Director: Marjane Satrapi
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Gemma Arterton, Anna Kendrick
Release Date: Now Available on Blu-Ray & DVD
A Review By: Kevin Lovell
Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 9/10
Synopsis:
Jerry (Reynolds) is that chipper guy clocking the nine-to-five at a bathtub factory, with the offbeat charm of anyone who could use a few friends. With the help of his court-appointed psychiatrist (Weaver), he pursues his office crush (Arterton). However, the relationship takes a sudden, murderous turn after she stands him up for a date. Guided by his evil talking cat and benevolent talking dog, Jerry must decide whether to keep striving for normalcy, or indulge in a much more sinister path.
‘The Voices’ is one gem this year that is definitely not to be missed and easily one of the year’s best films so far. It’s a deliciously twisted, often disturbing, yet also quite hilarious dark comedy masterpiece which also features Ryan Reynolds in his best performance to date. He does a truly fantastic job of not only handling the lead role of Jerry but of also providing all of the voice work for the various ‘voices’ and it’s remarkable how well he manages to hold so much of the film on his own. The Blu-Ray marked my second viewing (and review) of ‘The Voices’ and therefore I will be focusing mainly on the Blu-Ray release itself in this review, but for those who missed my initial review and would like more information regarding the film itself, you can read that review here.
Fans of the film will definitely want to make sure to pick up a Blu-Ray copy of ‘The Voices’ to add to their collections. The release delivers impressive high definition video and audio presentations in addition to a number of fun bonus goodies including Deleted and Extended Scenes among more (more detailed information regarding the bonus content can be found in the special features section of the technical specification coverage below). For those who haven’t yet had the pleasure of the film, I would highly recommend at the very least renting it and giving it a shot; fans of incredibly dark comedies are sure to appreciate it even more than most.
VIDEO:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘The Voices’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 2.35:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks pretty fantastic as a whole. The rich and vivid colors so prominently featured in the film look bright and gorgeous, and everything else down to the background detail and each edge of the picture all look fantastic, with no notable faults to be found within on my end. Even the darker and fast moving sequences look great and never result in anything occurring on screen to become indiscernible or negatively affected. Overall this is an impressive high definition video presentation that should not disappoint in the slightest.
AUDIO:
The Blu-Ray release features a lossless 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This lossless multichannel soundtrack holds up great, regularly utilizing all of the available channels to surround the viewer with everything from the score to random natural background noise, an echo effect while in the factory and plenty more, while also never causing any dialogue occurring simultaneously to become distorted or inaudible at any point. Overall this is a more than capable 5.1 channel DTS-HD MA soundtrack that contributes a lot of fun to the overall experience of this phenomenal film.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘The Voices’ includes some nice bonus content. Included on the release is a number of ‘Deleted & Extended Scenes’ (over 16 minutes worth in total), a ‘Cast & Costume Sketch Gallery’; a ‘VFX Comparison Showreel’ (3 minutes); numerous Animatics (approximately 20 minutes worth overall) and a few Behind the Scenes Featurette’s that explore numerous aspects of bringing the film to life: ‘The Voices: From Fridge To Frame’ (17 minutes); ‘VFX: The Making of Bosco & Mr. Whiskers’ (6 minutes); and ‘The Voices of Ryan Reynolds’ (4 minutes).
