Brighton Rock (Blu-ray) (2010) |
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Brighton Rock (Blu-ray) (2010) |
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| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Thriller |
Menu Animation & Audio Audio Commentary-Director & Editor Featurette-Making Of Interviews-Cast & Crew Deleted Scenes Featurette-Behind The Scenes-2 Theatrical Trailer Coupon |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2010 | ||
| Running Time | 110:53 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Rowan Joffe |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Madman Entertainment |
Starring |
Sam Riley Andrea Riseborough John Hurt Helen Mirren Philip Davis Andy Serkis |
| Case | Standard Blu-ray | ||
| RPI | $39.95 | Music | Martin Phipps |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Linear PCM 48/16 5.1 English Linear PCM 48/16 2.0 English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| 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 | ||
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene is a well-known and highly critically regarded novel published in 1938 in England. It has been adapted as a film twice, once in 1947 starring Richard Attenborough and now this new 2010 adaptation. The earlier film was set in the 1930s as was the novel and Graham Greene was involved in writing the screenplay. This new film moves the story to 1964, amongst the factual riots between mods and rockers which hit Brighton in that year. This is an interesting and easily believable change to the story. For those who don't know the novel this film is a drama thriller featuring a dark story and a manipulative and dangerous anti-hero, Pinkie Brown (Sam Riley).
Pinkie is a sociopath, a junior member of a local criminal gang in Brighton. One night he arrives just too late to stop the gang leader, Kite, from being murdered. He does however identify the killer, Fred Hale, who works for a big time gangster, Colleoni (Andy Serkis). Kite's remaining gang members decide they must seek retribution on Hale, planning to cut him with a razor. Things get out of hand and instead of just cutting him, Pinkie bashes him to death with a rock. The gang get very concerned about being caught due to fear of the death penalty which was still in place in England at the time. This becomes worse when they realise that an older member of the gang, Spicer (Philip Davis) has been photographed just before the murder with the victim and a naive young woman called Rose (Andrea Riseborough). Pinkie decides to get close to the girl and try to get the photograph which she has a ticket for. She quickly falls in love with the manipulative Pinkie and he uses the confusion in the gang to take control. This leads him into conflict with Colleoni. At the same time, Rose's boss at the cafe in which she works, Ida (Helen Mirren), is starting to investigate the murder of Kite, as he was a friend of hers. When this becomes obvious to Pinkie, the danger grows for everyone involved. John Hurt also appears as Ida's friend, Phil Corkery.
This is a dark psychological thriller (both the novel and the movie) and this particular adaptation is of very high quality. I really like the 1964 setting which has been done really well in terms of production design and costumes. The acting is excellent throughout, with Sam Riley and Andrea Riseborough standing out which, considering the cast includes Helen Mirren, is no small feat. The camera work is impressive throughout with lots of interesting angles, lighting and shots which will interest the film buffs in the audience. Surprisingly, this is the first feature film for the director Rowan Joffe although it should be noted that he is a BAFTA winning television director. He also wrote the screenplay and has previously been known more as a writer than a director although this film should change that opinion.
This is quality cinema based on a fascinating story from a great novel. What's not to like?
The video quality is very good but not quite up to the best Blu-rays I have seen. The feature is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 1080/24p coded using the AVC codec.
The picture was very clear and sharp throughout although some scenes were affected by some cloudiness which is probably driven by the choice to use 1960s lenses for shooting. The shadow detail was excellent.
The colour is excellent, with no issues to report, perfectly replicating the colour scheme of the film.
There are no other artefacts.
There are subtitles in English for the Hearing Impaired which are yellow and easy to read.
There is no obvious layer change during playback.
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The audio quality is very good. This disc contains an LPCM 48/16 5.1 soundtrack, an English LPCM 48/16 2.0 soundtrack and an English Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. The LPCM sounds excellent here providing great atmosphere for the film especially highlighting the music score and the sound of the waves.
Dialogue was reasonably clear and easy to hear although the subtitles were certainly useful. Not as good as most Blu-rays in terms of dialogue quality, I'm afraid.
The score and music used are great, evoking the spirit of the times without using obvious songs.
The surround speakers were used quite a lot of atmosphere, music and some surround effects. The subwoofer was used throughout for action and music support.
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The menu features some of the music and scenes from the film.
An interesting and engaging commentary which covers the book, the previous film version, imagery, locations, CGI usage, why Helen Mirren was important to the film, casting and cinematography amongst other topics. Well worth your time.
An honest and interesting making of which covers the various aspects of production and features interview snippets with the cast and crew. Topics covered include writing, casting, the characters, technical info about lenses etc., colour scheme and costumes. Quality extra.
The full version of the interview used in the making of. He focuses on his character, the book and how he got involved in the film.
The full version of the interview used in the making of. She discusses her character, the book and why the director told her to stop reading it.
The full version of the interview used in the making of. He discusses his career to date, his writing, that he wanted to make a new adaptation rather than a remake of the previous film, why he set the story in 1964, the characters, casting and his role in the production. Interesting.
There are some really interesting deleted scenes included here which add flavour and background but some also would have helped the story in my opinion especially the scene which shows how Pinkie took over the gang. Great stuff.
Fluff piece where the cast and crew choose whether they would have been a mod or a rocker in 1964 Brighton.
Featurette focused on the making of the pivotal scene in the movie where Rose asks Pinkie to make a record for her. Interesting stuff.
An excellent trailer.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
Our local release includes the following not found on the UK version
The UK version has the following items not found on our version
Despite the pluses and minuses, on balance, the UK version is probably the best but the local product is certainly of excellent quality too.
A high quality drama thriller based on a classic novel.
The video quality is very good. The audio quality is very good.
The extras are plentiful and high quality.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | SONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output |
| Display | Sharp 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 Decoder | Built into BD player. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. |
| Amplification | Pioneer VSX-511 |
| Speakers | Monitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer |