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Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Quiet Earth, The (Blu-ray) (1985)

Quiet Earth, The (Blu-ray) (1985)

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Released 3-Oct-2018

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Science Fiction Audio Commentary-with Writer & Producer Sam Pillsbury
Theatrical Trailer
Trailer-Restoration Trailer
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 1985
Running Time 90:48
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Geoff Murphy
Studio
Distributor

Umbrella Entertainment
Starring Bruno Lawrence
Alison Routledge
Pete Smith
Case Standard Blu-ray
RPI $24.95 Music John Charles


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 1080p
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English for the Hearing Impaired Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits Yes

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

Plot Synopsis

    An enigmatic, overlooked cult science fiction film originating from New Zealand, 1985's The Quiet Earth presents its own unique spin on the recognisable "last man on Earth" premise, and the end result is definitely not for the average mainstream movie-goer. Adapted from the 1981 novel of the same name by New Zealand native Craig Harrison, The Quiet Earth was produced on a shoestring budget with limited resources, yet this vision of a post-apocalyptic world is lyrical and haunting, beset with creative set designs and compelling ideas, while the narrative is capably driven by a small cast of sublime performers. Those seeking a tidy, Hollywood-esque science fiction action-adventure are advised to look elsewhere, as The Quiet Earth is the type of daring independent movie that could only be produced outside of the studio system.

    In Hamilton, New Zealand, scientist Zac Hobson (Bruno Lawrence) leaves bed one morning to find that every other person on the planet has seemingly disappeared, and he is all alone. Added to this, Zac cannot help but feel he is perhaps partly responsible for whatever happened, due to his participation in a classified global energy project known as Project Flashlight. Clinging to the hope that other people might still be alive, Zac broadcasts radio messages and creates signs, all the while making a new home in a luxury mansion and helping himself to whatever he desires. As he descends into madness resulting from his isolation, he encounters a young woman named Joanne (Alison Routledge), who is equally ecstatic to find that she is not alone. With Zac and Joanne rapidly forming a friendship that leads to more, a third man joins their party in the form of Api (Pete Smith). As Zac continues to record his observations, he fears that another catastrophe might occur, and seeks to prevent it.

    Harrison's novel was adapted for the screen by Bill Baer, Sam Pillsbury and Lawrence himself, presenting a post-apocalyptic world without gangs, marauders, vigilantes, segregated groups of survivors, or zombies - as insinuated by the title, the Earth here comes to its end with a creepy, frightening tranquillity; the entire human population has simply disappeared. The technical execution is remarkable, with convincing, harrowing images of deserted city streets where vehicles are overturned or outright abandoned, while a burst water pipe floods a portion of road. James Bartle's low-key cinematography ably captures these moments, while director Geoff Murphy (Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, Fortress 2) builds tension from the silence. Another scene in which Zac discovers the flaming wreckage of an airplane is impressive in both scope and scale, demonstrating the filmmakers' efficient use of the limited budget. Additionally, since The Quiet Earth was produced before the era of digital effects, Murphy and his team rely upon astute camera trickery and model work, and the result is frequently convincing. The film is further elevated by an outstanding original score courtesy of John Charles, whose compositions will linger in the mind long after viewing.

    With Zac present in virtually every scene, and with the movie's entire first half-hour amounting to a one-man show, The Quiet Earth lives and dies on the strength of its lead actor. Luckily, the late Lawrence is up to the task; he's a magnetic, charismatic on-screen presence, ensuring the film is never boring despite its deliberate pacing and lack of action sequences. He is compelling company and feels real, giving audiences a protagonist they can identify with. Furthermore, at times Lawrence can convey what he is feeling purely through body language and facial expressions, which renders him all the more perfect for the role. Both Routledge and Smith also submit effective performances, though the latter is noticeably unpolished from time to time. Admittedly, the sudden animosity between the three characters in the third act feels out of place and too easily resolved. Although the intentions are understandable (and it does lead to a car chase), the execution is questionable, particularly with the movie ostensibly rushing through the perfunctory drama to get to the finale. The inevitable love triangle, meanwhile, is questionable and never makes much of an impact, though these are about the only downsides of an otherwise solid sci-fi gem.

    Unfolding like an episode of The Twilight Zone, and closing on an ambiguous note, The Quiet Earth is definitely niche, and it may alienate viewers unwilling to engage their brain. Indeed, watching this movie for the first time may prove frustrating for many, though it holds up during repeat viewings and is oddly satisfying in its own way. Although The Quiet Earth is not exactly top-tier science fiction, it is worthwhile for movie buffs and genre aficionados, particularly due to its intelligence, style, moments of dark comedy, and uncanny sense of atmosphere.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    Constituting Volume 6 of the Beyond Genres line, Umbrella brings The Quiet Earth to Blu-ray for the first time in Australia, following the film's release on the format in both the United States (courtesy of Film Movement) and the U.K. (from Arrow). This looks to be the same high definition master used for those releases, and the resulting AVC-encoded 1080p presentation is watchable (in spite of some caveats) but far from perfect. The movie is mastered with a pleasing average video bitrate approaching 33 Mbps and presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 - and Umbrella have made use of a dual-layered BD-50, even though there is so little content on the disc that only 28GB are utilised, leaving 22GB of unused disc real estate. On the surface, the remaster is pleasing, with only minor print damage visible throughout, while sharpness is mostly satisfying. However, the issues are difficult to ignore...

    Even though a degree of film grain is visible, the image looks filtered - digital noise reduction has clearly been used to scrub away most of the grain, leaving the presentation looking smeary, smooth, and lacking in textural precision. Particularly in wide and even medium shots, the DNR is readily apparent. And that's mighty disappointing, because the presentation could have looked so much better if only the grain was left untouched. The grain removal is not as immediately apparent on my 55" television, but on my 65" screen it's hard to ignore, emphasising the transfer's shortcomings. The grain which does remain looks finely-resolved as opposed to blocky (this could be noise, mind you) but it's hard to overlook the loss of fine detail in almost every shot. Nevertheless, when the transfer is on, textures do look acceptable and the presentation is adequately sharp. Facial close-ups predictably fare best, with pleasing highlights - just see the close-ups of Lawrence at 26:46 or 36:39 - but the effects of the DNR are still subtly apparent, with the finest details lost in a sea of smeariness. In addition to this, it is apparent that Umbrella's presentation is identical to the Film Movement transfer in terms of colours and contrast; the image looks too brightened a lot of the time, making dark areas look grey-ish, and almost blowing out some of the image detail. (Comparisons online show that the Arrow release features superior black levels and better image balance.) It is also worth noting that skin tones vary between naturalistic and looking too yellow, making Lawrence appear rather sickly at times. I tried playing with my TV's settings to see if this could be fixed, but the tones remained yellow no matter what I did.

    Even more troubling than the above is a bizarre, omnipresent wobblingeffect that is incredibly distracting. It's hard to describe; it looks like telecine wobble/gate weave, however the image is slightly warped during each wobble. This is more severe and noticeable in some moments than others, but it is distracting. I found it was more pronounced in the movie's earlier stages, but it's definitely present throughout. Just see the single shot at the 85-minute mark looking at Joanne and Api together; it shakes, wobbles and warps crazily. In almost every shot, if you focus on a single part of the frame, the slight warping is apparent. I'm not sure what the cause is, but it does appear to be a master-related issue. It looks as if the technicians tried to stabilise the image digitally, but it warped the image in the process. Or this could be an encoding anomaly. Whatever the case, it's inexcusable. It's worth pointing out that the final shot of the movie wobbles quite severely, but that does appear to be source-related given that it's a special effects shot involving a matte painting. Added to this, there is minor flickering from time to time which accentuates the wobbling. And if that isn't enough, I also detected frame skipping issues. The frame skipping is most obvious when characters or vehicles are moving (see the shot at 70:12), but I did notice it at various times throughout the movie. I tested the disc both on my LG player and Sony player, as well as via my computer's Blu-ray drive, and it was the same story on all devices. There are reports that the Film Movement Blu-ray suffers identical shortcomings, suggesting that the remaster is to blame.

    With The Quiet Earth looking smeary, over-brightened and uneven, in addition to the wobbling/warping issues, the frame skipping and flickering, it's hard to perceive this as anything other than a disappointment. It seems that Umbrella did what they could with a flawed source - at least I didn't notice any aliasing, macroblocking or ringing. It's also better than a DVD or VHS.

    English subtitles (for the hearing impaired) are included. It's clear that this is another track produced by (or exclusively for) Umbrella, and it seems to be free of encoding or authoring issues.

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

Audio

    The disc's sole audio option (aside from the audio commentary) is a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, which is actually a remixed track produced for the movie's disc release in 2016. The Quiet Earthwas originally mixed and presented in Dolby Stereo, and therefore this remix does what it can with the source - there is not a great deal of precise separation or panning, but the situation rarely calls for such effects anyway. The team responsible for remastering the audio have done a commendable job, as the mix remains impressively clear and pristine despite the movie's age and the limitations of the era's recording equipment. When Zac traverses the quiet, empty streets, there is no hissing to spoil the ominous sense of atmosphere. When Zac finds a plane wreck at the 12-minute mark, fire crackling sounds are impactful and powerful, with adequate subwoofer activity. The explosion at the 18-minute mark is impactful as well, with the subwoofer ensuring the sound is deep and true, rather than tinny or hollow. Dialogue, too, comes through clearly; it's virtually always front-centred, with not much in the way of surround activity whenever the characters chat. Additionally, smart prioritisation ensures the chatter is comprehensible no matter the environment or the level of background noise. Furthermore, John Charles' music is handled terrifically, coming through all available channels with strong clarity. The audio track is too low on the whole, as I had to turn up the volume higher than normal, but this is a minor complaint - for the most part, The Quiet Earth sounds excellent on Blu-ray.

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

Extras

    Here we have a commentary track (recycled from the 2009 DVD release), and a couple of trailers. The main menu is another of Umbrella's standard efforts, playing extended clips from the film. Since this is another entry to Umbrella's Beyond Genres line, the set is very nice, with a gorgeous slipcover featuring new artwork by Simon Sherry, and a nice inner print that doubles as a reversible cover.

Commentary with Writer/Producer Sam Pillsbury

    Screenwriter and producer Sam Pillsbury sits down for this feature-length audio commentary. This extra is extremely valuable given his extensive involvement in the movie; he keeps the track primarily scene-specific, but he also chooses various moments to delve into the movie's themes and the characters' motivations. It's interesting to hear Pillsbury touch upon the logistics of various scenes, including the necessity for traffic control to create empty streets, in addition to building sets, finding buildings they could destroy, creating things pre-CGI, and even sourcing airplane seats for one shot. (And yes, Lawrence really did drink the champagne/egg concoction.) The screenwriting process is also covered, with Pillsbury talking about writing the dialogue, choosing when to bring in the other characters, and so on. Of course there are dead spots, but this is a vast grab-bag of both minor and major anecdotes revealing how The Quiet Earth was brought to life. It's worth pointing out that the audio sync with the movie is slightly off, but it's not a huge deal.

Theatrical Trailer (2:58)

    The theatrical trailer for the film, taken from a poor quality, full-frame, standard definition source. This will certainly make you appreciate the HD remaster all the more.

Restoration Trailer (HD; 2:54)

    This is just the remastered version of the previous trailer, which makes the unrestored trailer seem a bit pointless.

R4 vs R1

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

    Compared to the U.S. Film Movement Blu-ray, we miss out on:

    Compared to the U.K. Blu-ray from Arrow, Umbrella's disc is missing:

    But both releases miss out on the commentary we have, and the U.S. disc is without subtitles. However the U.S. commentary is reportedly quite poor, and I wouldn't exactly call Arrow's extras essential, especially given the lack of participation from people actually involved in the movie, though it does have the slight edge given the original audio. Let's call it a draw unless further information comes to light. (Personally, I'll be hanging onto Umbrella's disc until a remaster comes along.)

Summary

    The Quiet Earth is not for every taste. This Twilight Zone-esque cult sci-fi movie from New Zealand is ambiguous and open to interpretation, which will definitely frustrate many - this is not a mainstream movie for a mainstream audience. But if you're willing to approach the movie with an open mind, and engage your brain, you should find The Quiet Earth a gratifying sit.

    Unfortunately, the movie's Australian Blu-ray debut courtesy of Umbrella leaves much to be desired. The remastered, lossless audio mix is terrific, and the included audio commentary is worthwhile, but the uneven video presentation is a letdown and there should be more extras. Fans may want to pick this one up at sale price, but it's not an essential buy.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Callum Knox (I studied biology)
Thursday, January 17, 2019
Review Equipment
DVDSony UBP-X700 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player, using HDMI output
DisplayLG OLED65E6T. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 2160p.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated.
AmplificationSamsung Series 7 HT-J7750W
SpeakersSamsung Tall Boy speakers, 7.1 set-up

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