- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Subtitles: N/A
- Rating: Not Rated
- Region: A (B? C?)
- Discs: 1
- Studio: Severin Films
- Blu-ray Release Date: February 8, 2011
- List Price: $24.98
[amazon-product align=”right”]B004EI2NRM[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase Shopping on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1.5/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Shopping, the feature film debut of actor Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes; Closer) and director Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil: Afterlife; AVP: Alien vs. Predator) finally arrives on home video in its full, unedited form with this Blu-ray release from Severin Films. Banned in many UK cinemas upon its release due to its ultra-violent depiction of teen crime, the film would only ever see an edited home video release in the US – until now.
The story follows ex-con Billy (Law) and his girlfriend Jo (Sadie Frost; Bram Stoker’s Dracula) on their crazy nights “ram-raiding” or “shopping,” the act of stealing cars, driving them through posh shop windows and stealing what they can get. With the law quickly closing in on them and a rival gang of thieves out to stop Billy, things begin to heat up and get dangerous, in this action-intense, adrenalin rush of a film.
Its stylized visuals and pulsating rhythms of techno and hip hop music scream of teen angst, modern isolationism, and a nihilistic frenzy that masks a screenplay, also by Anderson, that admittedly has some holes. Taken all together, however, Shopping is an exciting rush to watch and a brilliant feature debut for both Law and Anderson. Time, perhaps, has tempered the effects of the violence, because even in this unedited version, the film seems rather tame in a world where seven Saw films have been released.
Video Quality
[Rating:3/5]
Shopping has a rather low- to mid-bitrate AVC/MPEG-4 1080p encoding on Blu-ray. The image tends to look mostly film-like, but grain levels are all over the place and the low-lit scenes are absolutely swarming in grain that is pushed to the point of becoming video noise. On the strong side, flesh tones look good and shadow detail is nicely extended, but overall the transfer looks soft and far too inconsistent.
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix sounds rather thin, even during sequences with the pulsing techno and hip hop music moving to the fore. Highs are a bit harsh resulting in some gritty and fatiguing sound effects. Activity in the surround channels is limited to mild ambience, but the mix does provide clear dialogue.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1.5/5]
The strongest supplement here is the audio commentary from director Paul W.S. Anderson and producer Jeremy Bolt. Everything else is very promotional in nature and not necessarily worth watching.
The supplements provided with this release are:
- Audio Commentary with Director Paul W.S. Anderson and Producer Jeremy Bolt
- Featurette with Paul W.S. Anderson and Jeremy Bolt (1.78:1; 1080p/24)
- EPK Featuring Interviews with Jude Law, Sadie Frost, and Paul W.S. Anderson (1.78:1; 1080i/60)
- Trailer (1.33:1; 1080i/60)
- Severin Trailers
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3/5]
Shopping is exciting, stylistic filmmaking with riveting performances from Jude Law, Sadie Frost and Sean Bean (The Lord of the Rings). Even in this barebones release on Blu-ray, this is a film well worth owning.
Additional Screen Captures:
[amazon-product align=”right”]B004EI2NRM[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase Shopping on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1.5/5]
