The Movie
The sad thing about The Apocalypse--apart from the entire planet being ravaged and almost everyone being dead, I mean--is that it's been done many, many times on film. And so The Book of Eli, the latest take on "a lone warrior's journey across the wasteland," feels like a well-worn path. To its credit, there are certainly a handful of images we've never seen before, but much of it plays like a mash-up of Waterworld and The Postman, [ed: but without so much Costner]. There's also a religious subtext, as hero Eli (Denzel Washington) spouts Gospel verses and just might be carrying the very last copy of The Bible on Earth... along with a loaded gun and an impossibly sharp sword.
Ruthless gang leader Carnegie (Gary Oldman) sees this leatherbound tome as the key to ultimate power, and he unleashes his dogs of war to seize it. Some wicked fight scenes ensue, but there are a couple of problems with the movie. The filmmakers tip their hand regarding the book too soon to maintain any real mystery, and let's face it: The Bible is a tough sell these days, especially in a bloody action movie.
Also read Joe Lozito's read on The Book of Eli.
The Picture
I made it more than 10 minutes in before a sunrise showed some ringing, the first real "flaw" I noted in the 2.4:1 image, which is exceptionally crisp in the face of difficult content such as smoke, specks of floating dust, and faint patterns in the shifting sand. The overall look is a bleaker-than-bleak depiction of the future, 30 years after "the flash," with deliberately ratcheted-down colors for most of the movie. It was shot on 4K digital video there's a slight digital harshness, but exquisite detail even in the darkest shadows, although occasional out-of-focus backgrounds show some twitch or compression.
The Sound
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track boasts extremely active, often subtle surrounds, fraught with lonely wind or the cacophony of Earth's surviving insect population. Bass is pleasingly sharp and powerful, used smartly and generously but not excessively. There are a couple of 360-degree firefights, the second and more elaborate displaying kick and fine detail and some of the best directionality I've heard in a while. Echoes can also display a lovely, natural resonance. My only gripe about this track is the dialogue, which is often muttered or mumbled and is unintelligible to the point that I had to scan backward and engage the subtitles more than once.
The Extras
Eli is the latest Warner release to receive a "Maximum Movie Mode," although that lofty term is now beginning to lose its luster: Whereas past MMM Blu-rays have been hosted by a director who walks onto the screen and addresses the audience directly, occasionally pausing the film for a bit of specific insight, this one is a more conventional Bonus View picture-in-picture, apparently culled from pre-existing interviews. It also breaks away to ten "Focus Points," about 34 minutes total (also viewable separately), about the stunts, sets and special effects; or we can choose to look at storyboard artwork and such.
The Deleted/Alternate Scenes are mostly quite brief, or they highlight rather minor differences from the final film, two minutes total. The featurette "Eli's Journey" is the usual behind-the-scenes overview (19 minutes), while "Starting Over" (13 minutes) explores the question, "If the worst were to happen, what would we do?" "The Book of Eli Soundtrack" picks the brain of composer Atticus Ross (five minutes), and "A Lost Tale: Billy" reveals evil Carnegie's backstory in a graphic novel format brought to life with some basic animation and sound effects (also five minutes, including introduction). All of the video supplements are in HD.
The disc is also BD-Live-enabled. Disc Two is a DVD combo platter with both the movie in standard definition (no extras) for DVD players and a Digital Copy for iTunes and Windows Media.
Final Thoughts
Denzel and Gary do what they can to prop up a somewhat clichéd trip to the post-World War III future, and a couple of interesting surprises await us shortly before the end, but The Book of Eli is most likely a rental, a juicy showoff disc, or a treat for anyone who prefers his Road Warriors on foot instead of behind the wheel.
Product Details
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