Sanctum Blu-ray (2D Edition)

SANCTUM

Studio: Universal (Film produced by Wayfare Entertainment)

Year: 2011

Length:  1 hr 49 mins

Genre:  Cave Diving/Exploring Action Thriller

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

BD Resolution: 1080p

BD Video Codec:  AVC (@ an average 30 mbps)

Color/B&W: Color

Audio:

English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (@ an average 3.0 mbps )

Spanish DTS 5.1

English DVS Dolby Digital 2.0

Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Film Rating: R (Language, Some Violence and Disturbing Images)

Release Date: June 7, 2011

Starring:  Richard Roxburgh, Rhys Wakefield, Alice Parkinson, Daniel Wyllie, Ioan Gruffudd

Written by:  John Garvin and Andrew Wight

Directed by: Alister Grierson

Executive Producer:  James Cameron

Film Rating:    2 ½/5

Sanctum is an odd film when you actually take some time to think about it.  On one hand, it’s clearly a 3D action film centered around a group of cave divers trapped inside a massive cave system in New Guinea with all the usual action motifs being used.  As such, it’s intermittently successful.  Some scenes take forever to set up what will be an obvious payoff, while others are truly shocking.  And to the film’s credit, this isn’t a movie about strange monsters lurking in the cave.  It’s more about how humans act when they are confronted with this situation.  At the same time, the movie is also trying to be an examination about how a son gets to know his father.  That part of the movie starts off with some major creakiness but actually develops into more interesting territory over an hour into the story.  By the time the film reaches its conclusion, the film seems to have morphed from one idea to the other without having connected the two thoughts.

I should make clear right away that while the film was generously helped by James Cameron, who was a bit more involved than you might think, it’s actually an Australian production from Cameron’s co-producer of his dive movies, Andrew Wight.   Cameron’s contribution here was to provide the HD 3D camera system used for Avatar, and to guide Wight in the initial steps of the creative and production processes.   Cameron helped select Alister Grierson to direct the film, based on his many short films.  Cameron also helped Wight cast the film.  And there’s an undeniable Cameron influence in the opening act of the script.  So I’d say that Cameron’s executive producer credit is more than earned here, but unlike Devil, where M. Night Shyamalan provided the story, the crew, the location and supervised the result, Sanctum is more accurately an Andrew Wight project with some input from James Cameron.   The cast is almost completely Australian, although Ioan Gruffudd appears using an inexplicable American accent.  The story, based very loosely on Wight’s experiences in a cave-in on the Nullarbor Plain in the late 1980s (as shown in his documentary Nullarbor Dreaming, which is also included on the disc), has cave diver/explorer Frank (Richard Roxburgh) leading a group trying to find their way out of a cave system when a tropical storm cuts off their primary exit.   This group of course includes his son Josh (Rhys Wakefield), his primary investor Carl (Ioan Gruffud) and Carl’s wife Victoria (Alice Parkinson).  The film follows in the usual disaster movie motifs, beginning with some really creaky expository scenes, followed by an initial mishap to show the viewer how serious the situation is.  (In other words, this is the scene that Sam Rockwell cringes about in Galaxy Quest, where the minor character gets killed…)  Once our group is trapped inside the system and starts trying to find a way out, the situation gets worse  and the group gets winnowed down by the hazardous conditions.   When you really think about it, the movie is a kind of replay of The Poseidon Adventure or When Time Ran Out for much of its running time.  But there are some interesting ideas here.  Wight and his co-writer John Garvin are both experts at cave diving and exploration – which lends a bit more reality to the set pieces.  The R Rating is definitely earned in this film – the violence with which the characters meet their ends is truly shocking at times.   And the father/son relationship actually does become interesting once the group has been reduced.  Richard Roxburgh is fairly effective as Frank.  On the other hand, Ioan Gruffudd is already over the top in his first scenes, so his reactions to the crisis later on simply carry him out of the movie entirely. 

I should also make clear that the Blu-ray copy I have seen for this review is a 2D disc.  I have not seen this film in 3D, although it’s clear to me how that process was likely used here.  The 2D Blu-ray has a decidedly digital look to it – at times with strange results.  The opening Universal logo has an odd quality to it that I think is the result of downconverting to 2D what was intended to be a 3D version of the logo.  The underwater scenes have an intentionally glassy clarity to them – as part of what Wight and Garvin point out is the actual look of diving in an underground cave.    My instincts say the movie probably looks better in 3D than in 2D, but I’ll have to wait until I have the appropriate equipment to make that call.

Sanctum will be released on DVD, Blu-ray and 3D Blu-ray in another week.  The Blu-ray copy in my possession holds a high definition transfer of the film, along with some deleted scenes and a 45-minute documentary about the film also presented in HD, as well as an SD copy of Wight’s documentary Nullarbor Dreaming and a scene-specific commentary with Wight, Wakefield and director Alister Grierson.    The Blu-ray is also outfitted with the usual BD-Live and pocket BLU functionality, as well as being enabled for D-Box.   A digital copy of the movie can be accessed online by viewers who follow the instructions on an included sheet in the packaging.  Eight additional movies are made available for online rental at $2.99 via BD-Live.

VIDEO QUALITY   3/5

Sanctum is presented in a 1080p AVC 1.85:1 transfer that shows a pretty good range of colors and flesh tones, but also has some limitations.  This is partly due to shooting so many scenes in very dark conditions (and this is with James Cameron’s exceptional rig), and partly due to the film really being shot and composed for 3D viewing.   For me, this is the reverse effect of seeing a 2D movie that’s been upconverted to 3D where you can see that the film wasn’t intended to be seen that way.  Here, it feels like there’s a dimensionality missing – which is of course the case.  I’m not saying that this is a bad transfer – although that opening logo is really strange – but I have to acknowledge that  there are some issues.

AUDIO QUALITY   3 ½/5

Sanctum is presented in an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix in English, along with a standard DTS 5.1 mix in Spanish and and English DVS track.   There’s a lot of atmosphere in this mix, with sounds of water and other location-specific items filling the surround field along with the score.  As you might expect with a disaster movie, the subwoofer gets involved when the really heavy action starts to happen.

SPECIAL FEATURES      3 ½/5

The Blu-Ray presentation of Sanctum comes with the usual BD-Live connectivity (including some online movie rental discounts) and My Scenes functionality, as well as pocket BLU  functionality and D-Box functionality.  The disc includes several deleted scenes and a documentary on the movie in high definition, along with Andrew Wight’s documentary Nullarbor Dreaming in standard definition and a commentary.  The packaging includes an insert with download instructions for the digital copy available online.

Feature Commentary with Director Alister Grierson, Actor Rhys Wakefield and Co-writer/Producer Andrew Wight –  This scene-specific commentary finds all three men watching the movie together and having some fun recounting the details of the shoot.  Grierson discusses how Wight and John Garvin took him cave diving as part of his preparation to direct this movie.  Wight discusses many aspects of cave diving, as well as the real experiences that inspired him to make the movie.  There’s a bit of discussion of the 3D elements and James Cameron’s involvement, but it’s clear from the discussion that this was a local Australian shoot.

Deleted Scenes (9:23 total, 1080p, VC-1 Encode) – Nearly ten minutes of deleted scenes are included here in high definition.  Almost all of the material comes from the opening act of the film.  One very late father/son exchange was actually re-purposed for the end of the theatrical cut – it’s included here to show the original idea.  The only oddity here is that there is no chapter menu for these scenes, nor are there any chapters per se. 

Sanctum: The Real Story (46:31 total, 1080p) – A fairly thorough documentary on the making of the film is included here, divided into three parts:  “How it Began”, “Making the Movie” and “In the Aftermath”.  Interview footage with the whole cast as well as James Cameron, Andrew Wight, Alister Grierson and John Garvin is mixed with on-set footage and clips from both the movie and Wight’s documentary, Nullarbor Dreaming.  The usual mutual compliments are exchanged, but there’s also some good material here about the process of making the movie and working with Cameron’s actual rig from the Avatar shoot.

Nullarbor Dreaming – (44:53, 480p, Full Frame)  - As a nice idea, Andrew Wight’s 1989 documentary is included here in its entirety.  It is chaptered, although there is no menu to list the stops.  As an interesting sidenote, the real cave story did not involve the guys inside diving farther into the cave system and endangering themselves further.  Instead, the real explorers were able to stay in contact with the outside world and Wight was able to find an alternate route to the main entrance for them.

Trailer – (2:52, 480p, Non-Anamorphic)  The movie’s original trailer is presented here in standard definition.  There’s one really interesting part of it – the characters are identified by cartoon caricatures which list their name and their graduating class year – something that lines right up with Lucas’ assessment of some of the characters being unable to escape the town after being old enough to move on.

BD-Live - The more general BD-Live screen is accessible via the menu, which makes various online materials available, including tickers, trailers and special events.  At the same time, the Blu-ray also allows for pocket BLU iPhone connectivity.  Eight movies are available for online rental for $2.99 via this movie’s connection:  Meet the Parents, Fast & Furious, Mamma Mia!, Coraline, Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and Role Models.

My Scenes - The usual bookmarking feature is included here.

D-Box – D-Box functionality is included for those viewers who have this capability.

Digital Copy – An insert in the packaging provides instructions for viewers to download a digital copy of the movie from an online site.

The usual promotional ticker is present on the main menu, but can be toggled off at your discretion. The film and the special features are subtitled in English, Spanish and French.  A generous chapter menu  for the feature is provided.

IN THE END...

Sanctum is an intermittently successful lower-end disaster movie, with a couple of moments that scratch a little deeper.  The 2D Blu-ray of the movie is a decent enough affair, with some good extras along for the ride.  I believe the 3D disc may look better, as the movie was shot with that in mind.  There are no major stars in the movie, and this isn’t a James Cameron film per se either.  Fans of the disaster genre may want to rent this – but it’s specifically Australian in its flavor.

Kevin Koster

May 27, 2011.