Omar (2013) Soda Pictures - October 6th 2014

[samdvd1]

This release from Soda blows the USA release out the water. US release had lossy 2.0 audio, no extras and an MPEG-2 encode. This has an AVC transfer, lossless 5.1 and 2.0 audio, and a short featurette and trailers.

[rapta]

Worth getting then? I watched this on Netflix the other night...some sequences are amazingly filmed but tonally it's a little flat at times. It's still excellent, just not as innovative as I'd hoped. A lot of twists and turns though for people that like that kind of thing! Plus it deserves merit for concentrating on the characters/drama rather than any controversy around the politics (which it's pretty honest about though).

At the moment this is at about 7.5/10 for me, which is good enough to warrant a buy (I would like to see this again) however Soda are releasing that Jarmusch set the same day, plus I have pre-orders for Curzon's Joe and Arrow's The Visitor all of which take priority over this right now. I might still get it though as Soda releases do go up in price sometimes (an example being Wadjda, which I managed to pick up before it shot up in price).

[samdvd1]

I think so. A little crush in some of the darker scenes and some occasional (very light) banding, but details are strong. Some minor edge enhancement too, but hardly worth mentioning. Sound is very much based towards the front, but some nice little subtle effects to the rears. For me:

Film - 4.5/5
Transfer - 4/5
Audio - 4/5

Transfer and audio perhaps slightly generous, but I feel 3.5 is certainly too low.

[samdvd1]

Here are my full thoughts:

Video
One of the first things that hits you, is just how well produced the sandy environments are. The various yellows, greys and light browns look very nice indeed, with solid contrast levels and no causes for concern. Unfortunately, blacks can occasionally crush during the darker scenes. In one of the early scenes, the camera stays in front of our three characters as they walk through a busy street at night time, and it is obvious this scene was filmed with minimal lighting. As blacks overpower parts of the screen, minor crush comes into play, and shadow details minimise. This isn't a regular occurrence, but is worth mentioning. In lighter scenes, we do get some barely noticeable banding once or twice, and some light edge enhancement can be spotted by those with large screens (I viewed at 120"). Aliasing was practically non-existent, though there was one big incident at 54:10, when the camera focuses on the back of Leem Lubany, and her dress shows the issue quite strongly. Still, all these flaws are kept to a minimum, and none are bad enough to whinge about. Details are strong throughout, with facial close-ups showing every bit of stubble and facial contour, including Iyad Hoorani's scar being perfectly clear. Long distance shots also show great detail, with damage to old buildings, graffiti on "the wall", and reflections in the windows of vehicles all noteworthy. There is no damage to talk of such as scratches or nicks, and no obvious compression issues.

Audio
Two audio options are included:
- Arabic/Hebrew DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Arabic/Hebrew LPCM 2.0 Stereo

For my viewing, I opted to view the film using the Arabic/Hebrew DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, which, like the transfer, is a technically solid, and enjoyable experience. The first half of the film is very much dialogue orientated, and with that, the surrounds are used mainly for small environmental effects. As the feature moves on, more opportunities arise for the surrounds and the LFE, and we get increased directionality from gun shots, foot steps chasing round the narrow streets, and a helicopter hovering overhead. The track exhibits great fidelity and depth, and at times is surprisingly immersive. There are no issues with drop outs or scratches, and I detected no signs of background hiss.

English subtitles have been included, and they are optional, running along the black bar at the bottom of the screen, out of frame.

Extras
The main extra included on this release, is a short "Behind the Scenes" featurette, lasting a meagre 3:48. It shows an interesting point of view, showing us the passion that went into the movie, with it being almost entirely funded by private Palestinian investors, and with a majority Palestinian crew. Unfortunately, bar a bit of behind the scenes footage, it lacks any real tangible information, and is the type of featurette you would see filling in a five minute gap on a movie channel. Not worth more than a single viewing out of interest.

The rest of the extras are self-explanatory.

Start-up Trailers:
- "Only Lovers Left Alive" (1:44)
- "Wadjda" (1:52)
- "Ilo Ilo" (1:53)
Theatrical Trailer (1:57)

[Patriot666]

Ok

[civiclx]

I watched this movie for the first time the other night and I have to ask...Omar was a Palestinian freedom fighter who climbed over the wall to visit the girl he likes who I'm assuming is Israeli. But then her brother was also a freedom fighter so I'm a bit confused an very ignorant of the conflict over there...