Plot: What’s it about?
I have to admit that I’m a Leonardo DiCaprio fan. And I have been for quite some time. I remember seeing What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? back in the early 90’s and another, less well-known film entitled This Boy’s Life. Both were great and were a mere foreshadowing of some of the great performances that DiCaprio has (and most likely will have) given us. As we all know, he really made a name for himself on James Cameron’s Titanic, though he was snubbed of an Oscar nomination (co-star and Academy darling Kate Winslet got one, though). That was in 1997 and it’s pretty much been Leo from that point onward. I’ll admit that I’ve never seen The Man in the Iron Mask, but I will say that one of my favorite films and, to date, my favorite “Leo” film is Danny Boyle’s The Beach. I don’t know what it is, but after reading Alex Garland’s novel the movie just spoke to me. And, as I mentioned earlier, Leonardo DiCaprio has continued to give amazing performances in pretty much every film he’s done. He was amazing in The Aviator, Gangs of New York, Catch Me if you Can and The Departed. Even The Great Gatsby benefitted from his charm! And don’t get me started on The Wolf of Wall Street – fantastic! And to top it all off, he’s a nice guy who has crusaded to save the enviornment. But still…that Oscar eluded him…until now.
Based on Michal Punk’s best-selling novel, The Revenant takes literary conflicts: man versus himself, man versus nature and man versus man to a new level. It is the winter of 1823. Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is on a trapping expedition traveling with his teenage son, Hawk (Forrest Goodluck), a descendant of the Pawnee tribe on his mother’s side. Captain Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson) of the Rocky Mountain Fury Company leads the expedition. Henry and the majority of the other trappers tend to treat Glass and his son with a polite respectfulness. However, John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) makes no secret that he is only working for the money, pays no respect to anyone, dislikes half-breeds, and will do anything to come out on top. The party exists in uneasy harmony until an attack by Arikara warriors causes the trappers to leave their base and flee downriver. Soon afterwards, Glass is mauled by a female bear and barely survives. Captain Henry leaves Glass behind with Fitzgerald, Hawk, and Jim Bridger (Will Pouleter). Fitzgerald kills Hawk and manipulates Bridger into leaving Glass for dead. This sets off a chain of disastrous events for both Fitzgerald and Glass.
The title of the novel is The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge. And it is. In the most literal sense of the word. Don’t let that deter you from seeing this 156 minute film, though. If you think you’ve seen some great performances (as I alluded to in the opening paragraph), you really haven’t seen anything yet. This really is DiCaprio’s chef d’oeuvre. And he makes it look easy. That’s the thing about great actors – they really do embody their characters that they really do make their work look easy. Although, this is essentially DiCaprio’s film, the supporting cast does a fine job as well and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the amazing performance by Tom Hardy (who teamed with DiCaprio in Inception, another favorite of mine). Hardy himself has built quite an impressive resume and shows that he can spar with Leo and hold his own. That too is the mark of a great actor. The film was up for (and in my opinion should have won) Best Picture, but ended up winning for Best Actor (DiCaprio), Cinematography and Director (Alejandro G. Iñárritu who also won for Birman). Yes, this isn’t an easy movie to watch. It’s grizzly, gory and if anything is a “man’s” film from beginning to end. But the performances are amazing and you’ll feel like those 156 minutes flew by.
Video: How’s it look?
The Revenant won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography and after seeing the film through Emmanuel Lubezki’s lens, you’ll know why. The 2.40:1 AVC HD image simply sparkles from beginning to end. Yes, there’s a lot of vast wasteland to see, but the beauty of some of the shots will stay with you long after the credits run. The obvious razor sharp detail comes as no surprise and the CGI effects (the bear was all CGI, by the way) seem to integrate into the film with relative ease. The use of color, atmosphere and costume design all combine to form a very delicate, yet beautiful canvas. I really could go on, but suffice it to say that this is one of the most amazing films I’ve seen both in look and in pure artistic effect. It’s a marvel. And it’s wonderful.
Audio: How’s it sound?
I would imagine that anyone who’s survived a bear attack would be impressed with said scene in the film. The included DTS HD Master Audio soundtrack excels on all levels leaving nothing to the imagination. Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto’s score glides through the surrounds giving a very nice ambiance to some of the scenes (particular some of the dream sequences that DiCaprio’s character has). Gunfire, naturalistic sounds and everything in between really fill the air with what is must have been like to be out, lost in the wild. While not a smash ’em up/in your face style of soundtrack, this does manage to convey the atmosphere and make for a very memorable sound mix.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Unfortunately there aren’t a lot of extras on the disc, though the box only lists the documentary, there is also a still gallery included.
- A World Unseen – This documentary was released on YouTube in 2015 and it delivers exactly what a good documentary does. We get plenty of interviews with the cast and crew, some behind the scenes footage and the motivations of some of the actors and the characters they play. It’s well worth a watch.
- Still Gallery – A gallery of photos from the film which may be played all at once or manually.
The Bottom Line
While The Revenant might not be for everyone (due to the excessive violence), it features perhaps the best performance by Leonardo DiCaprio (and that’s saying something) with great performances by the supporting cast. The Blu-ray looks and sounds stunning though the lack of supplemental features (especially available free on YouTube) might deter some from a purchase.
