years earlier, had been captured and tortured by a notorious and brutal terrorist named Muhammad Banir (ALEXANDER KARIM). After being rescued by Special Forces, Luke now lives with the pains of the torture. Meanwhile, now riding a desk in his twilight years with the agency, and giving patriotic speeches to new recruits, but still yearns to be out in the field, though the CIA director isn\u2019t so recipient especially when Luke comes forward that Banir, who was thought killed during his rescue extraction, may indeed still be alive.<\/p>\n

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Add to his troubles of being shutdown and his career coming to an end, Luke also learns he has a frontal temple dementia that is slowly deteriorating his memories and also leads to bouts of anger which shows itself when he lambasts his boss ultimately leading to his firing. Now on his own, he does receive help from prot\u00e9g\u00e9 Milton Schultz (ANTON YELCHIN), as Luke is determined to find Banir and exact his revenge before it\u2019s too late, not only with his own health but that he believes Banir is on the brink of death himself.<\/p>\n

Evan Luke goes rogue with Schultz travelling halfway around the world thanks to tips that Banir is receiving treatment from a doctor. During their investigation, they get help from an old flame of Evan\u2019s named Michelle Zubarain (IRENE JACOB) who has police connections leading them to the doctor and with some strong arming, gets his cooperation which then gets to a laughable scenario where Luke, with the help of a remarkable make-up artist, attempts to pose as the doctor in order to get close to Banir and finally get his revenge.<\/p>\n

Through all of this, his dementia seems to be getting worse and here we have one of more interesting aspects but thrown away for the generic action-thriller aspects we\u2019ve seen in countless Bourne<\/em> rip-offs (and Bourne Legacy<\/em> is one of them).<\/p>\n

Dying of the Light<\/em><\/strong>, put simply and precisely, is a dull movie. A well made film from a visual standpoint and save for a couple of scenes, well acted, but ultimately dull with the story.<\/p>\n

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Cage for his part was actually not bad and probably turns in one of his better performances in quite some time however that\u2019s not saying much when his resume includes Left Behind<\/em>, Trespass<\/em>, Season of the Witch<\/em> and Stolen<\/em>, though he wasn\u2019t bad in The Frozen Ground<\/em> and Joe<\/em>, the former had so much wasted potential.<\/p>\n

Due to the cuts and editing the producers and production company made, what could\u2019ve been an interesting character drama, with some suspense, instead became a generic film with poor pacing and what felt like a haphazard story that never quite came together. Dying of the Light<\/em><\/strong>, even if Shrader\u2019s version was preserved, might still not have been that good but unfortunately we\u2019ll never know.<\/p>\n

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SPECIAL FEATURES \u2013 2.25\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This release comes with a matted slip cover<\/strong>. Inside is a redemption code for the Digital Copy<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Behind the Scenes of Dying of the Light<\/em> (14:27; HD)<\/span><\/strong> is a fairly standard making-of featurette with some behind-the-scenes footage intermixed with interviews and footage from the movie itself. There\u2019s nothing profound and certainly it\u2019s glowing about the screenplay with no mention of the problems with the production (per contract).<\/p>\n

Deleted Scenes (23:40; HD)<\/span><\/strong> \u2013 We get a fair amount of scenes that were either trimmed or outright removed. Not a whole here of consequence but there are a couple of OK scenes with Cage\u2019s character dealing with his dementia.<\/p>\n

Interviews with the Cast and Crew (TRT 18:10; HD)<\/span><\/strong> \u2013 Here we get on-set interview footage with Paul Schrader, Nicolas Cage, Anton Yelchin, Alexander Karim, Claudius Peters and Adetomiwa Edun.<\/p>\n

Theatrical Trailer (2:31; HD)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Previews<\/strong> \u2013 The Frozen Ground<\/a><\/em>, Reclaim<\/em>, The Prince<\/a><\/em>, The Homesman<\/em><\/p>\n

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

Lionsgate releases Dying of the Light<\/em><\/strong> presented with a 2.35 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. The detail level on this transfer is adequate but nothing striking nor amazing; colors appear to be well balanced including skin tones. It\u2019s a fine looking picture that could be considered disappointing for a recent release.
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AUDIO \u2013 4.0\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track meanwhile is also sufficient yet gets the job done. Dialogue sounds crisp and clear throughout, there were no noticeable hisses nor did the track top out though when we did get action scenes, and really there are only a couple and those come towards the end, it does lack depth from gunshots and subsequent ricochets.<\/p>\n

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OVERALL \u2013 2.75\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Overall, Dying of the Light<\/em><\/strong> seems to be a cautionary tale as well as show the perhaps seedy side of Hollywood when a project gets taken away from the filmmaker. In fairness, and it is a distinct possibility, that there might be more to the story but the final cut we get here is a mess and worse, a boring and dull mess at that. Nicolas Cage actually wasn\u2019t too bad and there are some interesting elements but I would\u2019ve loved to have seen Shrader\u2019s version (not to say his would\u2019ve been any better mind you).<\/p>\n

The Blu-ray released by Lionsgate has good video\/audio transfers while the bonus material is mostly forgettable.<\/p>\n


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Brian Oliver, The Movieman
\n<\/em>Published: <\/strong>02\/24\/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