Blu-ray Movie Reviews

"Road to Perdition" weaves a mesmerizing tale of a father and son bound together by tragedy and betrayal. On an unforgettable journey of honor, vengeance and redemption, they confront overwhelming odds - and forge an indestructible bond.

Mendes followed up his incredible American Beauty with this dark tale of gangsters and family. While I love the look of the film and the cast, the story ultimately didn’t win me over as much as I was hoping for. But this is still an impressive production with great lensing and performances from all involved.

Dreamworks delivers a good Blu-ray release, but the image seemed a bit soft for a film of this age. Fine object detail is good in close up shots but longer shots look veiled and undefined. Contrast is superb though with rich, deep blacks and plenty of shadow detail. Colors are a tad muted, by design, and lend to the intentionally drab look of the film. Dimension is good, but the longer shots flatten out the image at times. The DTS-HD Master Audio mix is excellent with plenty of spatial cues and surround use. Dynamic range is impressive at times and the action sequences are nicely rendered.

Extras are largely the same as the previous DVD release and include and introduction and commentary by director Sam Mendes. You also get a behind the scenes look at the story and the influences into the film’s look. Production snippets and deleted scenes are also included.

While a good film I’ve never felt this was a great film. I love the performances and production, but the story left me wanting. The Blu-ray presentation is good, but I thought the video could have been better.