Blu-Ray Review:
Falling Down
By Jason Gillard
*Screenshots are not from the Blu-Ray source.
Movie
Current Rottentomatoes.com score - 79% Fresh: 27 Rotten:7
A laid-off defense worker kept from seeing his child on her birthday by a restraining order, looks at the landscape of moral decay in Los Angeles on one hot, congested day and after being mugged, snaps. What follows is his bitter and pathetic mission of justice, vengeance and vindication that reads uncomfortably like too many news stories. Michael Douglas is identified only by his character's license plate, D-FENS, in this attack on social ills, a film originally seen as the displacement of power felt by many white American males.
It's been a long time since I saw Michael Douglas in Falling Down. I remembered a few key scenes in the movie but not much other than that. This is a really interesting film where you sympathize with his struggle but sometimes he comes across as a real terrible guy. Michael Douglas does a fantastic job of bringing out all the angst in his character as well as the subtleties he brings to the character. I am sure all of us at one time or another have felt like everything is going wrong and would like to take out our frustrations, but most of us would never act on these frustrations. This is why I find the movie fascinating! I really recommend checking it out.
8 out of 10
Video
The transfer that Warner has cooked up for us is one that is quite good. Detail levels are quite good making small details stand out, like the sweat dripping off his face in the hot LA sun. Black levels are adequate. There are some scenes where the black levels are not as strong as they should be. I also noticed some nicks, scratches and flecks in the print. So its obvious a little more TLC would have helped the print. That being said what we do have is a well detailed image with strong colour reproduction. Flesh tones often look flushed, but this is by design to show how hot it was. I also noticed film grain, but it really adds to the film giving it a film like image on Blu-ray. Overall it could have been much worse, but as a fan of the film I am happy with the transfer.
8 out of 10
Audio
When I sat down to watch the movie I thought there was something wrong with my receiver, it was only showing 2 channels. First thing I did was went to the menu to make sure the right track was selected, it was. If I would have been smart I would have looked at the back of the case! It seems Warner decided to go with a two channel track instead of remixing a 5.1 track. This track is a lossless track and I guess that was what confused me. I thought the dialogue was centered well and I never had a problem hearing any of the main characters. Since this is a lossless stereo track nothing ever entered the rear speakers, but I did notice that they managed to cram a lot of ambiance into the front speakers. I wish they had redone the mix, gunfire does not have that sonic impact that is usually heard in films and sounds quite anemic. Overall there is not much we can do, it's a two channel track, but I think they did a good job.
6.5 out of 10
Extras
Here is what we have in the way of extras:
Audio Commentary
Deconstructing D-Fens
Theatrical Trailer
This is a digibook release. For those of you who don't know what that is, the case is designed like a book and at the front is a 32 page booklet. There is not much here, mostly a biography and some photos. But as far as extras go there is not much here at all. This is the same material on the recent deluxe DVD. The only thing I can recommend is the commentary. I found that it was pretty interesting for the most part. There are some stretches of silence but both Douglas and Schumacher provide an interesting commentary. It's sad that a film of this caliber is given so little thought in the extras department.
5 out of 10
Overall
I really like the film and I think they have done a decent job with the transfer. I wish they had done a 5.1 mix, but the 2.0 mix is adequate. The extras are a joke. So I would recommend this disc because of the movie. It's a good film and the transfer is decent. If you can pick it up at a good price, I say go for it.
8 out of 10