Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Michelle Williams stars as Young Mother (really, that's her name), who suffers a devastating loss when London is attacked by a terrorist bombing while she's shagging her lover (Ewan McGregor). Filled with guilt and shame, she tries to piece her life back together by getting intimately involved with the Police investigation behind the bombing.

I hadn't heard of Incendiary, but the press release had me intrigued given the pairing of Williams and McGregor. Unfortunately, the two had zero chemistry and the eventual outcome could be seen early on.

The 1080p encode is quite good, sporting a natural, richly saturated color palette. The print is in fantastic shape without any nicks or scratches, but the black levels leave a little to be desired with darker scenes being a little too dark with subpar shadow delineation.

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack serves its purpose, but it isn't demo-worthy. Dialog takes a back seat in the action-intensive scenes, but in the quieter passages, it's easily intelligible. The surround speakers provide decent ambience, and the dynamics are adequate with crisp highs and some deep bass.

The supplements are nothing special—in fact, the only features are the theatrical trailer and a still gallery.

I expected much more from Incendiary. The A/V quality is decent enough, but it's only worth a rental as long as your expectations are kept in check.

Release Date: May 5, 2009
Studio: Image

Movie: 5/10
Picture: 8/10
Sound: 7/10

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
Belkin PF60 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