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SONY

MOVIE INFO

Director:
Burr Steers
Cast:
Lily James, Sam Riley, Jack Huston, Bella Heathcote, Douglas Booth, Matt Smith, Charles Dance
Writing Credits:
Burr Steers

Synopsis:
Five sisters in 19th century England must cope with the pressures to marry while protecting themselves from a growing population of zombies.

Box Office:
Budget
$28 million.
Opening Weekend
$5,324,240 on 2,931 Screens.
Domestic Gross
$10,907,291.

MPAA:
Rated PG-13

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Audio:
English DTS-HD MA 5.1
English Audio Descriptive Service
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:
English
Spanish
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
English
Spanish

Runtime: 107 min.
Price: $34.99
Release Date: 5/31/2016

Bonus:
• “The Badass Bennet Sisters” Featurette
• “Courtship, Class and Carnage” Featurette
• “From Austen to Zombies” Featurette
• “Creating the Unmentionables” Featurette
• Gag Reel
• :Line-O-Rama
• Deleted Scenes
• Previews


PURCHASE @ AMAZON.COM

EQUIPMENT
Panasonic TC-P60VT60 60-Inch 1080p 600Hz 3D Smart Plasma HDTV; Sony STR-DG1200 7.1 Channel Receiver; Panasonic DMP-BD60K Blu-Ray Player using HDMI outputs; Michael Green Revolution Cinema 6i Speakers (all five); Kenwood 1050SW 150-watt Subwoofer.

RELATED REVIEWS


Pride and Prejudice and Zombies [Blu-Ray] (2016)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (May 22, 2016)

Has the zombie craze finally started to fade? Perhaps, if the receipts that greeted 2016’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies offer any indication. With a US gross of barely $10 million – and not much more overseas - Pride bombed.

We’ll see if this leads to a downward trend for the genre. Perhaps audiences just shy away from “high-concept” efforts like this and 2012’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, another flick with a goofy premise.

Set in 19th century England, Pride introduces an alternate history in which zombies roam the land. Colonel Darcy (Sam Riley) attempts to combat their spread, but the undead population begins to grow anyway.

Darcy meets his match when he gets to know Elizabeth Bennet (Lily James). The pair instantly dislike each other but inevitably revise those opinions over time. We follow their zombie-fighting and interpersonal adventures.

Let’s face it: Pride exists as a gimmick project, a parody meant to spoof both the Jane Austen novel and the zombie genre. Don’t view that as an insult, for I don’t intend to slight the movie’s potential. If treated appropriately, a mashup of Elizabethan drama and broad horror could offer a fun time.

Unfortunately, Pride takes matters seriously – way too seriously for a project of this sort. No, I don’t think it needs to give us broad camp, but it needs to acknowledge its own absurdity more than it does.

Or maybe it needs to ignore the silliness of the premise more than it does. While Pride remains oddly serious, it still nods toward the goofy side of the street just often enough to undermine the drama. The movie seems far too stiff to embrace comedy, but it lacks the depth to make it worthwhile as drama.

Early on, Pride shows promise. When it introduces the Bennet sisters as kick-butt warriors, it does so with flair and looks like it’ll take a semi-Tarantino take on the violent subject matter.

Alas, that turns into a tease, as we never get the same level of fire again. It doesn’t help that Pride goes with a tepid “PG-13” rating. A movie such as this needs to be “R” so it can fully flesh out the over the top mayhem it promises. With a “PG-13”, the product feels “dumbed down” as it lacks the gory scenes that usually accompany efforts like this.

Still, it remains the movie’s uncertain focus that harms it most. Pride manages to remain moderately entertaining in spite of itself, but it fails to provide the consistency necessary to become something better. As it stands, the film mixes period drama with horror and action in an awkward, unsatisfying manner that doesn’t really work.


The Blu-ray Grades: Picture A-/ Audio A-/ Bonus C

Pride + Prejudice + Zombies appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-Ray Disc. The movie delivered a terrific transfer.

Sharpness excelled. If any softness emerged, I didn’t detect it, as the image consistently looked accurate and concise. I saw no shimmering or jaggies, and edge haloes remained absent. Print flaws failed to impact the production as well.

Apparently not even period zombie movies remain immune from the oppression of teal and orange, as those hues dominated Pride. While these choices seemed tedious, the Blu-ray reproduced them well. Blacks appeared deep and rich, while low-light shots displayed smooth, clear elements. This became a highly pleasing image.

I also felt happy with the exciting DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Pride, as it provided a lot of information. With all sorts of action scenes, the movie enjoyed many chances to shine, and it explored these moments well, with plenty of material from all the channels. These components meshed smoothly and created an involving soundscape.

Audio quality seemed strong. Music was bright and peppy, and speech appeared natural and concise. Effects offered accurate, dynamic elements that packed a good punch. The mix added a lot of pizzazz to the movie.

When we move to extras, we find four featurettes: The Badass Bennet Sisters (3:59), Courtship, Class and Carnage (6:54), From Austen to Zombies (6:00) and Creating the Unmentionables (3:31). Across these, we hear from writer/director Burr Steers, producers Allison Shearmur and Sean McKittrick, fight coordinator Maurice Lee, prosthetics designer Mark Coulier, and actors Matt Smith, Lily James, Millie Brady, Bella Heathcote, Suki Waterhouse, Ellie Bamber, Douglas Booth, Sam Riley, Charles Dance, Lena Headey, Jack Huston, and Sally Phillips.

The featurettes look at stunts and action, cast and performances, story/characters, makeup and effects. These tend to be fairly general, but they offer a reasonable amount of information and deserve a look.

Eight Deleted Scenes fill a total of nine minutes, 55 seconds. Most of these focus on extra exposition for secondary characters, but we get a little added detail for the leads and the overall story as well. While I can’t say they make a big difference, they do expand matters in a moderate manner.

A Gag Reel runs one minute, 38 seconds. Should you expect more than the standard assortment of goofs and giggles? Nope, but at least it’s a brief compilation.

In a similar vein, Mr. Collins Line-O-Rama lasts two minutes, 39 seconds. This piece focuses on improv bits from Matt Smith as well as some of his blooper moments. It provides mild amusement.

The disc opens with ads for Ghostbusters (2016), The 5th Wave, The Brothers Grimsby, The Bronze and Preacher. No trailer for Pride appears here.

If Pride and Prejudice and Zombies better embraced its inherent goofiness, it might offer an engaging mix of period drama, action and horror. However, it takes itself so seriously that it fails to turn into anything that creates a consistently interesting experience. The Blu-ray boasts excellent picture and audio but lacks substantial bonus materials. Pride provides a watchable flick without real strengths.

Viewer Film Ratings: 3.1666 Stars Number of Votes: 12
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