127 Hours Blu-ray Review

4.5 Stars (out of 5)

Synopsis:

From director Danny Boyle comes this harrowing tale of real-life mountain climber Aron Ralston (James Franco), who literally cuts himself loose from danger -- and lives to tell about it when sliding rock pins his forearm under a boulder during a climb in Utah. To stay alive, Ralston resorts to his basest survival instincts. The film scored Academy Award nominations in the Best Picture and Best Actor (Franco) categories. (Buy Now $23.49)

Starring:

James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn, Sean Bott, Koleman Stinger, Treat Williams, John Lawrence, Kate Burton, Lizzy Caplan, Clémence Poésy , Rebecca C. Olson

Director:

Danny Boyle

Blu-ray Release Date:

March 1, 2011

Subtitles:

English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese

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 4.3 Stars (out of 5)

Dolby and DTS Demo Discs used as basis for comparison

• Subwoofer – 4.0 Stars
• Dialog – 4.0 Stars
• Surround Effects – 4.5 Stars
• Dynamic Range – 4.5 Stars

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

There are long moments of silence in this film, so ambient noises and the soundtrack are very important. This film did an impressive job of filling in the quiet scenes and even created a few jolts when the silence was broken. The emersive sounds of lighting, rain, and the soundtrack filled the room.  Ants walking, whirring of video tape, and bicycle ticks help show off the range and work put into the sound editing. Dialog performance was fine however, a few soft spoken sentences were hard to hear. I know whispers are designed to be difficult to hear, but in a movie where very few words are spoken, every word counts.

Video  4.7 Stars (out of 5)

Spears & Munsil Benchmark Blu Ray Edition used as basis for comparison

• Color Accuracy  - 5.0 Stars
• Shadow detail – 4.5 Stars
• Clarity – 4.5 Stars
• Skin tones – 5.0 Stars
• Compression – 4.5 Stars

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC, Resolution: 1080p, Aspect ratio: 1.85:1, Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1

The video in 127 Hours almost made me take up mountain climbing. Deep orange rock formations, bright blue skies with fluffy white clouds, and the smooth canyon walls are beautifully colorful while still keeping neutral tones. The detail is quite good too, I was able to see the veins on James Franco’s eyeballs as well as every hair on his patchy beard. There are times when the quality of the video intentionally changes, to show what is being recorded on the camcorder.

Bonus Features 4.5 Stars (out of 5)

• Audio Commentary with Director Danny Boyle, producer Christian Colson, and co-writer Simon Beaufoy
• 7 Deleted Scenes (1080p, 34:13): with an alternate ending.
• Search & Rescue (1080p, 14:51): A short featurette with all the real life players in Aron's recovery, including his mom, roommate, boss, the search and rescue crew, and Aron Ralston himself.
• 127 Hours: An Extraordinary View (1080p, 35:30) A making of documentary.
• Short Film - The God of Love (1080p, 18:46): A short film that nothing to do with 127 Hours
• BD-Live Exclusive - James Franco in Conversation with Theatre/Opera Director Peter Sellars (720p, 3:53)

Movie – 4.0 Stars (out of 5)

Review:

127 Hours doesn’t sound like it would work. Everyone knows what it’s about, and most people know how it ends. So how do you build tension? How do you keep the audience interested? The answer is simple, get Danny Boyle to direct and James Franco to star in it. It’s directed with masterful skill and has one of the best acting performances of 2010. This film is also very well paced. Almost an hour of it was spent in a canyon with a guy’s arm pinned down by a boulder. Not once did I look at my watch and wonder, when is he gonna do “it”?

At its core this film is about facing your fears, looking at what is important and deciding to change. It also highlights the importance of relationships and the fear of regret. It does pose an important question to the viewer. Do you have to have to be stuck between a rock and hard place before you change?