DVD Review:

Into The Wild

2-Disc Special Edition

Movie

This is one of the movies that you might already know the ending before watching it.  Such is the case when I sat down to watch Into the Wild.  Into the Wild is based on the true story of Christopher McCandless.  Christopher was tired of material things.  He felt that he needed to get away from it all and go on an adventure.  So one day he cuts up all his credit cards and burns his identification and hits the road without telling anyone.  On his travels he spends time with lots of interesting people.  He gets to experience things that other people might never do in their lives, like kayaking in the Grand Canyon.  All of his travels are leading him to what he considers his ultimate adventure, living off the wilderness in Alaska.  Christopher McCandless is played by Emile Hirsch, who is so perfectly cast that he even looks like the character he is portraying.  When Christopher gets to Alaska he finds a bus back in the wilderness and can’t believe his luck.  That is where he spends the next 9 weeks, living off the land.  He hunts for his food, and spends a lot of time reading.  I found myself asking if I could do what Christopher did.  The answer for me is no, but it shows that you that money is not necessarily the most important thing in life and a lot of great experiences can be had if you just get out there and do it.

8 out of 10

Video

Since this movie is about the wilderness, you can imagine the cinematography will be breathtaking and it is.  I think it’s one of the better standard-def titles I have seen in awhile.  But it’s definitely not as good as something like Transformers or LOTR.  But I don’t think it has to be.  I watched this on an up-converting DVD player and I thought the images were lush and colourful.

7.5 out of 10

Audio

The sound mix in this film is all about subtleties. What was really interesting is that a lot of the sound in this movie was acquired on location and only a small amount was recorded in the studio.  I found this really adds to the believability of the movie.    It’s rare that the sounds for a soundtrack are created mostly in the field but I think it really helps this soundtrack make you feel what Christopher must have felt like.

8 out of 10

Extras

I was disappointed that there weren’t more in the way of extras.  But what is here does offer as a companion to the film.  There are two documentaries.  One is called Story and the other is entitled Experience.  I personally liked experience more as it goes into detail with the main actor in the film.  It showed how he had to lose so much weight.   Hirsch goes in to detail about his experiences on set which is definitely interesting. Overall I felt that there was not enough here to be called a 2-disc special edition.

6 out of 10

Overall

Overall I feel this movie is worth seeing.  It is an experience that everyone should at least rent.  I thought the acting was great and there is a decent picture and sound.   The only thing I was disappointed in was the extras.

7 out of 10

Recommended.