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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
The Shooter (Skytten) (2013)

The Shooter (Skytten) (2013)

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Released 4-Sep-2013

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Thriller Theatrical Trailer
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2013
Running Time ?
RSDL / Flipper RSDL Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By None Given
Studio
Distributor

Madman Entertainment
Starring Trine Dyrholm
Nikolaj Lie Kass
Kim Bodnia
Case Amaray-Transparent
RPI $29.95 Music None Given


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None Danish Dolby Digital 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.00:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 2.00:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     I recently reviewed an excellent Danish/Swedish television series Bron/Broen which has now been remade as a US FX Channel series, The Bridge which has been shown locally on Foxtel. Surprisingly, the US version is nearly as good as the original. Anyway, that original Scandinavian TV series starred a Danish actor Kim Bodnia and his presence in this film made me interested in giving it a review. This film, Skytten or The Shooter is a Danish political thriller set in the modern day (if a fictitious version of it).

     The story involves Mia Moesgaard (Trine Dyrholm) a political journalist for a major Danish newspaper. A green government gets elected in Denmark with a huge majority on the basis of a promise not to drill for oil in Greenland. Six months or so into their term they announce a major new deal with the US for oil drilling in Greenland which they say will provide a Green fund for other green initiatives. The population is angry and Mia is interviewed on television with the Green foreign Minister, Thomas Borby (Nikolaj Lie Kass). During the interview she suggests that the population may turn to protest and insurrection due to their anger over the change in tack by the green government. Inspired by her comments, Rasmus Holm Jensen (Kim Bodnia), a geologist, decides to take action using his military skills as a marksman.

     This is not a bad film and is certainly topical in world politics, however it also has a number of flaws which reduce its effectiveness. The plot is very simple, basically little more than what I have written above except for a badly tacked on subplot about Mia wanting to adopt an Indian baby which seems totally irrelevant to the main storyline. The acting is good, there is some nice cinematography of the wilds of Greenland but there is not enough here in terms of plot and character development to bring this film above the level of decent quality television movie. On the plus side the film does not outstay its welcome running under 90 minutes.

     Worth a look for fans of Scandinavian cinema or if the topic interests you.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     The video quality is quite good for DVD.

     The feature is presented in an approximately 2.00:1 aspect ratio which seems to be the original aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced.

     The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout for DVD. Shadow detail was restricted by the naturalistic lighting choices.

     The colour is good but somewhat dull reflecting the naturalistic lighting and Scandinavian locations.

     There was some mild grain in backgrounds and motion blur.

     There are English subtitles available which featured some literal rather than grammatical translation at times.

     The layer change caused a minor but obvious pause.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The video quality is quite good for DVD.

     The feature is presented in an approximately 2.00:1 aspect ratio which seems to be the original aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced.

     The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout for DVD. Shadow detail was restricted by the naturalistic lighting choices.

     The colour is good but somewhat dull reflecting the naturalistic lighting and Scandinavian locations.

     There was some mild grain in backgrounds and motion blur.

     There are English subtitles available which featured some literal rather than grammatical translation at times.

     The layer change caused a minor but obvious pause.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

    Not much here.

Menu

    The menu featured music.

Theatrical Trailer (2:03)

Trailers

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    This film has been released in Denmark on DVD and Blu-ray, however, the DVD seems very similar to our local release. Buy local

Summary

    A good but not great Danish political thriller.

    The video quality is good.

    The audio quality is good.

    The extras are lost in Greenland.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Review Equipment
DVDSONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output
DisplaySharp LC52LE820X Quattron 52" Full HD LED-LCD TV . Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderBuilt into amplifier. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationMarantz SR5005
SpeakersMonitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer

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