DVD Corner

The Tree Of Life Blu-ray Review

“The Tree Of Life” is a maddening and meandering art film.

If you are expecting “The Tree Of Life” to have a traditional story structure, you will be in for a disappointment. The ambitious film has a non-linnear structure that jumps around in time from the creation of Earth to the present day life of Jack O’Brien. The bulk of the film sees Jack looking back on his childhood and relationship with his loving mother and his strict father. The film is stuffed with symbolism and themes about God, nature, life, loss and family. It’s heady stuff to be sure. Unfortunately, it’s also a meandering mess.

Director Terrence Malick has always been a critical darling, but general audiences don’t tend to flock to his films. Why? Because his work isn’t exactly accessible. And, let’s face it, there’s nothing accessible about “The Tree Of Life”. While seeing different approaches to storytelling is always admirable, the style of ‘Life’ is enough to drive one crazy. The sprawling film jumps back and forth through time so frequently that it will make your head spin. One minute, you are watching what looks like home videos edited together with pretentious voice overs and the next minute you are watching something that strongly resembles “2001” with the space sequences. Granted, the imagery is visually stunning, but it all feels empty when you’re left wondering what Malick is exactly trying to say with this film.

Summary: If you like art films and Malick, you might want to check out “The Tree Of Life”. Otherwise, avoid it.

Video/Audio:

If there’s one thing I can say about this Blu-ray disc, it’s that the film looks stunning in hi-def. The suburban street, architecture, space, dinosaur and ocean scenes are eye candy. There’s no question this is one of the best looking discs of the year. The film is presented in 1.85:1 1080p.

As you start the film, a message pops up stating that you should crank up the 7.1 DTS-HD audio track. It turns out you should listen to the message as the movie contains a lot of mumbling dialogue and voice overs that can be hard to hear. Aside from that, the choral music, the sounds of nature, and sound f/x all sound sharp though.

Extras:
* DVD copy.
* Digital copy.
* “The Tree Of Life” trailer.

* “Exploring The Tree Of Life”- A 30 minute featurette about the script, how the film got made, Terrence Malick, themes, the style, etc. A variety of interviews with everyone from Brad Pitt to David Fincher are included.

October 19, 2011 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Terrence Malick, The Tree Of Life Blu-ray Review