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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.
November Man, The (Blu-ray) (2014)

November Man, The (Blu-ray) (2014)

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Released 28-Jan-2015

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Action Featurette-The Making of The November Man (10:51)
Featurette-Brosnan is Back (6:40)
Featurette-Bringing Belgrade to the Big Screen (5:56)
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2014
Running Time 107:53 (Case: 106)
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Roger Donaldson
Studio
Distributor
Buena Vista Australia Starring Pierce Brosnan
Olga Kurylenko
Luke Bracey
Bill Smitrovich
Lazar Ristovski
Amila Terzimehic
Mediha Musliovic
William Patton
Case Standard Blu-ray
RPI ? Music Marco Beltrami


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 1080p
Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English for the Hearing Impaired Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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Plot Synopsis

     When a mission by CIA assassins Peter Devereaux (Pierce Brosnan) and his young protégé David Mason (Luke Bracey) goes awry and an innocent child bystander is killed Devereaux quits the service and retires to Switzerland. However, five years later he is contacted by his old CIA handler Hanley (Bill Smitrovich). A CIA agent, Natalia (Mediha Musliovic), undercover on the staff of the Russian politician Arkady Federov (Lazar Ristovski), the man likely to be the next president of Russia, has discovered evidence that Federov, then a general, committed war crimes during the war in Chechenia; Natalia wants to be extracted, but will only trust Devereaux. For reasons unclear to the audience (but that are explained later) Devereaux agrees to go to Moscow to meet Natalia. However, Natalia’s cover has been blown and the Russians are after her and, in addition, and unknown to Devereaux, a CIA hit team led by Mason have also been dispatched to Moscow with orders to kill Natalia. She is badly wounded but before dying Natalia tells Devereaux the name Mira, a woman now in Belgrave who witnessed Federov’s crimes. Devereaux takes out the CIA hit team, but when he finds Mason there both walk away.

     The scene shifts to Belgrave. Mira has disappeared but when she arrived in Belgrave she was assigned a social worker Alice Fournier (Olga Kurylenko) who may still know her whereabouts. However, Devereaux is not the only one looking for Mira; Federov has sent female assassin Alexa (Amila Terzimehic) to Belgrave. To complicate matters further, CIA boss Weinstein (William Patton) has decided that Devereaux has gone rogue and has ordered Mason to lead a team to kill him. Devereaux manages to find Alice before Alexa or the CIA teams first the two go on the run. However, it soon becomes clear to Devereaux that the story is bigger than just Federov as one CIA operative had colluded with him in Chechenia. Devereaux, in order to stay alive, follows a web of lies, betrayals and deceit in order to discover just who is pulling the strings.

     The November Man is based on the book There Are No Spies by Bill Granger, the seventh of the thirteen books written by Granger about the character of Devereaux. The film is directed by Australian Roger Donaldson; he had directed the interesting The World’s Fastest Indian (2005), had a bit of a cult hit with Species (1995) and had directed Brosnan in Dante’s Peak (1997). In The November Man Donaldson keeps the pace of the film speeding along and the action scenes are slick, exciting and well-staged, which is just as well as it enables one to ignore the convoluted plot. For example, the script does not tell us until much, much later, that Natalia is in fact Devereaux’s wife and that they have a 12 year old daughter; in fact, the daughter is not mentioned until a long way into the film and any movie watcher can see where such a relationship is going to be relevant! Indeed, despite the complexity of the plotting, it is pretty obvious where the film is going, including the climax.

     The November Man is Brosnan revisiting the spy genre but his Devereaux is not the sophisticated James Bond; he is every bit the ruthless killer but he is also a far more gritty and unscrupulous man capable of slicing open the artery of an innocent woman to obtain information. Brosnan is also older and has put on weight; his Deveraux is weary of killing but when the action starts this aspect of the character quickly disappears. I like Olga Kurylenko on screen; she was fun in Quantum of Solace (2008) and the more recent The Death of Stalin (2017) and her character in The November Man is not a passive damsel in distress but a resourceful woman with determination, not unlike her character in Quantum of Solace. Australian Luke Bracey is another Home and Away alumni; he is acceptable in the protégé role.

     While nothing earth shattering and with few surprises in the plotting, The November Man is a solid, entertaining spy thriller with red herrings, betrayals, slick action and a decent cast.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     The November Man is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     Shot digitally using Arri Alexa rigs, The November Man looks detailed and solid even during the motion of the action sequences. Colours have that digital glossy and slightly silvery look, blacks and shadow detail are excellent, skin tones natural, contrast and brightness consistent. Marks and artefacts are absent.

     White English subtitles for the hearing impaired are available and come on automatically during a couple of sentences in Russian.

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

Audio

     Audio is English DTS-HA MA 5.1.

     The audio is just what you should expect from an action film. Dialogue is clear throughout. Scattered throughout the film are car and motorbike chases with engines roaring and the crunch of impacts, shots crack during gunfights, there are impacts during hand to hand fighting including the destruction of furniture. At other times there are the usual crowd and street noises. The subwoofer supported the crashes and explosions and added depth to the music.

     The score was by Marco Beltrami. He is no stranger to action films with 123 credits on the IMDb including his Oscar nominated scores for 3:10 to Yuma (2007) and The Hurt Locker (2008). His score here is appropriate without being particularly memorable.

     There are no lip synchronisation issues.

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

Extras

The Making of The November Man (10:51)

     Utilises on-set footage, some film clips and comments by cast Pierce Brosnan, Bill Smitrovich, Olga Kurylenko and Luke Bracey, producers Beau St. Clair, Sriram Das, screenwriters Michael Finch, Karl Gajdusek, director Roger Donaldson, DP Romain Lacourbas and production designer Kevin Kavanaugh. Matters covered include the source novel by Bill Granger, the world of espionage, the director, the cast, plot and characters and filming with camera drones. A sort of EPK but slightly more detailed.

Brosnan is Back (6:40)

     With contributions similar to the above extra, this covers Brosnan’s return to the spy genre, the man himself and the character of Devereaux.

Bringing Belgrade to the Big Screen (5:56)

    Belgrade as a character in the film and shooting in the city.

R4 vs R1

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

     The Region A US Blu-ray of The November Man is the same technically but, in addition to the extras we have, it adds an audio commentary with Pierce Brosnan, Beau St. Clair and Roger Donaldson plus a trailer, giving Region A the edge.

Summary

     The November Man may be somewhat obvious in its plotting and climax but that does not mean that it is not an entertaining ride getting there with some good action, a decent cast and interesting Belgrave locations. This film has been around for a while now on Blu-ray and is certainly worth picking up at the right price.

     The video is fine, the audio impressive. The extras are minor and we miss out on the audio commentary available in Region A.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ray Nyland (the bio is the thing)
Friday, July 27, 2018
Review Equipment
DVDSony BDP-S580, using HDMI output
DisplayLG 55inch HD LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderNAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated.
AmplificationNAD T737
SpeakersStudio Acoustics 5.1

Other Reviews NONE