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WARNER

MOVIE INFO

Director:
George Miller
Cast:
Idris Elba, Tilda Swinton, Erdil Yasaroglu
Writing Credits:
George Miller

Synopsis:
On a trip to Istanbul, a lonely scholar discovers a Djinn who offers her three wishes in exchange for his freedom.

Box Office:
Budget:
$60 million.
Opening Weekend:
$2,919,717 on 2436 Screens.
Domestic Gross:
$8,286,741.

MPAA:
Rated R.

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Audio:
English Dolby Atmos
English Dolby 5.1
English Descriptive Audio
Subtitles:
English
Spanish
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
None

Runtime: 108 min.
Price: $34.98
Release Date: 11/15/2022

Bonus:
• None


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RELATED REVIEWS


Three Thousand Years of Longing [Blu-Ray] (2022)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (November 13, 2022)

70 years old when the movie hit the screens, George Miller enjoyed a major critical and financial success with 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road. Given his age, one might think this would inspire him to crank out another movie quickly.

Nope. Audiences still wait for a follow-up to Fury Road, which will finally arrive in 2024 with the spinoff Furiosa. I guess Miller felt content to relax for a few years before he embarked on another project.

2022 brought Miller’s first movie since Fury Road: Three Thousand Years of Longing. An adaptation of a 1994 short story, this one offers a mix of fantasy, romance and drama.

Scholar Dr. Althea Binnie (Tilda Swinton) leads a solitary life that revolves entirely around her work. This takes her to Istanbul for a conference.

As she roams around town, Althea finds an intriguing glass bottle, one with a shocking secret: a Djinn (Idris Elba) lives inside it. When he offers the traditional three wishes, Althea finds herself on an unexpected journey.

In theory, I appreciate the fact Miller didn’t immerse himself in the world of Mad Max right after the success of Fury Road. I admire that he decided to avoid that easy path and he chose to do something different for his follow-up project.

That said, it perplexes me that he waited so darned long to create another film. Honestly, it feels odd that any director would sit idle for seven years after a major hit, but it becomes even more befuddling given Miller’s age. He will be nearly 80 when Furiosa makes it to screens, which seems like a he might take his continued health for granted.

In any case, I do admire the breadth of Miller’s filmography. Since he made his name with the Mad Max movies, he easily could’ve stayed in that wheelhouse and simply churned out one action flick after another.

And through 1985, it looked like that might end up his fate, but with 1987’s Witches of Eastwick, Miller branched out and then avoided the action genre for the 30 years between Max movies. He even branched into family fare with films like 1995’s Babe, his first Oscar-nominated effort.

At least superficially, Years offers a throwback to Eastwick, since both provide fantasies aimed at adult audiences. One could also argue both rely on talented casts to carry them, as Eastwick boasted Jack Nicholson, Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer and Susan Sarandon as its leads.

Years lacks that film’s star power, but with Elba and Swinton in tow, it comes with a strong core pair of actors. Unfortunately, they demonstrate little chemistry together, a factor that makes it difficult to buy into the romance at the story’s heart.

That said, I can’t really fault the actors for the inert feel of Years. Instead, the issue comes from the sluggish story and general lack of real purpose on display here.

Though Althea acts as the movie’s nominal protagonist, the majority of the film revolves around the Djinn’s tales of his past. Those represent the titular millennia of sadness, as we continually hear of the Djinn’s dreams of connection and love.

Unfortunately, this makes Years episodic and rarely especially involving. Miller doesn’t play up the fantasy aspects of the Djinn’s history in an especially compelling manner, and he fizzles when he tries to portray the romance and heartbreak as well.

Years tends to feel cold and clinical, which I guess makes some sense if we view the movie from Althea’s point of view. After all, she exists as the scientist and skeptic.

However, Althea appears to buy into the Djinn’s tales pretty rapidly and her disbelief fails to play much of a role. Althea pays some lip service to the notion that her experience represents a dream and not reality, but for the most part, she engages without obvious doubt.

As such, I don’t think Years goes for a less than warm tone as a reflection of Althea’s perspective. Instead, I believe Miller simply doesn’t have a feel for that kind of material and found himself unable to portray these emotions in a strong manner.

This leads to a movie that feels like it wants to be a grown-up version of Aladdin but without nearly as much charm and engagement. Years looks pretty but it never turns into an involving work.


The Disc Grades: Picture A-/ Audio B+/ Bonus F

Three Thousand Years of Longing appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a strong presentation.

Sharpness worked well at all times. Nary a sliver of softness interfered with this tight image.

No signs of jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. The movie lacked source flaws as well.

While the “modern day” shots emphasized teal, the many flashbacks to the Djinn’s past opened up the palette. A golden tint dominated, but we also got plenty of other hues, and these all looked vivid and rich.

Blacks seemed deep and dense, while shadows appeared smooth and concise. I felt pleased with this fine representation of the film.

Though not quite as strong, the movie’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack also satisfied. Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the film came with an occasionally involving mix.

Because a fair amount of the story revolved around conversations between Althea and the Djinn, those scenes came with limited soundscapes. They offered a bit of directional dialogue as well as spasms of fantasy information, but they usually felt subdued, as they should.

Happily, the movie’s Djinn-related flashbacks brought more active material. These provided a lively soundfield with strong usage of the various channels.

Audio quality seemed satisfying, as speech appeared natural and concise. Music offered full, rich tones as well.

Effects felt accurate and dynamic, with clear highs and deep lows. The soundtrack suited the movie well.

The disc comes with no extras. Also, although the sleeve indicates it provides a DVD copy, that proves incorrect. The release offers the Blu-ray and nothing else – well, outside of the usual digital code, of course.

For his first film in seven years, George Miller embraces an unusual form of fantasy via Three Thousand Years of Longing. While the movie comes with some intriguing elements, it never fully connects into a compelling tale. The Blu-ray boasts excellent visuals and solid audio but it lacks bonus materials. Years doesn’t bore but it also fails to really turn into anything memorable.

Viewer Film Ratings: 2 Stars Number of Votes: 2
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