Way Back, The

The Way Back is an epic saga of survival; a trial of humanity and strength. The year is 1040, and seven prisoners have daringly escaped from a brutal Siberian gulag. But they find that having escaped one prison they are now surrounded by another: the brutal, unforgiving Siberian landscape. But freedom is tempting and the men begin a treacherous 4,500-mile trek, with little food and supplies. Their trust in each other is even less, but in order to withstand nature at its most terrifying extremes, they must learn to rely on each other and overcome their suspicions. Their compassion is further tested when they meet a teenage runaway who begs to join them on their quest. inspired by the book The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz. (Gary Reber)

Special features include the featurette The Journey Of the Journey (HD 30:57), the trailer, and up-front previews.

The 1080p AVC picture is presented in a style reminiscent of Director David Lean's classic works. The picture perfectly presents the extremes of nature in this epic depiction of man against nature. There are many and varied locales that are captured with amazing realism. The gulag scenes are bleak and cast in deep blues. The forests exhibit rich green foliage, the deserts are rendered with bright, sun-drenched neutral hues, and the Himalayas shine with crisp white snow and bright skies. Contrast is excellent throughout, with revealing shadow delineation and effective blacks. The color palette is impressively hued to the environments. Fleshtones are convincingly natural and accurate looking. Dimensionality is excellent as well. Resolution is excellent, with fine detail evident in facial features, hair, clothing, and object texture. This is a wonderful cinematic visual experience that dramatically depicts the tense events impressively. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack is dramatically voiced and immersive. The sound is, at times, tense but always spatially descriptive of the various locales depicted in the storytelling. Atmospherics and special effects are wonderfully dimensional and directionalized within the soundfield, with every environment treated to as a different soundscape. Wind, explosions, sand storms, pouring rain, insect buzzing, and other soundscape nuances are perfectly rendered to create a sense of stark realism. The .1 LFE channel is energized appropriately to enhance the dramatic scenes and sounds of nature and explosions. These effects really enhance the storytelling and provide an immersive holosonic® soundfield experience throughout the storytelling. Burkhard Dallwitz's orchestral score is wonderfully dynamic and sweeping. Dialogue is spatially integrated and intelligible, except when overwhelmed by the elements. This is an engaging soundtrack experience that is dramatically presented. (Gary Reber)