Divergent (2014)

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General		Extras
Category	Sci-Fi Action	Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-2 Featurette-Making Of Deleted Scenes Music Video
Rating
Year Of Production	2014
Running Time	133:38
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Neil Burger
Studio Distributor	Entertainment One	Starring	Shaileen Woodley Tony Goldwyn Ray Stevenson Ashley Judd Ansel Elgort Maggie Q Theo James Jai Courtenay Kate Winslet
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Junkie XL

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     There have been quite a few interesting science fiction films recently, some written for the screen (like Transcendence) and others based on graphic novels (like Oblivion) or highly successful normal novels like The Hunger Games series and this the first film in the Divergent series. Divergent is the first in a series of novels by Veronica Roth who was a college student when she wrote it. The novels are set in a future utopian/soon to be dystopian version of Chicago after a global apocalypse. In this future society Chicago has become a walled city to protect itself and a decision was taken to divide the people living there into 5 factions, with a view that this would preserve the peace. The factions are divided along the lines of the way that the people in them think and act. They are Candor who value justice and honesty (they run the justice system), Amity who value compassion (they farm and produce food), Dauntless who value courage (they protect the city and its residents), Abnegation who value selflessness and service (they run the government) and Erudite who value knowledge and learning (they perform scientific investigation and research). Much of the technology of the world is no longer operable such as cars and telecommunications. The trains still run within the city. People grow up in one of the factions, however once they reach a certain age they undergo a test which determines which of the five factions suits their personality. Once the test is completed they can choose which faction they will join however if they fail to pass initiation for the faction they choose they become factionless and basically have to live on the streets. They cannot return to their families or join another faction.

     The plot of the film follows the story of one particular girl, Beatrice or Tris (Shaileen Woodley) as she becomes known. She is born into an important family in Abnegation. Her father, Andrew (Tony Goldwyn) is one of the leading beaurocrats in the government, being the right hand man of President Marcus (Ray Stevenson). Her mother is Natalie (Ashley Judd) who is also Abnegation, although she clearly has a complex past. She also has a brother, Caleb (Ansel Elgort) of a similar age. Both Beatrice and Caleb undertake the testing and Beatrice's result surprises the tester, as the test is inconclusive meaning that she has a mixture of the various factions in her makeup. This is known as being 'divergent' which is considered to be dangerous to society. The tester, Tori (Maggie Q) from Dauntless takes pity on her and hides her result. At the choosing ceremony, Beatrice chooses Dauntless and her brother chooses Erudite. Beatrice is now plunged into a very different world than the one she grew up in where she must train and pass physical and psychological challenges to avoid being thrown out of Dauntless and becoming factionless. During this process she changes her name to Tris and is supervised and assessed by two senior members of Dauntless, Four (Theo James) and Eric (Jai Courtenay). Can she pass the tests without revealing her true nature as 'divergent'?

     While this is going on for Tris it becomes clear that there are bigger plots occurring in society more generally, seemingly driven by the leader of Erudite, Janine Matthews (Kate Winslet). The movie follows Tris through the process of initiation and her role in the bigger events occurring.

     I had not read the book before seeing this film, however my wife and son had and they report that it follows the story of the book fairly closely. As a standalone film, I found that it explained the nature of the future world well and I didn't need much further explanation from those who had read the book. The group of young actors and actresses perform quite well in my opinion and Shaileen Woodley has a physicality and steely eyed determination that will see her become a bigger star. The supporting cast are all good, without setting the world on fire. Kate Winslet is suitably dangerous as Janine Matthews. The visuals of the film certainly help to get you into the nature of this future world with the decaying buildings, huge fence around Chicago, simple dwellings and the costumes all combining to explain the future society well. The score by Junkie XL is also a good contributor to the feel of the film and in establishing the world. The film is solidly directed by Neil Burger, resulting in an entertaining and intriguing film without creating an Oscar worthy masterpiece. It is probably one of his strongest directorial efforts to date with his credits including films like Limitless and The Illusionist.

     Fans of Science Fiction and dystopian future style films will certainly enjoy this and fans of the novel will not be displeased by this adaptation. Recommended.

Video

     The video quality is good but has some issues.

     The feature is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced.

     The picture was very sharp and clear for DVD. Shadow detail was a little murky at times but not terrible.

     The colour is very good with no issues to report.

     There is some obvious aliasing at times but little else in the way of artefacts.

     There are subtitles in English for the hearing impaired which were clear and easy to read.

     There is no obvious layer change.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

     The audio quality is very good but I am sure a Blu-ray version would be significantly better.

     This disc contains an English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1 plus two commentaries in Dolby Digital 2.0.

     Dialogue was mostly clear and easy to understand with occasional lines just being a bit hard to make out.

     The music is marvellous, suiting the film well and adding tension and excitement. The score is by Junkie XL with Hans Zimmer acting as Executive Music Producer, whatever that is.

     The surround speakers were well used for the music but also for a variety of action and dramatic scenes such as gunfights. They provided an immersive listening experience which again I am sure would be even better on Blu-ray.

     The subwoofer was also well used support the music, explosions and gunfire.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

     A good selection of extras are included.

Menu

     The menu features music and motion.

Audio Commentary - Director Neil Burger

     A quality commentary where Neil discusses his approach to the visuals of the world, the concept, the factions, costumes, locations, VFX and the use of colour. Well worth a listen.

Audio Commentary - Producers Douglas Wick & Lucy Fisher

     Another good commentary, although probably not quite as good as the director's. The producers discuss casting, sets, adapting the book and working with the author and tell some anecdotes about the making of the film.

Faction Before Blood (14:14)

     A better than usual making of featurette which includes interview snippets with cast, author and crew covering the concept, story and more.

Deleted Scenes (4:16)

     An interesting set of deleted scenes mostly from during the initiation sequences. Probably nothing that should have remained in the final film, however certainly worth a look.

Beating Heart - Music Video (3:47)

     A music video for the theme song by Ellie Fielding.

    This film is available in other regions on Blu-ray and DVD and the Region 1 DVD release is missing the making of featurette I mentioned above, making our local version the best I can find for DVD.

    The video quality is good but not without issue.

    The audio quality is very good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall