Outlander (Jim Caviezel)

[Yautja]

Anyone see this film?
Any good?
Is it worth a blind buy?

Thanks

[dannycj]

I have watched it, very average movie. The story line is all over the place.
PQ is poor but the AQ is great.

Hope this helps

[Hoot]

I agree, its ok, good if you like Norse Mythology (ala Beowulf/Grendel), mixed with a bit of sci-fi monster stuff,

- its worth a rent first to be sure

[Yautja]

I watched it today (RENT COPY) not the best film I must say
Glad I didn't buy a copy

[Deadbone]

I watched it this week and was pleasantly surprised.
Better than your average B grade move (B+)
Good action/sci-fi/horror movie. Definitely worth a rent.
Pick it up in a year or so when it's cheap.

Here's the creature ....

[Show spoiler]

[gettodamoofies]

"Outlander" (2008). Directed by Howard McCain and starring James Caviezel, Sophia Myles & Ron Perlman, this title is released by Warner Bros in Australia.



My review

"Outlander" is a re-telling of the often adapted poem "Beowulf". Unlike most films based on the poem, this one takes a different path by re-shaping the historical tale and infusing it with sci-fi and action elements. It's an interesting mix which probably shouldn't work as well as it does but I found it on the whole to be very entertaining in it's ability to combine genres I am a fan of.

Performances are quite strong, most notably Sophia Myles and John Hurt. James Caviezel proves to be more than competent at playing a reserved hero and Ron Perlman's smaller turn in the film is yet again another instance of his ability to make an enjoyable impact and further evidence of his status as a cult actor.

Director Howard McCain pulls a double-duty by sharing co-writing credit of the film. Behind the camera his work is quite good. Visually the film is stunning with excellent locations, tight direction and sharp editing. Ultimately the film doesn't completely succeed due to a few shortfalls in the script. It certainly isn't bad however there are a few moments where the dialogue becomes a little to cliché and that doesn't assist the overall appeal of the film. 4/5

Video
"Outlander" features some impressive visuals and the transfer does an admirable job of replicating them. For the most part it's an incredible transfer with various colours splashing across the screen, excellent detail in the outfits of the Viking costumes and some striking locations with fantastic lighting. Unfortunately every so often certain scenes feature wandering black levels with some scenes featuring a greyish or blue-tinged black which appears to be attributable to the post-processing used. This results in some detail loss as black levels and contrast vary in those moments and this ultimately holds the transfer back from being truly great. Still, overall it's an impressive look for a film on a BD-25 and one which never even saw a theatrical run here in Australia. 4/5

Audio
"Outlander" comes to Blu-ray with an exceptionally potent audio mix. The film's action sequences come alive with excellent surround usage and strong support from the LFE. In fact, the LFE content is some of the strongest I've heard in some time. The mix extends it's quality to the softer sections of the film also where dialogue is well reproduced and various atmospheric effects create an impressive soundscape. It's not quite as refined as the best mixes but it comes close and it certainly makes up any ground lost by substituting any minor deficiencies in the elegance of the mix with a brash dose of attitude. 4.5/5

Extras
Unfortunately Warner Bros has failed to deliver any notable extras. The only included special feature is the theatrical trailer for the film. It is provided in 1080p with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. 1/5

Overall
Although I often loathe the "x meets y!" descriptions of films the "Beowulf meets Predator" banner is fairly accurate in describing the mash-up of ideas from Beowulf, Predator, Lord of the Rings and Pitch Black which permeate the film. Still, for all it's influences (which it sometimes wears on it's sleeve) the film has plenty of entertainment value. The A/V presentation is strong, performances are quite good and if you like sci-fi and action you should hopefully find it to be an entertaining couple of hours. Worth a rental for fans of sci-fi action and a blind buy if found for a good price! 4/5

Please note: Title is region free.

[gettodamoofies]

Screenshots: click spoiler tag to reveal.

[Show spoiler]

[Show spoiler]

[Show spoiler]

Disclaimer: These screenshots have been taken directly from the disc with no post processing other than the placement of a watermark. They are PNG format so the file size is larger however this retains the original image quality. They are of course only intended as an indication of the quality of the title. As always, a motion picture should be viewed in motion.

[gettodamoofies]

BDInfo Scan:

                                                                                                                Total   Video                                             
Title                                                           Codec   Length  Movie Size      Disc Size       Bitrate Bitrate Main Audio Track                          Secondary Audio Track
-----                                                           ------  ------- --------------  --------------  ------- ------- ------------------                        ---------------------
00000.MPLS                                                      AVC     1:55:05 22,980,083,712  23,809,768,612  26.62   22.98   DTS-HD Master 5.1 2232Kbps (48kHz/16-bit)

DISC INFO:

Disc Title:     OUTLANDER
Disc Size:      23,809,768,612 bytes
Protection:     AACS
BD-Java:        No
BDInfo:         0.5.6

PLAYLIST REPORT:

Name:                   00000.MPLS
Length:                 1:55:05 (h:m:s)
Size:                   22,980,083,712 bytes
Total Bitrate:          26.62 Mbps

VIDEO:

Codec                   Bitrate             Description     
-----                   -------             -----------     
MPEG-4 AVC Video        22979 kbps          1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1

AUDIO:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
-----                           --------        -------         -----------     
DTS-HD Master Audio             English         2232 kbps       5.1 / 48 kHz / 2232 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)

FILES:

Name            Time In         Length          Size            Total Bitrate   
----            -------         ------          ----            -------------   
00000.M2TS      0:00:00.000     1:55:05.899     22,980,083,712  26,621          

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     0:09:31.612     23,692 kbps     45,174 kbps     00:05:12.770    38,965 kbps     00:02:23.143    36,154 kbps     00:01:00.101    123,513 bytes   317,882 bytes   00:01:50.193    
2               0:09:31.612     0:05:36.711     23,963 kbps     36,810 kbps     00:14:31.537    34,313 kbps     00:14:31.245    32,054 kbps     00:14:30.995    124,935 bytes   267,568 bytes   00:13:58.212    
3               0:15:08.324     0:05:40.048     24,122 kbps     39,125 kbps     00:20:26.058    34,478 kbps     00:20:24.139    32,932 kbps     00:20:20.385    125,761 bytes   284,783 bytes   00:16:05.506    
4               0:20:48.372     0:11:04.288     22,817 kbps     39,242 kbps     00:25:39.454    34,641 kbps     00:25:38.203    32,426 kbps     00:25:33.949    118,958 bytes   324,169 bytes   00:25:45.335    
5               0:31:52.660     0:03:59.280     24,666 kbps     39,593 kbps     00:34:42.080    31,534 kbps     00:34:41.454    29,601 kbps     00:32:33.451    128,599 bytes   310,301 bytes   00:35:51.274    
6               0:35:51.941     0:04:19.592     23,375 kbps     42,284 kbps     00:37:02.762    32,753 kbps     00:37:01.761    30,795 kbps     00:37:00.509    121,868 bytes   337,864 bytes   00:37:55.356    
7               0:40:11.534     0:06:58.251     25,342 kbps     40,302 kbps     00:45:34.273    32,937 kbps     00:45:31.311    32,004 kbps     00:45:25.848    132,124 bytes   271,118 bytes   00:43:06.375    
8               0:47:09.785     0:08:54.617     24,658 kbps     41,704 kbps     00:49:59.371    36,643 kbps     00:49:56.618    34,833 kbps     00:49:51.863    128,554 bytes   322,176 bytes   00:54:36.231    
9               0:56:04.402     0:03:05.310     23,264 kbps     40,285 kbps     00:58:04.606    31,612 kbps     00:58:04.230    28,824 kbps     00:58:04.272    121,289 bytes   307,010 bytes   00:59:06.709    
10              0:59:09.712     0:13:32.019     22,646 kbps     44,634 kbps     01:09:05.141    38,977 kbps     01:06:50.256    38,072 kbps     01:06:50.131    118,067 bytes   305,194 bytes   01:03:25.092    
11              1:12:41.732     0:07:36.664     25,027 kbps     45,701 kbps     01:18:54.646    41,384 kbps     01:17:13.670    37,663 kbps     01:18:51.518    130,477 bytes   334,382 bytes   01:17:55.962    
12              1:20:18.396     0:06:25.510     22,354 kbps     43,647 kbps     01:26:20.967    36,566 kbps     01:26:04.242    34,134 kbps     01:26:05.243    116,544 bytes   329,892 bytes   01:21:21.167    
13              1:26:43.907     0:06:00.276     21,966 kbps     41,212 kbps     01:26:47.202    37,323 kbps     01:26:44.449    30,379 kbps     01:29:36.204    114,522 bytes   292,677 bytes   01:30:51.070    
14              1:32:44.183     0:05:23.323     18,677 kbps     37,287 kbps     01:32:55.278    29,065 kbps     01:32:45.476    26,121 kbps     01:32:54.986    97,376 bytes    297,613 bytes   01:36:42.421    
15              1:38:07.506     0:06:26.677     27,567 kbps     44,465 kbps     01:38:12.595    39,308 kbps     01:38:11.677    36,814 kbps     01:40:39.283    143,720 bytes   321,797 bytes   01:38:12.636    
16              1:44:34.184     0:04:41.114     20,537 kbps     40,457 kbps     01:44:54.037    29,633 kbps     01:47:40.662    27,937 kbps     01:46:47.359    107,073 bytes   310,444 bytes   01:48:29.836    
17              1:49:15.298     0:01:55.115     21,662 kbps     41,457 kbps     01:50:25.952    35,784 kbps     01:50:35.045    29,558 kbps     01:50:45.180    112,935 bytes   279,854 bytes   01:50:31.249    
18              1:51:10.413     0:03:54.233     9,991 kbps      18,858 kbps     01:52:45.425    18,244 kbps     01:52:41.838    17,757 kbps     01:52:37.834    52,088 bytes    190,948 bytes   01:52:42.505    
19              1:55:04.647     0:00:01.251     72 kbps         77 kbps         01:55:04.856    0 kbps          00:00:00.000    0 kbps          00:00:00.000    388 bytes       2,433 bytes     01:55:05.648    

STREAM DIAGNOSTICS:

File            PID             Type            Codec           Language                Seconds                 Bitrate                 Bytes           Packets         
----            ---             ----            -----           --------                --------------          --------------          -------------   -----           
00000.M2TS      4113 (0x1011)   0x1B            AVC                                     6905.774                22,979                  19,836,256,254  107,902,661     
00000.M2TS      4352 (0x1100)   0x86            DTS-HD MA       eng (English)           6905.774                2,232                   1,926,556,736   11,553,888

[gettodamoofies]

Screenshots added.

A few notes about the artwork on this release:

• The rear cover shows the Dolby Digital logo only. This is incorrect.The disc features a 48kHz 16-bit lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. No other audio options are provided.
• The rear cover states that English SDH subs are included. This is incorrect. There are no subtitles available for the film barring the English translation of the alien language in the opening few minutes and these subs are burnt into the image.

[Supernaut]

Originally Posted by atexp80

Screenshots added.

A few notes about the artwork on this release:

• The rear cover shows the Dolby Digital logo only. This is incorrect.The disc features a 48kHz 16-bit lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. No other audio options are provided.
• The rear cover states that English SDH subs are included. This is incorrect. There are no subtitles available for the film barring the English translation of the alien language in the opening few minutes and these subs are burnt into the image.

That's a great bonus for punters!

[gettodamoofies]

^ Yeah, I took a bit of a gamble as I'd wanted to check the film out and everywhere else has a DTS-HD MA soundtrack so I hoped that Warner Bros had given it the same mix. Luckily that was the case.

The good news is that ours also features the correct 2.35:1 aspect ratio unlike some releases (Canada, a few others) where from what I've read it's been cropped to 1.78:1.

I really liked the film. Others might loathe it. If you're into the genres though I would at least recommend a rental. It's worth checking out for the crazy sound mix alone which hits you right from the first scene.

Review added.

[Supernaut]

Interestingly I just noticed the UK version was a BD50. You didn't notice the VQ suffering at all from a lack of space?

[gettodamoofies]

^ No. I think the fact that it's lacking special features and only has 1 audio track and no subtitles means that although it's a BD-25 there is actually a fair bit of room devoted to the film. I think the PQ was fine and really the main thing affecting it was the varying black level which isn't a disc space issue. Aside from that I had no issues. I certainly didn't see anything such as compression artefacts resulting from a lack of disc space. Although I would never solely rely on bitrates to tell a story the 22.5mbps average bitrate devoted to the image is higher than quite a few titles with excellent picture quality.