Greek mythology has been furnishing mankind with entertaining tales of derring-do for centuries, but the movies haven’t often made the most of these terrific stories. While Troy offered us the chronicles of Achilles and Hector and Clash of the Titans (both of them) dealt with Perseus and his adventures, none of these movies used completely the rich mythological histories of these characters to formulate really compelling entertainments. Tarsem Singh Dhandwar’s Immortals is as lacking as the other films in this genre by borrowing aspects of the Greek myths and then fashioning a narrative that’s light on dramatic substance but heavy on carnage and elaborate fight choreography.
Immortals (Blu-ray + Digital Copy)
Directed by Tarsem Singh Dhandwar
Studio: Relativity/Fox
Year: 2011
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 1080p AVC codec
Running Time: 110 minutes
Rating: R
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English; Dolby Digital 5.1 French
Subtitles: SDH, Spanish
Region: A
MSRP: $ 39.99
Release Date: March 6, 2012
Review Date: March 4, 2012
The Film
2.5/5
King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) is determined to bring down the Olympian gods by capturing the Epirus Bow, the one weapon which can steal immortality from the gods and allow them to be destroyed. To gain it, he must wage war against the Hellenic tribe of Greece. Virginal oracle Phaedra (Freida Pinto) understands that their fate rests with the powerful peasant Theseus (Henry Cavill) who has been trained (unknown to him) by Zeus himself (John Hurt in disguise, Luke Evans in god form). But Theseus is uninterested in fighting until his mother is slain by Hyperion at which time he vows to avenge her death. But before he can reach Mount Tartarus where the final showdown between opposing forces will happen, he and his few friends must fight their way there, and Theseus himself must traverse the infamous labyrinth where the Minotaur resides.
The storytelling is so feeble here (script by Charles Parlapanides and Vlas Parlapanides) that the film’s fight scenes become its only reason for existing, and the CGI landscapes and backgrounds while expertly created fail to establish the epic feel for the piece that it so desperately wants and needs. Viciously and viscerally brutal, the images of various body parts hacked off and eviscerated not just in battle but often in sadistic glee by the film’s antagonists (tongues cut out, castrations, and eye gouging are routine) make for rather unpalatable viewing unless one is a real fan of this kind of graphic sadism. The fights aren’t put together with any sense of give-and-take or mounting drama or rally-rousing turnabouts; rather, they exist rather endlessly in a visual vacuum with the viewer rather than the director having to make connections continually to piece the progress toward victory or defeat on his own. The writers and director haven’t done a great job of making our hero Theseus particularly heroic either. More than the champions in those other mythology-based films, Theseus makes plenty of mistakes (including losing the Bow that the entire film revolves around which leads to the deaths of many of the gods) and willingly takes the virginity of the oracle Phaedra thus robbing her of her fortune-telling ability (though in fairness she is the one who initiates the lovemaking). Thus, his climactic sacrifice doesn’t attain the tragic heights the director is obviously striving for adding yet another strike against the movie's ability to rise to its wanted but not achieved epic status.
Henry Cavill certainly has the looks and physique for a Greek hero, but his Theseus gets no help from writers or director in crafting a tragic hero from the scraps of character he’s been handed. Mickey Rourke’s Hyperion is evil personified, a one-note villainous portrayal of a power-mad archenemy but with no other strings in his bow. As Theseus’ right-hand man, Stephen Dorff’s Stavros is a curious creation, an American sounding and street thug acting anachronism plopped down bare-chested into ancient Greece but about as ancient as a Big Mac. Freida Pinto’s earnestness as Phaedra is limited but about the closest the film offers to a fully realized character. As for the Olympians, Luke Evans gets the most to do as Zeus, and he’s a new-fangled kind of Zeus, less mighty and knowing and more brash and braying. As for the others, Daniel Sharman’s Aries, Isabel Lucas’s Athena, and Kellan Lutz’s Poseidon, they look flawless and mighty, the very picture of godly perfection but are brought down to Earth in most unsatisfactory fashion.
Video Quality
5/5
The transfer has been framed at its theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is presented in 1080p using the AVC codec. Shot digitally and for 3D, this 2D rendering is flawless if lacking in the tremendous depth and envelopment that 3D would have brought to the imagery. Sharpness is exceptional throughout, and color, while often dominated by the rusty browns and grays of this dark storytelling, is solid and consistently delivered. Black levels are superb, and shadow detail is never lacking. The film has been divided into 24 chapters.
Audio Quality
5/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix is exactly what one would want from this kind of action-adventure spectacle. Bass is very dominant throughout (the subwoofer is going to get a tremendous workout from this encode), and the surrounds are utilized robustly during all of the many fight sequences. Dialogue is firmly placed in the center channel but is never overwhelmed by the ambient sounds going on constantly throughout the fronts and rears. Trevor Morris’ music score also gets excellent spread throughout the soundstage in this reference quality mix.
Special Features
4/5
Unless otherwise noted, the bonus material is presented in 1080p.
“It’s No Myth” is a 5 ½-minute featurette featuring various historians discussing the use of myths in storytelling through the ages. Several key actors and director Tarsem Dhandwar also talk about the handling of mythological elements in the movie.
“Caravaggio Meets Fight Club” is a series of four 1080i EPK featurettes discussing various aspects of the filmmaking process:
- “Tarsem’s Vision” shows behind-the-scenes views of director Tarsem Dhandwar working with the actors on set. Several of the film’s producers as well as key actors (Henry Cavill, Luke Evans, Kellan Lutz), and costume designer Eiko Ishioka discuss their love of the material in this 5 ¾-minute featurette.
- “Visual Effects” finds the director and special effects designers discussing their admiration for the Rodeo system which allows them to view the CGI landscapes on-the-fly during production and shooting saving time and money from visuals having to be fixed in post production. This runs 5 ½ minutes.
- “Stunts” introduces us to stunt coordinator Artie Malesci who talks for 4 ¼ minutes about the six months of training the stars went through to prepare for the fight scenes in the movie.
- “Creating the Score” allows Trevor Morris 4 ¾ minutes to talk about how he worked with the director to fashion the music for the movie.
There are eight deleted scenes which may be viewed separately or in one 8 ¼-minute grouping.
An alternate opening showing young Theseus runs 11 ½ minutes while the disc offers two alternate endings (neither as effective as the one in the finished film) which run 8 ¾ and 4 ¼ minutes respectively. All of these alternate sequences are presented in a 1080p windowbox.
“Immortals: Gods & Heroes” is a graphic novel of the film story which can be paged though by the user.
The film’s theatrical trailer runs for 2 ½ minutes.
The disc offers promo trailers for Haywire, Machine Gun Preacher, and Act of Valor.
The second disc in the set is the digital copy of the movie with enclosed instructions for installation on Mac and PC devices.
In Conclusion
3/5 (not an average)
A less than satisfactory stab at mythical storytelling, Immortals may please those who crave blood and guts above interesting narrative and persuasive character development. The Blu-ray disc does offer reference quality picture and sound and a more than decent array of bonus features for the movie’s fans to enjoy.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
