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    • BLU-RAY REVIEW

    We Own The Night

    Featured In Issue 130, April 2008

    Picture3
    SoundNR
    WSR Score3.5
    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):
    Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
    (Catalog Number):
    22534
    (MPAA Rating):
    R
    (Rating Reason):
    For trong violence, drug material, language, some sexual content and breif nudity
    (Retail Price):
    $38.96
    (Disc Type):
    Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
    (Widescreen Edition):
    Yes
    (Full Screen Edition):
    No
    (Running Time In Minutes):
    117
    (Color Type):
    Color
    (Chaptered/Scene Access):
    Yes
    (Closed Captioned):
    Yes
    (Regional Coding):
    A
    (Theatrical Year):
    2007
    (Theatrical Release):
    Yes
    (Direct-To-Video Release):
    No
    (Disc Release Date):
    02/12/08
    (THX® Digitally Mastered):
    No
    (Director):
    James Gray
    (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):
    (Principal Photography):
    (Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
    (Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
    (Disc Soundtrack):
    Dolby TrueHD 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):

    Set in the mid-1980's New York club scene, where illegal drugs are made available in great abundance, Bobby Green (Phoenix) is the popular manager of a legendary Russian-owned nightclub, El Caribe. Made rich and powerful by the hedonists that demand their illegal contraband, the Russian Mafia makes a move to take control of the city's drug trade, letting rival gangs know We Own The Night. Bobby is caught between the Mob and trying to conceal his family connections with two of New York's most legendary police officers. (Stacey Pendry)

    Special features include a commentary track with Writer/Director James Gray; the following featurettes Tension: Creating We Own The Night (15 minutes), Police Action: Filming Cops, Cars And Chaos (ten minutes), A Moment In Crime: Creating The Late 80's Brooklyn (nine minutes); and previews. Special features are available with optional subtitles.

    The anamorphically enhanced 1.84:1 DVD features desaturated colors and a color scheme that is dominated by golds and browns. The source material is very clean, but resolution can be wanting, with many images looking relatively soft. Black levels are adequately deep, but the image can look somewhat hazy, giving the image a somewhat flat look. Shadow delineation is good, though, with details in the darker sections of the image nicely rendered. Pixilation is not overly distracting and edge enhancement is minor enough to not be problematic. The H.264 AVC-encoded Blu-ray Disc shows the same color scheme as the DVD, and the image still has a hazy appearance causing it to look overly flat. Black levels can be deep, but there are many times when they are distractingly elevated. Some images can look inconsistently noisy as well. (Danny Richelieu)

    The Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel soundtrack can deliver a good sense of expansiveness, employing each of the channels to re-create the on-screen atmospheres. Music of the soundtrack's "meat," however, can be limited to the front screen channels, causing the soundtrack to feel one-dimensional. Fidelity is generally good, although dialogue can sound somewhat blanketed. Occasionally the dialogue can be lost in the relatively loud music. The Blu-ray Disc's lossless Dolby TrueHD encoding provides noticeably improved fidelity in the dialogue, but the limitations of the mix are still evident. High frequencies can sound overly piercing and harsh as well. (Danny Richelieu)

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    Sam West
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