Official HTF HD Review: Brokeback Mountain (Recommended)

Sam Posten · 01-31-2007, 01:03 PM

Brokeback Mountain (Combo Format)

HD DVD Title: Brokeback Mountain
Rated: R
Screen format: 1080P 1.85:1
Studio: Universal
First theatrical release: 2005
Previously released on DVD/BluRay: Original DVD release 4/4/2006, 2 Disk Collectors Edition released day & Date with this HD DVD
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Linda Cardellini, Anna Farris, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams, and Randy Quaid,
Sound Formats: English, French Dolby Digital Plus 5.1
Length: 2 Hours 15 Minutes
Subtitles: English, French

Note that much of this review is based on my original scoring of the initial Brokeback DVD although updated to reflect this HD DVD release.)

Plot: 4/5
In the summer of 1963, sheepherders Ennis Del Mar (Ledger) and Jack Twist (Gyllenhaal) begin a homosexual relationship that spans their next twenty years. Each struggles to fit this secret affair into their family life, careers and other accomplishments. They battle the stigma society places on this kind of relationship, and ultimately have to deal with their own beliefs regarding this forbidden love.

Not surprisingly, the action is very minimal in this film. There are isolated points of activity dealing with the sheepherding lifestyle and a few rodeo scenes, but for the most part this film celebrates the laconic, thoughtful life of simple (and poor) country folk.

Both Ledger and Gyllenhaal hold up admirably dealing with this tough issue, turning in brave performances. Both believably mimic the mannerisms and accents of their characters, which is notable for the fact that Ledger is Australian and Gyllenhaal was born in Los Angeles. Much of their performance is silent, relying on facial expressions to convey sadness, frustration, anger and confusion. The strong supporting cast includes Randy Quaid as their boss Joe Aguirre and a knockout performance by Michelle Williams as Alma Del Mar, the spouse who catches on to Ennis.

Sound Quality: 4/5
The musical score was a good fit for the story: slow, deliberate, and a little haunting. The improvements to this soundtrack from the original DVD cannot be under stated, the guitar sounds incredibly resonant and becomes more interesting as a character in the movie. There is active action in the surrounds on this go around, notably again the storm scene and the rodeos, but also throughout the film which was a shock (I think I even heard a sheep try to sneek up on me early on). Bass performance remained minimal, almost nonexistent except for a few thunder booms. The dialogue is STILL notably muddied at times, however as noted in my original review this is likely a factor of the southern drawl combined with shy characters rather than any real deficiency in the soundtrack.

Visual Quality: 5/5
Like the soundtrack, the upgrade to HD DVD has been a major transformation for Brokeback Mountain. The color on this transfer, which felt extremely muted in my original review, has the saturation still toned down but FEELS just spot on for the story and not artificially limited, with incredible sharpness, minimal grain except in darker scenes (It’s gone from the skies which was a big downer in the original release!), zero edge enhancement and detail that is almost overwhelming at times (You can seriously count the curls on individual sheep in a herd of hundreds in some scenes). The cinematography rivals that of Dances With Wolves for showing off the American West better than just about any movie I can think of, with incredible vistas, solemn nightfall imagery, and simply stunning wide angle sweeps. Bottom line is that there are maybe 2 or 3 DVDs in my collection that look as good or better than this film, and none of them had the minimal 14M budget Brokeback had.

Extra Features: 5/5
Hold on to your hats, HD DVD fans because this single disk has ALL of the extra features that the Original Four Star DVD had PLUS all 3 extras that come on the second disk of the new two disk collector’s edition on ONE side of an HD DVD! Not only that but on the flip side the DVD has the bigger featurette so if you already have the four star collection, you get the good extra you don’t already have if you are upgrading.

New on this disk is one of the best looks at music in a film I’ve yet seen: In “Music from the Mountains” composer Gustavo Santaolalla brings us through the birth of the music tracks he authored plus bits with Willie Nelson and other country artists who contributed tracks to the film. The pain on Willie’s face as he is recording “He was a friend of mine” was just about heartbreaking. Also included is the major self-back-patting “A groundbreaking film” where the major production folks get to wallow in the unexpected success of the film, tho to be fair they go into depth about the challenges this film had not only getting made but being accepted and embraced by mainstream audiences. The repeats from the “Four Star” collection edition include 4 solid featurettes. ‘Directing from the Heart’ profiles Lee’s involvement with the progress of this film from short story form to his vision on screen. ‘From Script to Screen’ consists of interviews with script writers Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana on their choices in adapting Annie Proulx’s short story. ‘Sharing the Story’ is a behind the scenes look at the making of the film, including interviews with the cast, crew and producers. ‘On being a cowboy’ looks at the lifestyles of sheepherders and rodeo cowboys, and interviews the experts who trained Ledger and Gyllenhaal in preparation for this film.

Note that like the Four Star collection there still are no trailers or commentary tracks on this edition. Hard to complain when they fit all the above onto one side of an HD DVD tho and it all looks and sounds great.

Overall: 4.5/5 (not an average)
Brokeback Mountain wound up taking home three Academy Awards: Best Director for Lee, Best Score for Gustovo Santaolalla, and Best Adapted Screenplay, for McMurtry and Ossana. It was nominated for five more, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Ledger), Best Supporting Actor (Gyllenhaal), Best Supporting Actress (Williams), and Best Cinematography. It won 60 other awards and was nominated for a further 41.

Despite all of these accolades, it is a hard movie to digest for a lot of viewers, many of whom are not used to confronting its central issue so directly. Brokeback asks its audience to put themselves in the shoes of its characters, and to think about how they would react if they found themselves in love with someone of the same sex. While it celebrates the power of love to overcome so many complications, the somber tone and tragic end of the story echo the grave reality: this is a tough situation to be in and a hard life to lead.

While it is not practical to wonder if this movie would have been quite so successful had it dealt with a different central issue, the temptation is there. The pace and tone of this film are definitely atypical of what works for mainstream audiences. Perhaps its greatest success comes in just getting people talking and thinking about the issues. In the extras found on this HD DVD the producers expressed just that.

Ultimately I was left with mixed feelings on this movie. As a character study it certainly is one of the most honest and compellingly human pictures I have seen. Artistically, the look and tone of film are truly unique and complement the subject matter entirely. In the end, it is not a movie I truly loved and want to see again multiple times, but it is a fine artistic film with a strong message, and gives viewers a lot to think about in their own lives, perhaps even too much.

I took a bit of heat for not actually LIKING Brokeback during my initial viewing and I have to say that my impression of the film didn’t change much during this repeat viewing. Sure the sound quality and visuals are pumped up nicely, but this remains a very simple love story told at a very deliberate and contemplative pace. The fact that it is about two men being in love really is secondary to the fact that it just did not emotionally hook me the way that so many other viewers got bit. C’est la vie, it’s just not my kind of great movie and others will disagree, so we move on from there with the understanding that that’s my perspective on it.

Still, this edition of Brokeback overall is a winner, and definitely gets a ‘Recommended’ as Universal has smashed all of my complaints about the look, sound and extras and even added more. Even if they find the base concept of the movie hard to deal with, viewers should suck it up and give it a spin, as it certainly has resonated with the mainstream public and made great strides for what movies can accomplish artistically and in spreading a message.

Readers can find that original review here:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...d.php?t=232635

Jeff Savage · 01-31-2007, 02:07 PM

Great thanks for the review. Looks like a double dip into HD for me! Maybe the reports of the soft picture are from people playing the SD side in their HD players

.

Laters,
Jeff

Sam Posten · 01-31-2007, 04:02 PM

Should also mention that in reference to 'Shots of the american west' viewers should be aware that it was actually filmed in Canada =)

There are always people who will jump on any thread and say something looks soft. These people generally live in a bizarro world. BBM looks as good as films with 10x its budget and this disk is 10x better looking than the DVD of the film, and I reiterate that there are very few that look better, and those are only due to deep saturation more than anything else.

Sam

Jesper · 02-01-2007, 04:54 AM

Thanks for the review!

ppltd · 02-01-2007, 08:09 AM

Sam,

Thank you for another fine review. While I personally did not like this movie much, I have purchased it, mostly because the dry spell HD-DVD has benn going through with new releases. Anyway, my girl loves this film so I guess I will have to sit through it again.

**HTF Ads**

DeeF · 02-01-2007, 12:30 PM

Although I agree with the 5/5 video rating, for the first time (with this disk), I've seen a downside to the "ultimate in definition" goal.

The disk is so crystal clear that you really can see things not meant to be seen. For instance, the makeup on Heath and Jake as they "age" from their late teens to late 30s. In particular, there are shots of Heath as an older man where you can see the spirit gum around his eyes, and the age spots on his face made with colored pencil.

The video is far clearer than what I saw in the movie theater (and I saw it five times in the theater).

I don't know that there is an answer to this, but makeup in future may have to develop further refinement so it can't be detected at all.

Doug^Ch · 02-05-2007, 11:39 AM

I watched this movie for the first time over the weekend and absolutely loved it. What a great movie. The picture quality was phenomenal. The movie sticks with you for a long time after watching it. I would reccomend it to everyone with an HD-DVD player.

Henry Colonna · 02-19-2007, 06:25 AM

I have mine on the way from Amazon.

I did have a somewhat bizarre experience in trying to trade my old DVD copy. I know that EBGames does trade on titles and I thought I could get at least $5 for it. Their system offered me $2 so I just left with it.

However, the transaction process involved much snickering and stifled laughter. I could hear one employee call another store in the background and say "dude, there's a guy here trying to trade Brokeback Mountain and I'm not joking" proceeded with much laughter.

On retrospect I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. I did hesitate before walking into the store but I've seen other "R" rated movies there. I guess I was thinking younger crowd, Academy-award winning movie, Oscar nominated, good word of mouth....but I left rather disturbed by the behavior of a few of the employees in the store.