Movie Reviews

Serenity – Blu-ray Movie Review

A fishing boat captain has his life turned upside down when his ex-wife shows up and asks him to kill her abusive husband and save their 10-year old son.

Synopsis

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Baker Dill is a fishing boat captain scraping to get by with tourist charters and by selling the occasional swordfish. His obsession with catching a special tuna almost makes him a modern-day Captain Ahab. One day, his ex-wife appears asking him to kill her abusive husband to save their 10-year old son. At this point, Dill’s life takes a bizarre turn as he tries to separate reality from a series of strange visions. In the end, he must decide between his obsession and a moral obligation to his family.

Specifications

Universal Studios
2019, Color, Rated R, 1 Hr 46 mins
DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 2.39:1 Aspect Ratio
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Diane Lane
Directed by: Steven Knight

Rating

Entertainment:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:

Violence: Moderate
Sex: Yes
Language: Moderate

Commentary

Serenity starts out as a Moby Dick story of the boat captain obsessed with catching an elusive tuna. He comes close countless times but never quite makes the big score. Once his ex-wife shows up, things take a turn for the bizarre. The film becomes something of a psychological thriller but unfortunately, its pacing slows to a crawl. Just as I was about to tune out, a completely unexpected twist happened. I can’t say any more without spoiling the plot, but I was engaged after that. It’s worth seeing the story through to the end and I thought the conclusion was satisfying. It’s a strange film but one that will provide a decent evening’s entertainment. I can’t see it appealing more than once though. Once you know the twist, you can’t be surprised again.

Technical

The image is presented with good focus and detail and shows plenty of contrast. Color is rich with lots of warm tones and deep blues during the ocean scenes. Even in good ‘ole 1080p, it looks pretty good. I saw a few instances of softness but there were no other obvious artifacts.

The DTS-HD Master encode is competent and clear with good dialog and decent ambient effects. The sub and surrounds are used quite sparingly though I heard a few effective pans across the wide front sound stage.

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Extras

There are no bonus features in this release. My package included only the Blu-ray and a digital copy on DVD with an activation code.

Chris Eberle

Chris' passion for audio began when he took up playing the bassoon at age 12. During his third year at the New England Conservatory of Music, he won a position with the West Point Band where he served for 26 years as principal bassoonist. He retired from the Army in 2013 and is now writing full time and performing as a freelance musician in Central Florida. As an avid movie lover, Chris was unable to turn away the 50-inch Samsung DLP TV that arrived at his door one day, thus launching him irrevocably into an obsession with home theater. Dissatisfied with the image quality of his new acquisition, Chris trained with the Imaging Science Foundation in 2006 and became a professional display calibrator. His ultimate theater desires were realized when he completed construction of a dedicated cinema/listening room in his home. Chris is extremely fortunate that his need for quality audio and video is shared and supported by his wife of over 25 years. In his spare time he enjoys riding his recumbent trike at least 100 miles per week, trying out new restaurants, going to theme parks and spending as much time as possible watching movies and listening to music. Chris enjoys bringing his observations and discoveries about every kind of home theater product to as many curious and well-informed readers as possible. He is proud to be a part of the Team and hopes to help everyone enjoy their AV experiences to the fullest.