Brokeback Mountain, Blu-ray (2005/2009)
Starring: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams, Randy Quaid
Director: Ang Lee
Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment 62107974 [Release date: Mar. 10, 09]
Video: 1.85:1 widescreen for 16:9 color, 1080p HD
Audio: DTS HD Master Audio 5.1; French, Spanish DTS 5.1
Extras: Featurettes, BD-Live Content
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Feature Length: 135 minutes
Rating: ****
While Brokeback Mountain isn’t a Hollywood love story in the traditional sense, that’s essentially just what it is, a love story, and an exceptionally well-crafted one at that. It garnered eight Academy Award nominations in 2005, and won three, including Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director and Best Original Score. The film was also a strong contender for best picture as well, eventually losing to the ensemble drama Crash, marking the first time in Oscar history that the film with the most nominations didn’t win best picture. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal play two cowboys who, despite their traditional backgrounds, find that their close quarters and isolation in the wilderness leads them to a much more non-traditional relationship. They struggle mightily with their desires for a normal, traditional existence, and their desire for each other. The movie also featured breakout performances by Michelle Williams (as Heath Ledger’s wife Alma) and Anne Hathaway; each tries to cope with their increasing awareness of their respective spouses’ situations that run counter to their own moral beliefs. Randy Quaid is also superb as a hard-nosed rancher, a role that seriously contrasts the good-natured buffoon he typically plays in most movies.
The film features some amazing cinematography and a fantastic music score, and both are displayed to magnificent effect on this Blu-ray release from Universal, which easily betters the standard DVD issue in just about every way. The image quality is sharper and more detailed than on the DVD, and the contrast is markedly improved in the movie’s frequent darker sequences. While there are no bombs and explosions to show off your system, the music is an integral part of the overall effect, and it’s superb via the DTS HD Master Audio soundtrack. There’s also a treasure trove of featurettes and interviews that offer a remarkable amount of insight on the movie. There’s no commentary track, which seems unusual and will strike many as quite an omission for a film of this magnitude. There is, however, an excellent featurette that focuses on director Ang Lee and his vision for the film, and that will satisfy most fans of the film.
It was really great to see the late Heath Ledger onscreen again. I also watched The Dark Knight this weekend, and it along with Brokeback Mountain really brought home what a staggeringly good actor Heath Ledger was. His work will be missed – very few actors could inhabit a character with such ultimate believability. You’ll have a difficult time bettering the presentation of this excellent movie than with this superb Blu-ray from Universal. Very highly recommended.
— Tom Gibbs
