The Way (Martin Sheen) - Aug 29, 2012

[gettodamoofies]

Database entry

I noticed this film doesn't appear to have a thread of its own and after finally having the chance to view the film last night it definitely deserves one!

I was really impressed by the film and in particular the performance from Martin Sheen. I''ve been a long time fan of his and along with Apocalypse Now and The West Wing this is definitely one of my favourite performances of his.

A very personal film with a good combination of humour and seriousness and Tyler Bates' excellent score really helps the film. Emilio Estevez has surprised me with strong writing and direction.

Given that the film was shot on 16mm and in (mostly) natural light it looks pretty good. Soft, but as to be expected. Solid sound with no issues at all.

A highly recommended film and disc and judging on the special features listing it appears we get a few cast interviews the US release missed out on, the film on a BD-50 instead of a BD-25 and 24-bit audio. Nice work from Umbrella Entertainment in bringing this film out here in Australia with a good release.

Region B locked for those wondering...

[Dollie]

I thought this was a great movie as well. I was able to stream it on Netflix and thoroughly enjoyed it

[Lazlo]

Originally Posted by atexp80

Database entry

I noticed this film doesn't appear to have a thread of its own and after finally having the chance to view the film last night it definitely deserves one!

I was really impressed by the film and in particular the performance from Martin Sheen. I''ve been a long time fan of his and along with Apocalypse Now and The West Wing this is definitely one of my favourite performances of his.

A very personal film with a good combination of humour and seriousness and Tyler Bates' excellent score really helps the film. Emilio Estevez has surprised me with strong writing and direction.

Given that the film was shot on 16mm and in (mostly) natural light it looks pretty good. Soft, but as to be expected. Solid sound with no issues at all.

A highly recommended film and disc and judging on the special features listing it appears we get a few cast interviews the US release missed out on, the film on a BD-50 instead of a BD-25 and 24-bit audio. Nice work from Umbrella Entertainment in bringing this film out here in Australia with a good release.

Region B locked for those wondering...

Have you seen the movie Bobby that he wrote and directed? It's about the assassination of Robert Kennedy. It's great and has a wonderful ensemble cast.

[gettodamoofies]

Originally Posted by Lazlo

Have you seen the movie Bobby that he wrote and directed? It's about the assassination of Robert Kennedy. It's great and has a wonderful ensemble cast.

Yeah. Strong film, I just wasn't quite as impressed with the writing on that one. Some of the dialogue seemed a little clunky. I suppose I was also coming to terms with Emilio the director as opposed to Emilio the 80's/90's actor. Being a number of years later obviously he's physically and mentally changed with age and honed his craft for the better.

I found The Way to be an exceptionally strong film in all respects and his two careers have definitely cemented two different views of him for me. I'll always remember him as an actor for his roles in films like Loaded Weapon 1 (that needs to come out on Blu-ray now!) but even with Bobby I'd never considered him to be a strong character and dramatic director. He can definitely pull that off though!

[gettodamoofies]

Finally got around to doing a BDInfo scan for this film:

                                                                                                                Total   Video                                             
Title                                                           Codec   Length  Movie Size      Disc Size       Bitrate Bitrate Main Audio Track                          Secondary Audio Track
-----                                                           ------  ------- --------------  --------------  ------- ------- ------------------                        ---------------------
00004.MPLS                                                      AVC     2:00:44 31,991,328,768  36,072,447,251  35.33   28.50   Dolby TrueHD 5.1 3294Kbps (48kHz/24-bit)

DISC INFO:

Disc Title:     THE WAY
Disc Size:      36,072,447,251 bytes
Protection:     AACS
BD-Java:        Yes
Extras:         50Hz Content
BDInfo:         0.5.8

PLAYLIST REPORT:

Name:                   00004.MPLS
Length:                 2:00:44.416 (h:m:s.ms)
Size:                   31,991,328,768 bytes
Total Bitrate:          35.33 Mbps

VIDEO:

Codec                   Bitrate             Description     
-----                   -------             -----------     
MPEG-4 AVC Video        28499 kbps          1080p / 24 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1

AUDIO:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
-----                           --------        -------         -----------     
Dolby TrueHD Audio              English         3294 kbps       5.1 / 48 kHz / 3294 kbps / 24-bit (AC3 Embedded: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps)
Dolby Digital Audio             English         384 kbps        2.0 / 48 kHz / 384 kbps

SUBTITLES:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
-----                           --------        -------         -----------     
Presentation Graphics           English         39.437 kbps                     

FILES:

Name            Time In         Length          Size            Total Bitrate   
----            -------         ------          ----            -------------   
00004.M2TS      0:00:00.000     2:00:44.416     31,991,328,768  35,328          

CHAPTERS:

Number          Time In         Length          Avg Video Rate  Max 1-Sec Rate  Max 1-Sec Time  Max 5-Sec Rate  Max 5-Sec Time  Max 10Sec Rate  Max 10Sec Time  Avg Frame Size  Max Frame Size  Max Frame Time  
------          -------         ------          --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  
1               0:00:00.000     2:00:44.416     28,499 kbps     39,283 kbps     01:44:32.541    37,358 kbps     01:44:28.583    37,113 kbps     01:44:23.708    148,435 bytes   462,838 bytes   01:12:17.750    

STREAM DIAGNOSTICS:

File            PID             Type            Codec           Language                Seconds                 Bitrate                 Bytes           Packets         
----            ---             ----            -----           --------                --------------          --------------          -------------   -----           
00004.M2TS      4113 (0x1011)   0x1B            AVC                                     7244.250                28,500                  25,807,775,908  140,361,019     
00004.M2TS      4352 (0x1100)   0x83            TrueHD          eng (English)           7244.250                3,934                   3,562,487,049   23,697,895      
00004.M2TS      4353 (0x1101)   0x81            AC3             eng (English)           7244.250                384                     347,733,504     2,037,501       
00004.M2TS      4608 (0x1200)   0x90            PGS             eng (English)           7244.250                39                      35,712,424      203,148

Ours definitely seems to be the best release spec-wise. No other release as as much disc space devoted to the video. We get all the special features the US release has at 1080p plus a 9:39 interview with Martin Sheen, a 9:38 interview with Emilio Estevez and a 1:56 interview with David Alexanian. The additional interviews are EPK-style and are 576i.

Think I'll have to give this another spin soon...