Primal Fear – Hard
Evidence Edition (Paramount Blu-ray + DVD)
Picture:
B+/B Sound: B+/B Extras: B Film:
B+
Out of
all the suspense/thrillers that came out of the 1990’s (and there were many of
them) 1996’s Primal Fear may well be
one of the best, if not certainly the most memorable. No one knew who Edward Norton was at the time
and certainly never expected him to turn into one of the best actors of his
generation. He would use this film to
catapult him into stardom in the next few years in films like American History X, Rounders, and Fight Club. Since then he
has done exceptional work with filmmakers Spike Lee and Ridley Scott. Richard Gere also turns in a convincing role
here and makes most people wonder why he can’t get more consistent work like
his performance here.
The film
also stars Laura Linney and Francis McDormand in fine supporting roles as
well. Together with fine casting and a
solid screenplay by Steve Shagan the film works and Gregory Hoblit’s directing
makes for a great film, certainly underrated.
He would direct Fallen two
years later, which audiences are still trying to catch up with along with
another great film in 2002’s Hart’s War,
which has be sorely missing an audience as the film went under the radar of so
many.
Gere
plays a Chicago hotshot attorney who takes on a case involving the murder of a
priest and the accused is an oddball altar boy (Norton), but he takes the case
knowing that this pro-bono deal could get some serious media hype, which he
thrives on. What he doesn’t realize is
that this case is full of more corruption than your typical political case and
more importantly many double crosses including some that despite how obvious
they seem, there are more twists still coming.
This is without a doubt a film that gets the magic right with believable
and convincing performances that manage to keep audiences always
second-guessing.
While I
wouldn’t exactly say that the film has been lost over the past few years since
its release, it would be fair to say that it’s worth rediscovery and obviously
Paramount believes that to be true as well with this recently released DVD and
Blu-ray edition of the film, which has been dubbed “Hard Evidence
Edition”. This is perhaps one of the
best catalog films to date released by the company on the Blu-ray format and we
are excited to see more from the vault.
The DVD
and Blu-ray are identical in their special features, which include commentary
by director Hoblit, writer Ann Biderman, and producer Gary Lucchesi, plus the
casting director and executive producer.
There are also several featurettes includes as well that examine the
films production, acting, overall direction, and the story’s leap from novel to
film. All of which are great additions
considering the previous DVD of the film had zero extra and was released way
back in 1998.
However,
this new transfer looks very good, although the Blu-ray is certainly sharper
with more definition and overall fidelity presenting the film in a High
Definition 1080p transfer framed at the original scope aspect ratio of 2.35 X
1. There are some minor moments of
softness, but overall the detail is stunning on the Blu-ray and demonstrate
some of the films memorable camerawork, in particular the jail cell scenes
between Norton and Gere. Darker scenes
hold up particular well on the Blu-ray, the DVD shows limitations to grayscale
and there is more softness and skin tones are rendered far better with the
Blu-ray. Fans of the film will also
notice how much more pronounced the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is on the DVD, but
that is taken to a whole new level with the Dolby Digital TrueHD 5.1 mix on the
Blu-ray that showcases the films suspenseful soundtrack along with a good clean
and clear dialogue mix.
The film
was always a strong contender even with the limitations of DVD, but with this
new Blu-ray edition it only makes the film a necessary re-watch with stunning
picture and sound.
- Nate Goss
