Dual appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Across the board, this was an appealing transfer.
Sharpness looked fairly strong. Low-light interiors could seem a smidgen soft at times, but most of the film appeared accurate and well-defined.
Jagged edges and moiré effects remained absent, while edge haloes also failed to appear. Print flaws stayed absent as well.
Like most modern films of this sort, Dual went with teal and orange. These tones seemed predictable, but they worked fine within the movie’s design parameters and showed good delineation.
Blacks were dark and tight, while shadows showed nice clarity and smoothness. I thought this was a consistently positive image.
Though it looks like it’ll offer an action film, Dual came with a much stronger character focus, and the fairly subdued DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack demonstrated that. Not that the mix lacked any ambition, as it kicked to life during a few scenes.
Still, music became the dominant aspect of the mix, as the score filled the various channels. Environmental material offered a good sense of locations, so this became a pretty decent soundscape, if not one that felt impressive.
Audio quality always satisfied. Music was dynamic and full, and effects followed suit, so those components came across as accurate and well-developed.
Speech seemed distinctive and crisp, without edginess or other issues. Though not especially involving overall, the soundtrack suited the film.
We get an audio commentary from writer/director Riley Stearns. He brings a running, screen-specific look at story/characters, sets and locations, music, cast and performances, shooting during COVID, editing and photography, various effects, the movie's tone, and related topics.
We get a pretty informative commentary here. Stearns covers the expected topics and keeps us engaged through this insightful discussion.
The Making of Dual runs nine minutes, 49 seconds and offers notes from Stearns, producer Aram Tertzakian, director of photography Michael Ragan, and actors Karen Gillan, Aaron Paul, Beulah Koale and Theo James.
The featurette covers story and characters, cast and performances, shooting in Finland, various effects, filming during a pandemic, and the movie’s philosophical concepts. Though brief, this becomes a reasonably concise little overview.
The disc opens with ads for Prisoners of the Ghostland, Terminal, and Mayhem. No trailer for Dual appears here.
Dual takes an action/sci-fi concept and turns it on its ear. While I appreciate the unconventional path in theory, the execution falters. The Blu-ray comes with solid visuals, acceptable audio and a few bonus materials. I like that Dual subverts genre expectations but think it tries too hard to be clever for its own good.