The Water Diviner, Russell Crowe's feature film directorial debut, focuses on the aftermath of The Battle of Gallipoli, a pivotal campaign from early in World War I in which the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) suffered extremely heavy casualties over an eight month campaign in an unsuccessful attempt to secure the straits of the Dardanelles in Turkey.
Studio: Warner Brothers
Distributed By: N/A
Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC
Aspect Ratio: 2.39.1
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HDMA, Other
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 1 Hr. 51 Min.
Package Includes: Blu-ray, UltraViolet
Standard Blu-ray CaseDisc Type: BD50 (dual layer)
Region: A
Release Date: 07/28/2015
MSRP: $29.98
The Production Rating: 3.5/5
The Water Diviner
Directed by: Russell Crowe
Starring: Russell Crowe, Olga Kurylenko, Yilmaz Erdogan, Cem Yilmaz, Jai Courtney, Dylan Georgiades, Steve Bastoni, Isabel Lucas, Salih Kalyon, Megan Gale, Ryan Corr, James Fraser, Ben O'Toole, Jacqueline McKenzie
In The Water Diviner, Russell Crow plays early 20th century Australian farmer Joshua Connor. Joshua and his wife Eliza (McKenzie) have three sons, all of whom find themselves serving in the Australia New Zealand Army Corps during the battle of Gallipoli, and none of whom return home. After the death of his wife near the end of World War I, Joshua sets out to travel to Turkey to find his sons, returning them home if only to be buried. His determination born from grief gets him from Australia to Turkey, but his unfamiliarity with the country and its customs and resistance from the British and Turkish officials present obstacles that seem insurmountable. With the help of Ayshe (Kurylenko), a local Turkish widow who helps manage the hotel in which Joshua is staying, Lt. Colonel Hughes (Courtney) the British Officer in charge of the site, and, perhaps most surprisingly, Major Hasan (Erdogan), one of the commanding Turkish Officers from the Gallipoli, Joshua eventually is given access to the battlefield where his sons were believed to be slain. With his water-divining talent for sensing what is going on beneath the Earth's surface, Joshua manages to piece together some of the tragic events that led to the loss of his sons.
The Water Diviner is a heartfelt story centered around one of the most solemnly revered events in the history of Australia and New Zealand. Director/Star Crowe approaches it with the seriousness it deserves, and does a commendable job of plumbing the depths of loss felt on both the ANZAC and Turkish sides in the aftermath of the brutal military campaign. Crowe's ambition slightly outstrips his grasp, however, in his efforts to weave together a diverse series of subplots including a burgeoning relationship between Joshua, Ayshe and her son played by Dylan Georgiades, a mission that finds Joshua traveling with Turkish Rebels beset by Greek forces in post-WW I territorial battles, and the expected fish-out-of water grappling with Turkish culture that Joshua experiences. The film does not succeed in doing justice to all of these elements which, coupled with some of the water divining mumbo jumbo that is used to provide revelations that could have been made through more plausible means, keep it from achieving greatness. While short of perfect, the technical skill with which it is assembled, the excellent international cast, and the earnestness with which it is presented still make for an entertaining and thoughtful film.
Video Rating: 4/5 3D Rating: NA
The 1080p AVC-encoded video presentation is letterboxed to the film's original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.4:1. Large portions of the presentation approach reference quality video perfection, but segments where the stylization is heavier, such as flashbacks to the Battle of Gallipoli that are intentionally treated to have the appearance of heavy grain and certain other sequences where the color palette is pushed hard in artificial directions, result in an inconsistent appearance. I found this inconsistency to be jarring above and beyond what I presumed was the stylistic intent, but your mileage may vary.
Audio Rating: 5/5
I ahev no reservations at all in praising the film English DTS-HD MA 5.1 track which presents the outstanding theatrical mix with impressive fidelity and dynamics. The mix uses the 5.1 sound field to create an immersive and three dimensional effect, both in the predictably bombastic battle sequences, but also much more subtly during the film's quieter moments. This exciting thetarical mix has been rendered expertly by this lossless encoding for near field home theater listening. An alternate Dolby Digital audio track also includes an English descriptive video service rendering of the film.
Special Features Rating: 2.5/5
When the disc is first played, the viewer is greeted with the following pair of skippable promos:
- The Man from UNCLE Theatrical Trailer
- Warner Digital Movies Promo
Trailer
Overall Rating: 3.5/5
Director/Star Russell Crowe's The Water Diviner is techincally well produced, entertaining, and thoughtful film about a man dealing with his family's heavy losses in the aftermath of World War I. An unbalanced approach to some of the film's sub-plots keeps it short of greatness, but does not undermine the enterprise as a whole. The video appearance of this Blu-ray presentation of the film is occasionally magnificent, but inconsistent due to heavy handed stylization. The audio presentation is consistently outstanding. Extras consist of a pair of modest but informative featurettes.
Reviewed By: Ken_McAlinden
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