Edge of Darkness

Reviewed by Drav3n

Format: Blu-ray

Release: May 11, 2010

Rated: R

Runtime: 117 Minutes

The Movie:

The last time Mel Gibson was in front of the camera on the big screen was back in 2002 for the hugely successful film "Signs." Eight years later he returns to the big screen in this emotional and action packed drama, "Edge of Darkness."

Thomas Craven, a homicide detective and a single father, goes out looking for revenge for the person(s) that murdered his 24 year old daughter on the steps of his home. Naturally, everyone is under the assumption that he was the intended target, but he suspects differently. He seeks out to find out about what his daughter was up to, and his investigation leads him to a government official, Darius Jedburgh, who was actually sent to clean up the evidence.

This film is based on the 1985 BBC miniseries of the same name (which I haven't seen, so I can't compare the two) and is also directed by Martin Campbell, who also directed the BBC miniseries in 1985. I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this movie. It's been compared to Pierre Morel's "Taken," because of the "revenge-them", so I can understand why, but at the same time, it is still a different movie. In this movie Craven's daughter has already been killed and that's what causes Craven to go looking for revenge. This movie feels more like his 1996 film "Ransom" except more clichéd and predictable. If you couldn't predict the ending far in advance, then you must not watch many movies.

It's not a great film and it's not a bad film, and at times the movie can drag on, but what made this film watchable was easily the performances by Gibson and Ray Winstone. If different actors would've been used, the film probably wouldn't have worked, and wouldn't have even done anything in the box office. But it was good to see Gibson back on the big screen again, and hopefully he can still put out some good and memorable movies.

Presentation:

This 2.40:1 1080p image delivers a very sharp and crisp presentation with vey fine detail. The close-ups on the faces are extremely detailed and skin tones look almost lifelike. There is a light amount of grain throughout the film, but it will barely be noticeable to most. As good as the backgrounds look, during the darker scenes, the backgrounds do look washed out a bit. Otherwise detail is sharp throughout the movie. It's not a movie that would be considered a reference-quality disc, but it does look good enough to make blu-ray owners feel satisfied.

Audio:

This movie comes loaded with intense moments and action scenes and having the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio sounds excellent! Even during quieter scenes, the sound that comes through is always sounding so strong. Dialogue is always clear without any issues whatsoever. The score that's used also brings a strong feeling to this drama.

Bonus Material:

This 2-disc set is broken down with disc 1 being the blu-ray disc which features the movie and bonus features, and disc 2 is a dvd copy of the film and it also includes a Digital Copy.

• Focus-point Featurettes (480p, Runtime 31:00) - A total of nine short featurettes focusing on the locations, the original mini-series, about the director and more.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 6:00) - A few scenes that were not relevant in the film.
• BD-Live

Bottom Line:

It's a movie worth checking out if you're a fan of Gibson or in the mood for a good drama or action movie. The movie looks and sounds great, but is seriously lacking in the bonus features area. I'd say this is worth a rental.