BLU-RAY REVIEW

American, The

Featured In Issue 153, January 2011

Picture	5+
Sound	5
WSR Score	5

Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.

(Studio/Distributor):

Universal Studios Home Entertainment

(Catalog Number):

62112874

(MPAA Rating):

R

(Rating Reason):

Violece, sexual content and nudity

(Retail Price):

$39.98

(Disc Type):

Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)

(Widescreen Edition):

Yes

(Full Screen Edition):

No

(Running Time In Minutes):

105

(Color Type):

Color

(Chaptered/Scene Access):

Yes

(Closed Captioned):

Yes

(Regional Coding):

Not Indicated

(Theatrical Year):

2010

(Theatrical Release):

Yes

(Direct-To-Video Release):

No

(Disc Release Date):

12/28/10

(THX® Digitally Mastered):

No

(Director):

Anton Corbijn

(Screenplay/Written By):

(Story):

(Music):

(Director Of Photography):

(Production Designer):

(Visual Effects):

(Costume Designer):

(Editor):

(Supervising Sound Editors):

(Re-Recording Mixers):

(Executive Producers):

(Co-Producers):

(Producers):

(Academy Awards):

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(Principal Photography):

(Theatrical Aspect Ratio):

(Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):

(Disc Soundtrack):

DTS HD Lossless 5.1

(Theatrical Sound):

(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):

(DTS Bit Rate):

(Dolby Digital Bit Rate):

(Additional Languages):

(French Language):

(Spanish Language):

(Chinese Language):

(Subtitles):

(Cantonese Language):

(Mandarin Language):

(Japanese Language):

(Italian Language):

(German Language):

(Portuguese Language):

"The American" follows elusive assassin Jack's (Clooney) treacherous journey as he completes his last assignment�but when he pursues a torrid relationship with a beautiful woman, Jack soon finds himself in a battle to escape from his troubled past. Based on the novel "A Very Private Gentleman" by Martin Booth. (Gary Reber)

Special features include commentary with Director Anton Corbijn, deleted scenes (HD 05:44), the "Journey To Redemption" featurette (HD 10:52), My Scenes, BD-Live functionality, and a Digital Copy of the film as a download.

The 2.35:1 1080p VC-1 picture is superb, with a gorgeous rendering from the opening scene in rural Sweden to the finale. A range of emotional visualizations create dramatic impact and suspense. No matter what the scene, fleshtones are perfectly depicted with natural tones. Contrast is wonderful with deep, solid blacks, impressive shadow delineation, and dimensional depth. The color palette is perfectly natural, with at times cold imagery and other times expressing rich tonal warmth. Resolution is exemplary throughout, revealing clean details, especially depicted in close-ups of facial features, clothes, and object textures. This is such a wonderful rendering, with balance of contrast, color, and resolution. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio� 5.1-channel soundtrack is wonderfully subtle, with impressively authentic atmospheric sound effects that envelop the soundfield. Both the subtle and reserved dynamic elements are always present in the surround channels, to create an impressive sense of holosonic� immersion. Dialogue is mostly well balanced and spatially integrated, though, at times a bit forward sounding. The music score is hauntingly beautiful and injected to enhance the most emotional moments in the storytelling. Directional sound effects are effectively positioned and panned perfectly. What is really amazing is the pure realism of the atmospheric effects from automobile, motor scooter, and trains, as well as the sounds of nature. And deep bass always sound natural in the .1 LFE channel. This is a well-produced and recorded soundtrack that should please audiophiles with an appreciation for natural acoustics. (Gary Reber)

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