The Movie
It's the 14th Century and, weary of the wholesale slaughter of The Crusades and haunted by his actions, a brave knight (Nicolas Cage) and his comrade (Ron Perlman) return home to find their country ravaged by The Black Plague. They have been branded as deserters by the church and in order to commute their sentence they agree to a quest, to deliver an accused witch to a distant monastery where they will find a book that might hold the power to defeat her and thereby halt the ravages of the disease.
Check your calendar: It is the Season of the Witch. But is she really a broom driver, or just another girl persecuted in the tide of fear and ignorance? Or is she something far worse?
There's a lot of familiar medieval-era posing that fans of the genre will likely enjoy. Cage brings his action-hero stoicism while Perlman lends a gruff lovability to his fellow knight. There's nothing really awful about it, but it is rather rote.
Don't wait three months before reading Lora Grady's review of Season of the Witch.
The Picture
While not always pretty, the 16:9 image is nonetheless breathtaking, shot on 35mm film and boasting an exceptionally high bitrate often tickling the magic 40-megabits-per-second mark. Blacks are deep and natural but for a few mushy shots, blades of grass are readily discernible off into the distance, and the picture is virtually noise free despite mist and fine textures. The digital special effects tend to be noticeable as such: Is that a triumph or a failing of the video master?
The Sound
DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 gives our speakers quite a workout, from sprawling battles rife with clinking swords to howls in the night in a mysterious forest to 360-degree weather. The musical score is big and enveloping in this full, wide mix. More subtle are moments of gentle wind or atmospheric creaking in the rears, while bass is modest but undeniable.
The Extras
The seven deleted scenes include a minimally different "unrated" prologue, ten minutes total. Presented separately is the alternate ending (about nine minutes) with just a couple of slight variations until the final battle, which is less elaborate here. All of these scenes are presented in full, final video quality with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio.
"Becoming the Demon" (eight-and-a-half minutes) reveals the complicated effects work for the climax, and "On a Crusade" (six minutes) shows stunt mavens The Armstrong Brothers creating the epic battle sequences. Both of these are in HD too. Disc Two carries a Digital Copy of the movie for iTunes and Windows Media.
Final Thoughts
This fine quality disc brings more home theater joy than cinematic bliss, but if you're looking for a well-produced actioner about knights and unholy forces, it just might be Season of the Witch.
Product Details
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