Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Paul Conroy is not ready to die. But when he wakes up 6 feet underground with no idea of who put him there or why, life for the truck driver and family man instantly becomes a hellish struggle for survival. Buried with only a cell phone and a lighter, his contact with the outside world and ability to piece together clues that could help discover his location are maddeningly limited. Poor reception, a rapidly draining batter, and a dwindling oxygen supply become his worst enemies in a tightly confined race against time - fighting panic, despair and delirium, Paul has only 90 minutes to be rescued before his worst nightmare becomes true.

I have one big issue with this transfer; the black levels. The entire film takes place in a coffin with little to no light. Unfortunately whoever mastered the film decided that black shouldn’t truly be black and raised the black level SIGNIFICANTLY. This is easy to spot since when all the lights in the film go out, the black bars from the framing are significantly darker than the image. So if you want to get the most out of this film, pause the movie during the first blackout and lower your brightness level until it matches the black level of the bars above and below it. The rest of the image is solid with great fine object detail. Fine textures stand out perfectly, even in the low light, and colors are rich when present. The soundtrack is ominous enough but a bit limited given the context of the film. There are some moments when the dynamic range is impressive, but this is more of a dialogue-based presentation.

Extras include a look at the making of the film plus the trailers. You also get a DVD of the film included in the case.

Despite the limited setting, Buried still manages to stay engaging throughout and I have to give credit to Reynolds for pulling it off. This reminds me a bit of Phone booth in some ways and manages to be just as entertaining. Black levels aside, this one is worth checking out.