Insomnia (Blu-ray)

Two LAPD homicide detectives, Will Dormer (Al Pcino) and Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan), are dispatched to Nighmute, Alaska, to help the small town solve a murder of a teenage girl. While chasing a suspect (Robin Williams) through the fog, Dormer accidentally shoots his partner and blames the shooting on the suspected killer. There's only one problem, there was a witness who knows what really happened.

Christopher Nolan became a household name because of his Batman films, but film lovers have known about him due to his fabulous films like Momento, The Prestige, and to a lesser extent Insomnia. Here he weaves an interesting and suspenseful tale of a man attempting to cope with his guilt of killing his friend and a stressful bout of insomnia.

Video Highlights

  • VC-1/1080p encode on a BD-50 disc
  • Warm color palette
  • Inky blacks with phenomenal shadow detail
  • Excellent detail, especially in close-ups
  • Occasional soft shot

Audio Highlights

  • DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack
  • Intelligible dialog
  • Occasionally strong LFE
  • Front-heavy presentation for the majority of the film
  • Chilling score from David Julyan

Wally Pfister's cinematography shines in this VC-1 presentation and other than the occasional soft shot there's nothing to complain about.

Bonus Materials

  • Director's Commentary from Christopher Nolan
  • Scene specific commentaries with cast and crew
  • "Day for Night" behind-the-scenes featurette
  • "180 Degrees" interview with Nolan and Pacino
  • "In the Fog" featurette
  • "Eyes Wide Open" featurette
  • Additional scene
  • Still gallery
  • Theatrical trailer

If you're as big of fan of Nolan as I am, be sure to pick up this fabulous catalog release. Warner has delivered a fantastic video encode and is a must have for any film collector. Highly recommended.

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Release Date: July 13, 2010
Studio: Warner

Movie: 8/10
Picture: 9/10
Sound: 8/10

Review System

Source
Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player

Display
JVC DLA-RS1 projector
Stewart FireHawk screen (76.5" wide, 16:9)

Electronics
Onkyo Pro PR-SC885 pre/pro
Anthem PVA-7 power amplifier
Panamax M5400PM power conditioner

Speakers
M&K S-150s (L, C, R)
M&K SS-150s (LS, RS, SBL, SBR)
SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer

Cables
Monoprice HDMI cables (source to pre/pro)
Best Deal analog-audio cables
PureLink HDC Fiber Optic HDMI Cable System (15 meters) from pre/pro to projector

Acoustical treatments from GIK Acoustics

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