The Mark (Brief Christian movie review)

[HDTV1080P]

The Mark is another low budget Christian movie from Pure Flix Entertainment that is based on the Book of Revelations. The Mark is a fictional movie with fictional characters, however the storyline is based on Bible prophecy scriptures that several millions of Christians believe will one day become literal history. This movie is ideal for both Christians and non Christians that like movies about the end times from a Christian perspective.

I was very surprised how well done “The Mark” movie is. It was shot with a few Red One cameras and green screens were used for some of the special effects. The storyline is excellent and the action is very good. To be honest there was times I forgot I was watching a Christian movie since the bloody action scenes reminded me of some secular action movies that exist. Its nice to have a Christian movie that is not afraid to show realistic blood when someone is bleeding from a gunshot wound or knife cut. This movie is not as preachy as some Christian movies, however it still is able to maintain a fairly strong Christian message in several parts of the action movie. For those that like end time rapture movies like Jerusalem Countdown or Left Behind this is another classic Christian movie.

This Blu-ray is a single layer with a total of exactly 23GB used out of 25GB. Hopefully future Pure Flix entertainment titles might use higher bit rate audio and video on a 50GB Blu-ray disc for future titles.

*** Video comments ***

“The Encounter Paradise Lost” Blu-ray was Pure Flix entertainments first movie that used the MPEG-4/AVC codec. I am glad to see “The Mark” movie also uses MPEG-4/AVC instead of MPEG-2. The Mark was shot using Red One cameras with a fairly high quality MPEG-4/AVC encode. According to the bit rate meter on my OPPO Blu-ray player some scenes briefly peaked up to a combined video and audio bit rate of around 53.1Mbps. Overall the bit rate for “The Mark” stayed around the mid 20’s to high 30’s for the MPEG-4/AVC encode. The bit rate was all over the map peaking into the 40Mbps to 50Mbps range for a second or so on some scenes. Overall the picture quality was reference material with excellent facial detail and good color accuracy that is comparable to a secular movie. Pure Flix entertainment has done an excellent job with “The Mark” and it is much better compared to prior Pure Flix entertainment releases.

*** Audio comments ***

So far all Pure Flix entertainment releases have used either a lossy 5.1 or 2.0 Dolby Digital soundtrack. I was disappointed that “The Mark” Blu-ray received the exact same 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack that is used for the DVD release. The ideal Pure flix Blu-ray releases if the budget allows for it should receive a 5.1-7.1 PCM or lossless audio soundtrack so the sound quality can be bit for bit the same as the studio master.

“The Mark” lossy Dolby Digital soundtrack had an excellent audio mix that is comparable to some secular soundtracks. For almost the entire movie the 5.1 surround sound speakers and subwoofer were active for this Christian action movie. Even though the soundtack is lossy instead of lossless, it is much better than any prior Pure Flix Blu-ray disc so far.

*** Extras ***

100% of all the bonus features use MPEG-4/AVC at 1080P quality. What is disappointing is there is no audio commentary track for “The Mark” Blu-ray. Most Pure Flix entertainment Blu-ray releases in the past contain an audio commentary track. The trailers and Behind the Scenes use the MPEG-4/AVC codec at 1080P quality. The “Behind the Scenes” is in 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo, however its also encoded with Dolby Prologic information and if one bitstreams the audio track to a A/V receiver like a modern Pioneer then Dolby Prologic IIx decoding will occur for the “Behind the Scenes” extra features.

*** Conclusion ***

The Mark is a very unique Christian Blu-ray title with a interesting Christian message.The movie also is a realistic action movie where one sees a lot of realistic blood just like secular action movies. The fairly high bit rate MPEG-4/AVC encode and the use of RED ONE cameras looks beautiful and at times is reference material. The only two complaints I have about this Blu-ray is there is no audio commentary track and still no lossless audio track on any Pure Flix Blu-ray titles. While the 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack was the best that I have every heard from a Pure Flix entertainment release, it still would be better to have lossless audio tracks hopefully in the future from Pure Flix entertainment.

The Mark Blu-ray has a $22.99 suggested retail price, however the cheapest price I have located online is at DVD Planet for $10.65.Prices online can change daily.

** Click on the following link to purchase The Mark on Blu-ray **

Pure Flix Entertainment Christian Blu-ray titles