Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) is the leader of a Boston bank robber gang but is not cut from the same cloth as his fellow thieves. When Doug falls in love with the bank manager (Rebecca Hall) briefly taken hostage in one of their heists, he wants to leave his criminal past behind and start a new life. As the Feds close in, his best friend (Jeremy Renner) questions his loyalty he's left with two choices—betray his friends or lose the woman he loves.

I've never been particularly impressed with Affleck as an actor, but he certainly has talent as a director. He gets the most out of the cast—including himself—orchestrates some realistic bank heists, and delivers one of the most intense films I've seen in a long time.

Video Highlights

• AVC/1080p encode on a BD-50 disc
• Inky blacks
• Excellent detail in both close-ups and long shots
• Bold color palette

Audio Highlights

• DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack
• Impressive bass response
• Reference-quality dynamic range
• Intelligible dialog
• Engaging score

Warner has stepped-up their quality in the past few months on its new releases, and this is no exception. The visuals are mesmerizing, especially the exterior shots of Boston, and the DTS-HD MA audio track includes some extremely intense bass response and realistic gun acoustics.

Bonus Materials

• Includes both the theatrical and extended cut versions
• Commentary on both versions by Ben Affleck
• Focus Points behind-the-scenes featurettes
• DVD and Digital Copy of the film

Affleck's directorial debut came in 1993 with the short film I Killed My Lesbian Wife, Hung Her on a Meat Hook, and Now I Have a Three-Picture Deal at Disney—are you kidding me? Well, he's come a long way in 17 years and has proven he has the chops to handle feature films. I look forward to his next film and hopefully its debut on Blu-ray features the same reference-quality audio and video found here. Highly recommended.

Release Date: December 17, 2010
Studio: Warner

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

Review System

Source
Oppo BDP-93 Blu-ray player

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

Electronics
Integra DTC-80.2 pre/pro
Anthem PVA-7 power amplifier
Belkin PVA-PF60 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