The Movie
Author Cornelia Funke's book about the power of books is brought to the screen in a visually pleasing but dramatically clunky adaptation, Inkheart, named for the book within the book from which characters escape into the real world, after being released by gifted someones nicknamed "Silvertongues" (e.g., Brendan Fraser's character) who can make books come alive just by reading them aloud, and wreak all sorts of mayhem. Everything here is a tad heavy-handed, and this being a movie, the various characters' obsession with the written word comes off as a little off-putting. It's also quite dark, and probably too violent for young children, although to be fair there are eventually some interesting twists involving a wife/mother disappearing into a book and then secretly being pulled back out into the real world, unbeknownst to her family. Even the usually captivating Helen Mirren chooses to play her role as petulant and annoying, although Paul Bettany and the ever-surprising Andy Serkis manage to strike the right note in their respective performances.
Be sure to check out Karen Dahlstrom's Inkheart movie review as well.
The Picture
Shot on a combination of sets and authentic European locations,
Inkheart is an absolute feast for the eyes that reproduces stunningly in HD, the 2.4:1 frame almost hypnotic to stare at, if only the story was as riveting. Blacks are strong and natural, with lots of evident detail even in snowswept exteriors, which manage to maintain exquisite colors here and everywhere. I found myself hanging on for the imagery more than anything by the time Act III rolled around.
The Sound
New Line is part of the Warner Family of labels, and so I suppose I should not have been surprised that the disc defaults to Dolby Digital 5.1, despite a perfectly fine high-res Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track just sitting there. I switched over of course to better appreciate the somewhat lively audio, some titillating phasing effects in the surrounds for example as books begin to "speak" with lifelike nuance, although Inkheart ultimately lacks the real sparkle of the best modern fantasy/action mixes. The ominous arrival of a mythical shadow beast is pretty good stuff though.
The Extras
The extras, while not abundant, are definitely appropriate to the matter at hand. In "Eliza Reads to Us," young co-star Eliza Hope Bennett reads a portion of the book left out of the movie (approximately four minutes, in HD, accompanied by original illustrations). The novelist plays the "Tell Me a Story game on-set in "A Story from the Cast and Crew" (six-and-a-half minutes, HD) and is profiled in "From Imagination to Page: How Writers Write," giving insight into the creative process (ten-and-a-half minutes, HD). Nine additional scenes total 13-and-a-half minutes, all in high-definition. BD-Live also promises to link us to additional features, including commentary by director Iain Softley which for some reason is not on the disc itself. Disc two is puts a standard-def DVD copy plus Digital Copy for iTunes and Windows Media Player all together on the same bonus platter.
Final Thoughts
While some family films manage to be all things to all people, I'm hard-pressed to determine who exactly the target audience for Inkheart is supposed to be. Too slight for the grownups and too heavy for the young'uns, it is nonetheless a lovely-looking BD-Live-enabled Blu-ray.
Where to Buy:
Product Details
- Actors: Brendan Fraser, Helen Mirren, Sienna Guillory, Paul Bettany, Eliza Hope Bennett, Richard Strange, Rafi Gavron, Matt King, Steve Speirs, Jamie Foreman, Stephen Graham, Mirabel O'Keefe, Andy Serkis, Jim Broadbent, Jennifer Connelly
- Director: Iain Softley
- Audio Format/Languages: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (English), Dolby Digital 5.1 (English, German)
- Subtitles: English SDH, German, German SDH, Spanish
- Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
- Number of discs: 2
- Rating: PG
- Studio: New Line
- Release Date: June 23, 2009
- Run Time: 106 minutes
- List Price: $35.99
- Extras:
- "Eliza Reads to Us"
- "A Story from the Cast and Crew"
- "From Imagination to Page: How Writers Write"
- Additional Scenes
- Standard-Def DVD
- Digital Copy
- BD-Live to additional features including commentary by director Iain Softley
