The Rite - Blu-ray Review

4.1 Stars (out of 5)

Synopsis

Despite his conviction that demonic possession is just so much superstitious mumbo jumbo, Catholic priest-in-training Michael Kovak (Colin O'Donoghue) journeys to Rome to attend a special exorcism school being taught at the Vatican. Before long, true-believer Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins) introduces the young cleric to the devil's power firsthand. Director Mikael Håfström helms this graphic supernatural thriller inspired by a true story. (Buy Now $22.99)

Starring:

Anthony Hopkins, Colin O'Donoghue, Alice Braga, Ciarán Hinds, Toby Jones, Rutger Hauer, Marta Gastini, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Arianna Veronesi, Chris Marquette

Director:

Mikael Håfström

Blu-ray Release Date:

May, 17, 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 – 5.0 Stars
●        Surround Effects – 4.0 Stars
●        Dynamic Range – 4.0 Stars

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

The Rite has an impressive audio presentation for such a subdued movie. Erie rumbles are heard during most of film delivering a feeling of creepiness to the room. The subwoofer is also very active in the soundtrack which features high pitched violins, drum, and low bass tones. Ambient sounds are important for a film like this, and the are delivered with class. Rain, church bells, frogs, and evil whispers fill the room with atmospheric effects that help draw you into the film.

Video  4.6 Stars (out of 5)

Spears & Munsil Benchmark Blu-ray Edition used as basis for comparison
●        Color Accuracy  - 4.5 Stars
●        Shadow detail - 5.0 Stars
●        Clarity - 4.0 Stars
●        Skin tones - 4.5 Stars
●        Compression - 5.0 Stars

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1

The Rite has the right type of video performance for a movie with this subject matter. What stood out the most is it’s ability to handle dark scenes. Most of the scenes in the film have darkness attempting to take over the frame, they were displayed without any compression issues or ghost shadowing. Clarity and skin tones were decent enough to feature several aged wrinkles, whiskers, beard stubble, and liver spots of seasoned actor Anthony Hopkins. Bricks and CGI veins were also presented in good enough clarity to distract me from the mundane movie.

Bonus Features 3.0 Stars (out of 5)

• The Rite: Solider of God (HD, 7 minutes): Interview with exorcist Father Gary Thomas.
• Deleted Scenes (HD, 13 minutes): deleted scenes with bad audio and video presentation.
• Chilling Alternate Ending (HD, 2 minutes): Not really chilling, but it is a little different.
• BD-Live Functionality

Movie – 2.0 Stars (out of 5)

Review

A movie based on a best selling novel starring Oscar Winner Anthony Hopkins should be a slam dunk right? Yeah, it should be good, but some how this movie is as boring as being snowed in my Mother in laws house. Believe it or not, I am being kind when I say this movie is boring. The first time I tried to watch this movie, I fell asleep twice on it. The second time I watched it, I feel asleep as soon as the credits started. Where did this movie go wrong? Let’s see, it was predictable, cliché, and slow moving. Looking at the Blu-ray cover tells you everything you need to know about this movie. Hopkins should be terrifying and scary, but instead this film made me want to watch Silence of the Lambs where he was menacing, powerful, and intense. Exorcism films have live up to or surpass the original perfection and sensationalism of The Exorcist. This film fell short, and left me feeling safe from the Devil.