Cave Rescue (2022/Lionsgate Blu-ray)/Peaceful (2021/Icarus DVD)/To Kill A Mockingbird 4K (1962/Universal 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)

4K Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: C+/C/B Sound: C+ Extras: C/C-/B Films: B/C+/A-

Next up are three dramas, two new, on a classic...

Based of on the true story of thirteen boys who get trapped in underground caves and by rising waters, Tom Waller's Cave Rescue (2022) brings the events to life a major dramatic film on the incident. For two weeks, the world watched and those who came to rescue them and this is their story.

A boys' soccer team goes into a natural cave to celebrate one of their teammate's birthday. Little did they know the monsoons came early that year and they forced to go deeper into the caves to escape the rising waters. As the Marines were unsuccessful to dive so far in, for so long and unable to find them. Specialists and volunteer underwater cave divers came from all over the world to rescue those 13 boys, but in order to get the boys out, they are sedated and divers must travel through blind underwater caves, where one false move can cost a life.

This movie reminded me of the movie The 33, but the movie was more about the rescuers than the boys that were trapped in the cave. It brought to life the drama of rescue, how hard it is for the military to admit they failed to accept outside help and the spirit of unity when the world comes together to save lives. The cast includes Apa Bhavilai, Ross Cain, Lawrence de Stefano, Erik Brown, Saman Gunhan, James Edward Holley and Thanawut Ketsaro.

Extras include making of the movie and trailers.

Emmanuelle Bercot's Peaceful (2021) offers cinema icon Catherine Deneuve as an older mother in denial that her son (Benoit Magimet) has a serious illness, though they are not alone in this as their nurse (Cecile de France) and doctor (Gabriel Sara) to try and help them out, but the son is in as much denial. This is an interesting angle with a difference for such a film, but not enough of one.

Despite its critical and commercial success, I sadly have to say that this is still (especially at over two hours) what has commonly become known as a 'disease of the week' film from the many such films in the late 1960s and definitely into the 1970 in theaters and from the original cycle of network TV movies that figured if they made films with such subject matter, it would be respectable, a hit and contest to win during awards season for each respective medium. This does a good approximation of such productions, but not much more and I was ultimately disappointed. Too bad they did not try a few things different, but the actors are giving it their best, to their credit. If you want to see it too, just don't put your hopes up to high.

Trailers for other Icarus releases are the only extras.

Finally, Robert Mulligan's classic To Kill A Mockingbird 4K (1962) with its new picture upgrade that is now the best way to see the film outside of a pristine 35mm or 16mm film print. We have covered the film a few times over the years in the following formats:

Blu-ray

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/14524/Gregory+Peck:+The+Centennial+Collection+-+To

DVD

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2792/To+Kill+A+Mockingbird+-+Legacy+Series

As relevant as ever the new set has all the extras of the previous Blu-ray release (adding a new Digital Code option) as the film celebrates 60 years. As we've said everything we could about the actual film in our previous reviews, there is one other thing to note.

After author Harper Lee's death, she had never written another book, but had worked out a sequel book to this movie and the original book. When it arrived, people were shocked by some revelations in it, but I stick with the idea that she never really finished the book, would not have approved of its release and that it is not true sequel. The ideas themselves do not always gel with the original classic either, meaning she was having serious indecisions about what to to with the characters. Maybe if she had more time, she might have come up with something she was satisfied with, but maybe this classic needed no sequel of any kind. Hope the film world follows that idea.

Now for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.85 X 1 black & white, HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Mockingbird is not (though I wish it were) in Dolby Vision, but still has its sharpness, depth and detail improvements from the already-reviewed Blu-ray which is the same in this set as it was in the last one of Peck's films. Some shots offer pleasant surprises and just allow the film to work better overall, so 4K is the way to go here.

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Cave has some good shots, but more than its share of darkness and unfortunately, the transfer is not always able to handle that, though it can do a good job often. A 4K edition would be the real test here.

The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes on both Blu-rays are shockingly on par with each other, with Universal deciding not to try and upgrade the Mockingbird soundtrack for the better, as it shows its age enough here, while Cave has a mixed soundtrack where some sounds are not as clear as other, some of which is intended and some definitely not.

The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image on Peaceful is just a little too soft for its own good throughout, though we gather it might be the format and not the actual shoot. We get some good shots still, but not enough. The lossy French Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo fares a bit better with Pro Logic-like surrounds and seems well recorded, but why no 5.1 mix?

- Nicholas Sheffo and Ricky Chiang (Cave)