Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Today is the biggest day in Jamal Malik's life. A penniless, eighteen year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, he's one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" But when the show breaks for the night, suddenly, he is arrested on suspicion of cheating. After all, how could an uneducated street kid possibly know so much? Determined to get to the bottom of Jamal's story, the jaded Police Inspector spends the night probing Jamal's incredible past, from his riveting tales of the slums where he and his brother Salim survived by their wits to his hair-raising encounters with local gangs to his heartbreak over Latika, the unforgettable girl he loved and lost.

The film reminded me a bit of the also excellent; City of God, in its tone and scope but Boyle manages to make this one a bit more mainstream. Some have said this is the first big break for “Bollywood” in the US but I honestly don’t see this as an example of the popular Indian genre but rather a story that crosses all lines with its drama and heart. A stunning film from one of today’s best directors.

Boyle shot this film with a mix of consumer grade and professional HD cameras giving the image quality a mixed result. Thankfully it never looks bad, but it lacks the spit and polish of most traditionally filmed releases we’ve become accustomed to. Like the recent Miami Vice, the HD cameras have a rough look in darker sequences with obvious video noise and artifacts. Brighter sequences fair much better with good resolve, depth and detail. Close ups can look a bit softer than some of the more polished HD films out there but detail is still strong and the color palette is gorgeous throughout most of the film.

The soundtrack is a mix of Hindi and English and is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Like the video, the soundtrack is very inconsistent in its overall presentation. Most of the time the track is nicely balanced with clean dialogue and a nice sense of spatial design. But the music selections really drive the overall volume way up out of nowhere creating an inconsistent balance throughout the film. This may have you reaching for your remote to change the volume quite a bit. I loved the strong dynamics the mix provides and at times the spatial quality of the surround soundstage coupled with the imaging across the mains provides one of the most believable soundtracks I’ve heard to date. It is just a shame that the quality is so hit or miss throughout.

This was obviously produced before the film won the Best Picture Academy Award as there isn’t even mention of it on the case. Fox still provides some good supplements though including two feature commentaries and a host of behind the scenes features that explore the making of the film and some of the key sequences. You also get a short film from India and a music video for one of the film’s songs. Disc two also features a digital copy of the film for your portable media player.

I really hope we see some of Boyle’s other catalog titles hit Blu-ray soon. I would LOVE to see Millions hit the format. Highly recommended!