Press Release Criterion Press Release: Beasts of No Nation (2015) (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

​

The nightmare of war is seen through the eyes of one of its most tragic casualties—a child soldier—in this harrowing vision of innocence lost from Cary Joji Fukunaga. Based on the acclaimed novel by Uzodinma Iweala, Beasts of No Nation unfolds in an unnamed, civil-war-torn West African country, where the young Agu (Abraham Attah, in a haunting debut performance) witnesses carnage in his village before falling captive to a band of rebel soldiers led by a ruthless commander (an explosive Idris Elba), who molds the boy into a hardened killer. Fukunaga’s relentlessly roving camera work and stunning visuals—realism so intensely visceral it borders on the surreal—immerse the viewer in a world of unimaginable horror without ever losing sight of the powerful human story at its center.

FILM INFO​

• United States
• 2015
• 136 minutes
• Color
• 2.39:1
• English
• Spine #1091

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES​

• 2K digital master, approved by director Cary Joji Fukunaga, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New audio commentary featuring Fukunaga and first assistant director Jon Mallard
• Two new documentaries on the development and making of the film, featuring interviews with Fukunaga; author Uzodinma Iweala; actors Idris Elba and Abraham Attah; and producers Amy Kaufman, Daniela Taplin Lundberg, and Riva Marker
• New conversation between Fukunaga and producer and cultural commentator Franklin Leonard
• New interview with costume designer Jenny Eagan
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• English descriptive audio
• PLUS: An essay by film critic Robert Daniels

New cover by Nessim Higson

PURCHASE OPTIONS​

Coming soon, available Aug 31, 2021
BLU-RAY1 Disc$27.96SRP: $39.95
DVD2 Discs$20.96SRP: $29.95

 

[Ronald Epstein]

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[bujaki]

Excellent film!

 

[Thomas T]

Excellent film!

I could only get through half of it before ejecting it (it was a SAG screener) from my player. Maybe I would have been more impressed if I hadn't seen the Kim Nguyen's superb REBELLE (U.S. title WAR WITCH and an Oscar nominee in the foreign language film category) two years earlier which covered the same territory and made the same points and was less "Hollywood".

 

[bujaki]

I could only get through half of it before ejecting it (it was a SAG screener) from my player. Maybe I would have been more impressed if I hadn't seen the Kim Nguyen's superb REBELLE (U.S. title WAR WITCH and an Oscar nominee in the foreign language film category) two years earlier which covered the same territory and made the same points and was less "Hollywood".

Idris Elba adds much to the film.
I also liked War Witch very much.