Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Green Zone (Blu-ray)

David Vaughn  |  Jun 22, 2010

Roy Miller (Matt Damon) is a U.S. Army officer deployed in Iraq in the early stages of the war who's searching for WMD (weapons of mass destruction). When every search turns-up empty, he begins to questions the veracity of the "solid" intelligence provided by his superiors and goes off the reservation with the help of a CIA operative.

Damon reteams with director Paul Greengrass in this disappointing retelling of the Iraq war. The film is well shot, acted, and edited, but the screenplay is so heavy-handed in its political message it was hard to take seriously.

Video Highlights

  • VC-1/1080p encode on a BD-50 disc
  • Dry color palette
  • Noisy blacks
  • Above-average depth
  • Occasional soft shot

Audio Highlights

  • DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack
  • Superb dynamics
  • Realistic gunshots
  • Intense LFE
  • Enveloping sound field

Some of the minor issues I have with the video encode could be sourced based, but at certain times it's visually challenged. The audio track never disappoints with smooth pans from front-to-back and side-to-side and every explosion rocks the foundation.

Bonus Materials

  • Audio Commentary by Greengrass and Damon
  • U-Control with PIP and video commentary
  • Inside the Green Zone (HD)
  • Matt Damon: Ready for Action
  • Deleted scenes
  • BD Live enabled
  • pocketBlu with mobile-to-go and virtual remote

Matt Damon is one of my favorite actors and he does a great job in this film. Unfortunately the over-the-top political bias from the writers was too one-sided to take seriously. If the theatrical box office is any indication, most of America feels the same way. Skip it.

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Release Date: June 22, 2010
Studio: Universal

Movie: 3/10
Picture: 8/10
Sound: 6/10

Review System

Source
Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player

Display
JVC DLA-RS1 projector
Stewart FireHawk screen (76.5" wide, 16:9)

Electronics
Onkyo Pro PR-SC885 pre/pro
Anthem PVA-7 power amplifier
Panamax M5400PM power conditioner

Speakers
M&K S-150s (L, C, R)
M&K SS-150s (LS, RS, SBL, SBR)
SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer

Cables
Monoprice HDMI cables (source to pre/pro)
Best Deal analog-audio cables
PureLink HDC Fiber Optic HDMI Cable System (15 meters) from pre/pro to projector

Acoustical treatments from GIK Acoustics

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