Beyond the Reach appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. No notable concerns cropped up here.
Overall sharpness remained good. A smattering of wider elements could seem a little soft, but those didn’t create real distractions. Instead, the movie tended to be accurate and concise. I noticed no shimmering or jaggies, and the film lacked edge haloes or source flaws.
Given the desert setting, the palette opted for a fairly yellow/sandy look, though Reach did the Modern-Day Hollywood thing and featured a fair amount of teal as well. Within stylistic choices, the hues looked fine. Blacks were deep and dense, while low-light shots depicted appropriate clarity. The image seemed to be more than satisfactory.
Though not quite as good, the movie’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack suited the story. For the most part, this was a subdued affair, as the stark desert setting didn’t require much auditory ambition.
However, a handful of action sequences used the various speakers in a broad, interactive manner that added good life to the circumstances when necessary. These included gunshots as well as some explosions and other fireworks. At those times, the five channels created an immersive impression.
Audio quality worked well. Music was full and rich, while speech appeared distinctive and criso. Effects offered solid clarity and range, with nice low-end at times. I felt this became a “B” soundtrack.
The disc’s extras open with an audio commentary from director Jean-Baptiste Leonetti, actor/producer Michael Douglas and producer Robert Mitas. (Note that Douglas participates in roughly the first two-thirds of the commentary and then leaves,) All three sit together for this running, screen-specific look at the source novel and its adaptation, other character/story areas, cast and performances, locations and set/prop design, stunts, visual choices and related topics.
Expect a good but not great commentary. On the positive side, we get a nice variety of subjects, and we learn a reasonable amount about the production. However, the chat simply lacks a ton of real substance/insight; it gives us a competent take on the film but not one that excels.
Two featurettes follow. The Making of Beyond the Reach goes for 12 minutes, two seconds and offers notes from Douglas, Mitas, Leonetti, location manager Dennis Muscari, and actor Jeremy Irvine. We learn about the source novel and its adaptation, story/character areas, cast and performances, locations, and vehicles. “Making” offers a handful of decent notes but it tends to be fairly superficial.
During the 10-minute, 27-second Six Wheeling: Inside and Outside the Ultimate Ride, we hear from Mitas and Mercedes USA “exclusive vehicles” manager Branden T. Cote. The show looks at the six-wheeled SUV used in the movie. It’s essentially an advertisement for Mercedes.
The disc begins with ads for The Homesman, Basic Instinct, Cymbelline and <>Maggie. No trailer for Reach appears here.
A riff on the classic The Most Dangerous Game, 2015’s Beyond the Reach comes with potential that it fails to exploit. The movie starts well enough but fizzles as it goes, mostly due to a lack of logic and poor pacing. The Blu-ray offers good picture and audio along with decent supplements. Outside of a lively performance from Michael Douglas, Beyond the Reach lacks much to make it worthwhile.