DVD Corner

Wild Tales Blu-ray Review

“Wild Tales” lives up to the hype.

Time and time again, I have said that the anthology genre is criminally underused in cinema. Imagine my delight then when “Wild Tales” showed up on my doorstep. The film (which was deservedly nominated for Best Foreign Language film by the Academy Awards) is a six story anthology film centered around the theme of revenge. While I don’t want to spoil what happens in each and every story, I will say that viewers can expect stories involving a plane trip, a waitress, road rage, car towing, a hit-and-run murder, and a wedding that goes horribly awry. To say anything more would be spoiling the fun.

While the anthology genre may be synonymous with horror and sci-fi ala “The Twilight Zone” and “Creepshow,” “Wild Tales” takes a different approach. Each of the six revenge stories here is a dark comedy piece. More than that, however, these tales are simply superbly written scripts by writer/director Damian Szifron.

It has often been stated there are only a finite amount of actual stories one can tell and that “revenge” is one of those themes. Szifron seems to have taken that to heart and has crafted six clever tales built around that age old plot. Sure, this could have easily been a cheap gimmicky flick, but it’s not. From story one to story six, Szifron’s creativity keeps viewers glued to the screen as he explores the dark side of humanity’s desire for revenge. Also, much like a “The Twilight Zone” episode, each segment does serve as a morality tale. Whether Szifron is exploring marital woes or human indecency, each story has something to say about humanity and society as a whole. It’s surpisingly poignant in that way.

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 2.39:1 1080p. How does it look? This beautifully shot film looks even more impressive on Blu-ray.

Audio Track: Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD MA with English Subtitles. How does it sound? I have no complaints with this track whatsoever.

Extras:
* Sony trailers and a “Wild Tales” trailer.
* “Wild Shooting: Creating The Film” contains plenty of neat behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, discussions about how the project came to fruition, and more. A superb extra.
* “An Evening At The Toronto International Film Festival With Damian Szifron”- The title says it all.

June 25, 2015 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Wild Tales Blu-ray Review