The Film
The tale of the young French peasant girl has been told many times – and even satirized on an episode of The Simpsons – but the closest version to real "history" is Luc Besson's The Messenger, which chronicles the future saint's military exploits. And if there is one real complaint about this somewhat long, and at times overdrawn story it is that it does focus too much on the military campaigns, and therefore misses the mark in really defining who was this peasant girl. While cinematically vivid this story in the end veers too much towards documentary and too far from drama, but for fans of The History Channel this one is a good journey back in time to "France's darkest days."
The Picture
The film captures the good, bad and the ugly of the visuals of the Middle Ages; from the beauty of the French architecture to the graphic nature of medieval warfare straight to the bad teeth of the English soldiers. And all this really pops to life in this 2.40:1 widescreen presentation on Blu-ray. In key scenes, such as the fortification siege, the mix of fire, smoke and gore truly evoke the sense of hell on earth - something the DVD version never quite captured. And while this film lacks the extensive use of period lighting (which has since become a staple in such series as Showtime's The Tudors), the Blu-ray does manage to bring out the subtle lighting that was used in the various interior scenes.
While the Blu-ray really brings the visuals of 15th Century France to life the sound is not quite as impressive. The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 provides clear audio for the dialog sequences, but fails to deliver a knockout punch in the key battle scenes. There is plenty of volume, but lacking is any significant immersion, which you'd expect during the key hand-to-hand sequences. So while the ambient noises are there, this one lacks the audio intensity that you'd expect to have during a siege. Maybe this is why, if God truly spoke to Joan, we don't hear it.
The Extras
God may have also delivered Joan her early victories on the battlefield, but Sony didn't provide much in the way of extras in this Blu-ray package. None of the special features from the "International Edition" DVD have made it to this Blu-ray version, although the runtime of 158 minutes on the Blu-ray is the same as the extended international version from the DVD.
Final Thoughts
A straightforward telling of an extremely complex - and at times controversial - character, The Messenger looks fantastic on Blu-ray. But while this film certainly isn't on par with other epics such as Braveheart, history buffs would be better served with a deluxe version that includes more about the real person, as well as some background into the making of the film. Until that happens, the DVD version probably provides the better message.
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