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  Directed by
  Starring
  Specs
  • Widescreen 2.35:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  • Dual Layer ( )
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  Subtitles
    English, Hebrew, Czech, Polish, Hungarian, Portuguese, Icelandic, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish
  Extras
  • Deleted scenes
  • Theatrical trailer
  • 3 Audio commentary
  • Photo gallery

Ravenous

20th Century Fox/20th Century Fox . R4 . COLOR . 97 mins . MA15+ . PAL

  Feature
Contract

The tale of Ravenous harps on the idea of the Indian myth of the Wendigo that gains its strength and healing powers from eating his fellow man. Guy Pearce plays Captain John Boyd, who is sent to a remote frontier outpost after cowering from fighting in the Mexican War. The lazy lifestyle of the outpost is interrupted by the arrival of a half-frozen man called Colqhoun (Robert Carlisle), who stumbles into camp with mythical tales of being stranded with a wagon train and having to resort to eating his deceased counterparts. The men decided to return with Colqhoun to the resting-place of the wagon train only to find out that he was the only cannibal, and everyone else had been butchered. A battle ensues, and only Boyd manages to survive and return to camp. Yet upon his arrival he sees Colqhoun is now the commanding officer of the outpost, and the remainder of the film is just a battle of wills between the two officers.

Ravenous cannot be regarded as any form of typical Hollywood film. The storyline is something new and refreshing, but the concept is rather disconcerting if not flat out repulsive. However, the plot is relatively good and is rather fluent. The acting performances also tend to lean towards to acceptable side. Guy Pearce shows strong character in the film, and given the right storyline he might make more mainstream blockbuster films. Carlisle is always good at playing the ‘baddie’, even when the script he is stuck with doesn’t leave him with much to work with.

Overall Ravenous does lose its momentum and therefore it isn’t left with much substance to entertain the viewer. But if you like a good suspense film check it out.

  Video
Contract

Ravenous gets itself a pretty tidy transfer without it being anything jaw dropping. Presented with an aspect ration of 2.35:1 it is widescreen enhanced and generally pleasent to watch.

The colours are reasonalby bright and are quite realistic. The detail is sharp but again, nothing special. Shadow detail lacks in several scenes and grain rears its ugly head on a few occasions also.

Film artefacts are occasional, but nothing more then you'd expect. There is basically no aliasing and MPEG artefacts are equally as rare. Overall, quite a good transfer with no major faults.

  Audio
Contract

The audio for this disc is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 at a less then special bitrate of 384Kbps. The dialogue is clear and distinctive. The surround channels are well used considering the limitations of the film.

There were audio sync problems, or any other problems for that matter. The soundtrack is quite good, but like the video transfer, it is nothing special.

  Extras
Contract

This is special edition, so expect some extras.

For starters we have three audio commentaries. The first Audio Commentary is with Antonia Bird (the Director) and Damon Albarn (Composer). A reasonable full length commentary that is quite interesting and worth checking out if you enjoyed the film.

The Second Audio Commentary is with Robert Carlyle (Actor) which only starts when his character is introduced in the fourth chapter. Again, another interesting one, although nothing exciting.

The Third Audio Commentary involves Ted Griffin (Writer) and Jeffery Jones (Actor). This one runs for the full length of the film and is a little more fluent then Robert Carlyle's. Again, only worth listening to if you really enjoyed the film. May get a little tiresome otherwise.

We also have a Theatrical Trailer, Photo Galleries and some Deleted Scenes with an optional audio commentary. The deleted scenes are interesting and a good addition. Overall a tidy collection.

  Overall  
Contract

Overall Ravenous is an 'interesting' watch if nothing else. Possibly most enjoyed by those lovers of a dark comedy. The transfer is fine while nothing special, and the extras are quite interesting. Well worth sticking your teeth into.


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      And I quote...
    "This dark comedy is well worth sticking your teeth into."
    - Nathan Clark
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Pioneer DV-636
    • TV:
          LG 80cm
    • Speakers:
          Pioneer
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard RCA
    • Video Cables:
          standard s-video
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