PatWahlquist
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The Road Warrior (Blu-Ray)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Rated: R
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
HD Encoding: 1080p
HD Video Codec: VC-1
Audio: Dolby Digital: English 5.1; French and Spanish 2S
Subtitles: English; Spanish; French
Time: 95 minutes
Disc Format: 1 SS BD
Case Style: Keep case
Theatrical Release Date: 1981
Blu Ray Release Date: May 15, 2007
It’s frustrating to see that even 26 years ago it was going to be obvious enough that gas would be the prize in a post apocalyptic world. Some may say that George Miller’s The Road Warrior not only predicted we’d be fuedin’ for the juice even still, but the world would have gone through major wars because of it. When you place this picture in the context of today, it becomes eerily prescient, and we can only hope our world doesn’t suffer the same fate as Mel Gibson’s Max. Max’s punk apocalyptic world is fueled by one thing: the acquisition of gas. He with the most gas will be the wealthiest. When Max stumbles upon a village that is producing fuel, he’s intrigued enough to try and figure out how to get his. As scouts from the village are captured by the marauders led by the Arnold wanna-be Humungus, Max is thrust into their plight. By now the similarities to a bunch of Kurosawa’s samurai flicks should be registering on the collective subconscious. Max tries to stay focused on his mission of procuring gas, but he just can’t help himself, so he joins the villagers to make a final, desperate dash to save their life blood.
Regardless of it’s plots similarities to, oh, about a dozen other pictures, The Road Warrior in true punk fashion, moves ahead not really caring what you think. The picture, like its protagonist, has a single, simple mission: race hard and fast to the finish line and ensure the prize is safe. The picture is quick and lean and it seems like it is frustrated that it has to waste time with the niceties of plot when all it really wants to do is drive fast and blow up stuff. Along the way it will grace you with some freaks, creeps and goons to point and gawk at, but it really just wants to entertain. Through it, Gibson shows some range as the quiet but directed Max, borrowing the subtleties of Yojimbo and Solo when he must actually speak. The car chases and stunts, done without the luxury of CG, are spectacular and violent, just the way such things should be. Rush out and fill your tank with $3.50 a gallon juice, then get home and watch this picture with great vigor.
Video:
Note: I am watching this title using a Marantz VP 12-S4 DLP projector, which has a native resolution of 720p. I am using a Sony Playstation 3 for a player and utilizing the HDMI capabilities of both units.
The picture is in VC-1, encoded at 1080p and it is framed at 2.35:1. The packaging of the disc says it’s 2.40:1, but Miller and Cinematographer Dean Semler tell us it’s 2.35:1 in the commentary. To say this is one inconsistent picture is being polite. Detail and sharpness fluctuate from scene to scene, looking quite good in close-ups, but smearing and blurring in medium and long shots. Color reproduction is good for this aged a print and I would tend to think the source elements were somewhat limited originally. The colors in the print are a little washed out and dull, but, again, that may have been a limitation of the shoot. When the picture transitions into the night scenes, we are presented with a blurry, noisy mess: there is one scene where Max is taking his gas from the camp and the feral kid is following him and you can barely make out what is going on. It becomes a murky mix of video noise and grain. Most of the darker scenes in this picture exhibit the same problems. I noticed a couple instances of picture judder, specifically in some of the overhead chase scenes where the camera was following the gyrocopter. Surprisingly, edge enhancement was not noticed, and there were only minor amounts of film dirt and debris.
Audio:
Note: I am listening to the soundtrack through the optical digital connection of the PS3.
I watched the movie with the Dolby Digital 5.1 track engaged. The soundtrack is reproduced at 48kHz, 640kbps. The soundtrack has a lot of surround effects that occupy all of the channels. As cars zoom, zing and crash on screen, the flying debris and noise blasts out of the fronts and rears. Surprisingly, these parts do not add up to a complete whole as I was localizing the sounds and the speakers from their individual locations. The soundtrack is also fairly dated, sounding thin and lacking richness and presence. This soundtrack would have benefited greatly from a re-mastering to add some “oomph” to the presentation. Bass effects were good and they blended nicely into the rest of the mix when they appeared. I have the bass set a little higher in my set-up to compensate for the analog bass management issues of the Toshiba HD-DVD player. As such, when I switch over to DD tracks via the optical connection, I have to reset the bass to more normal levels. In this case, I left the bass on the HD-DVD levels and didn’t even think to re-set them, so you may find this title is lacking in bass in your set-ups.
Bonus Material:
With the advent of Blu-Ray, we are faced with several different audio and video codecs being used on each disc. Due to this, I have begun adding the encoding details as part of the explanation of bonus features when applicable and relevant. For this release, the extras are in MPEG-2, 480p.
Exclusive to Hi-Def: New Commentary by Director George Miller and Cinematographer Dean Semler: A fairly average commentary that occupies the whole picture. Miller and Semler fixate on “the magic hour”, and they pat themselves on the back plenty. They also seem to enjoy picking out the mistakes and deficiencies associated with filming a low budget picture.
Introduction by Leonard Maltin: Maltin gives us a brief history of the picture and points out some of the things that make it great.
Theatrical Trailer: This is a very old, beat up print, but I shouldn’t complain with one of the few extras we actually get.
Conclusions:
This picture is an absolute blast from start to finish and Miller’s rough directing leaves a visual mark on the picture that adds to the attitude of the characters. Even though the picture has some issues, it is still a pleasing video presentation and it is probably the best it’ll ever look. Its unfortunate there were not more bonus materials for the disc, but Miller and Semel’s new commentary is quite welcome.
