Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (Blu-ray Review)

December 8th, 2009 Blu-ray-au Posted in Blu-ray Movie Reviews | Comments Off

Even the title screams ‘generic.’

How far would you go for the story of your life?

The first rule of a Thriller is: don’t copycat every other Thriller ever made. Unfortunately, it’s a rule
that seems made to be broken, and with the remake craze still in full swing, it’s inevitable that
some of the better classics of the genre are in the crosshairs of hungry producers eager to get
another movie with a big star onto screens, regardless of its faithfulness to the original or even
whether or not it deliver…

Video

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt features a 1080p, 1.85:1-framed transfer that appears
reasonably good at-a-glance, but over the course of 106 minutes, several flaws that are beyond
doubt creep up and knock the quality down several notches. Shot digitally, the image offers sound
detail but tends to look somewhat artificial and flat. Faces appear pasty, devoid of fine detail and
appearing unnaturally smooth. However, several exterior locales — building façades, paved
walkways, tree …

Audio

Faring somewhat better than the wishy-washy visuals is Beyond a Reasonable Doubt‘s
PCM 5.1 uncompressed soundtrack. Though a decent effort, this one is not without its share of
flaws. Dialogue is often forced to compete with ambient effects — chirping birds, a gentle breeze,
or general city din — and the two are seemingly at war for listeners’ attention in several scenes.
In addition, dialogue sometimes sounds boomy and slightly unnatural. Several dialogue scenes
are also…

Supplements

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt serves up a few extras for this Blu-ray release. First is a
commentary track with Writer/Director/Cinematographer Peter Hyams and Actor Jesse Metcalfe.
Like the film itself, the track is unremarkable but listenable; topics covered include Hyams’ efforts
to give the movie a noir tone, the score, the challenge of Metcalfe’s character, Hyams’ direction
and thoughts on the film’s themes and style, anecdotes from the set, and more. The Whole
Truth — T…

Final Words

There are certainly far worse ways to spend a couple of
hours, but Beyond a Reasonable Doubt delivers, at best, only a moderately entertaining and
never at all suspenseful movie-watching experience that’s bathed in clichés, hindered by a generic
script, thwarted by stiff performances, and directed with an exceptionally dull and straightforward
approach. ……

Read full review: Blu-ray.com