Green Lantern - Blu-ray Review

4.4 Stars (out of 5)

Synopsis

Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds), a brash, talented test pilot, is chosen by an alien force of warriors to become their representative on Earth and use his new powers as the Green Lantern to promote order and justice before conflict destroys his world. Despite being the first human to wear the ring that bestows his abilities, Hal must combat villain Parallax. Fellow pilot Carol Ferris (Blake Lively) aids Hal in his quest to save the galaxy. Buy Now $28.99

Listen to the review

Starring:

Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Temuera Morrison, Jenna Craig, Jon Tenney, Tim Robbins, Angela Bassett, Jay O. Sanders

Director:

Martin Campbell

Blu-ray Release Date:

October 14, 2011

Subtitles:

English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Indonesian, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Thai

Rating

Overall rating weighted as follows:
Audio 40%, Video 40%, Special Features 20%, Movie - its just our opinion so take it with a grain of salt

Audio 4.8 Stars (out of 5)

Dolby and DTS Demo Discs used as basis for comparison

• Subwoofer - 5.0 Stars
• Dialog - 4.5 Stars
• Surround Effects - 4.5 Stars
• Dynamic Range - 5.0 Stars

English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1, Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1, Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1

From beginning to end, this film is filled with rumbling bass. Explosions, energy blasts from rings, fighter jet afterburners, and every fight scene really gives the subwoofer a workout with deep resonating bass. The rear channels are used for more than just ambient sounds, screaming crowds, helicopters, jets flying by, and explosions fill the room with action. Dialog is generally clear, except for a few action scenes where chatter gets lost in the mix. This audio mix tends to show off by having a very impressive dynamic range. Since this film has lots of alien stuff in it, strange high pitch sounds are frequently heard that will launch most dogs into a barking frenzy.

Video  4.2 Stars (out of 5)

Spears & Munsil Benchmark Blu-ray Edition used as basis for comparison

• Color Accuracy  - 4.5 Stars
• Shadow detail - 3.5 Stars
• Clarity - 4.5 Stars
• Skin tones - 4.0 Stars
• Compression - 4.5 Stars

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC, Resolution: 1080p, Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1, Original Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Green Lantern has a hot color palette that sometimes makes human's skin look a little red. The clarity is good and helps feature tiny wrinkles and pores on skin, clothing textures, heroic beard stubble, and even finger prints on skin are easily seen. However, their is one major flaw that can't be overlooked, the film is way too dark. Lot's of details are lost in the shadows, and darkness crushes even in scenes with well lit rooms. Its a shame too, this film could have looked great with all of it's colorful scenery, but I think they cranked up the darkness so that the flaws in the computer graphics would go unnoticed.

Bonus Features 4.0 Stars (out of 5)

• Extended and Theatrical Versions of the movie.
• Maximum Movie Mode: Green Lantern's Light (HD, 161 minutes): Shows the film with picture in picture optional features such as behind-the-scenes look at the film, its development, special effects, character designs and more.
• Focus Points (HD, 47 minutes): Various featurettes that are also available in Maximum Movie Mode. Segments include "The Art of Green Lantern," "Weapons Hot: The U.C.A.V. Dog Fight," "Reinventing the Superhero Costume," "Ring Slinging 101," "We Are the Corps," "Acting Under 10 Pounds of Silicone," "Guardians Revealed" and "When Parallax Attacks."
• The Universe According to Green Lantern (HD, 20 minutes): A discussion of the comic  history of Green Lantern.
• Ryan Reynolds Becomes the Green Lantern (HD, 9 minutes): Behind the scenes with Reynolds.
• Deleted Scenes (HD, 7 minutes): Five deleted scenes.
• Justice League #1 Digital Comic (HD, 9 minutes): Enjoy the first issue of "Justice League" from "The New 52" DC Comics relaunch.
• Preview of Green Lantern: The Animated Series (HD, 7 minutes)
• PS3 Arkham City Character Skin Code.
• UltraViolet Digital Copy.

Movie - 3.0 Stars (out of 5)

Review

Out of all the comic book super heroes, Green Lantern is the hardest to make into a good movie. You can tell they tried hard, but they just missed the mark. It's hard to say what they could have done to improve the movie, because I think the movie was crippled by having to explain exactly what a Green Lantern is. First there's the test fighter pilot Hal Jordan, then the ring and how it works, the ring's source of power, the thousands of other Green Lanterns, oh yeah and the weird bad guy and his origin. It surprises me that this movie was less than two hours long. More than half of the movie was important exposition, and by the time we get to the real story, you're still trying to get comfortable with the strange universe the story takes place in.

Oddly enough this movie gets better after multiple viewings. After you understand everything, it's a fun movie. It touches on what makes a person a hero, and for a Green Lantern it's overcoming fear and creativity. It also focuses on the importance of fathers and boldly states that good dads make heroes, and bad dads raise villains. I hope they make a, because they won't have to spend so much time explaining everything and the bad guy will be better than some cosmic evil octopus.