- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit)
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
- Region: A (Region-Locked)
- Rating: R
- Run Time: 112 Mins.
- Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
- Studio: 20th Century Fox
- Blu-ray Release Date: January 24, 2012
- List Price: $29.99
[amazon-product]B006DHATF0[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase The Whistleblower on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0.5/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(All TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Film
[Rating:4/5]
A gripping thriller based on true events, The Whistleblower follows the story of Kathryn Bolkovac (Rachel Weisz) an American police officer who take a job with a government contractor after the war in Bosnia and becomes part of the UN’s international peacekeeping force. When there, she is soon looking into the case of a missing girl that quickly evolves into a dangerous investigation of sex trafficking that reaches into the highest levels of government, military, and private contractors.
An important issue that must be exposed, The Whistleblower doesn’t quite delve as deeply into the plight of the young women or the situation in post-war Bosnia in the 1990s as much as it could have, but the pacing, slick direction, and believable portrayal by Rachel Weisz and David Strathairn (Peter Ward) who also makes an appearance as one of Bolkovac’s UN colleagues all add up to a satisfying thriller.
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
The Whistleblower is naturally grainy and gritty and a bit soft and somewhat muted in its color palette most of the time, favoring the cooler side of the spectrum with blues, greys, and whites. Still the AVC encodement is a strong one that gives a strong amount of detail in closeup shots, deep blacks without a lot of crush and not issues with digital manipulation.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio is a nicely done lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack that shows a good balance of direct sound from the front three channels and atmospheric sound effects from the surround channels with extension down to the upper reaches of the lower spectrum offers a good amount weight and sturdiness.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0.5/5]
There’s only one supplement available on this disc and it is a brief featurette in 1080p that discusses the real-life person depicted in the film, complete with some interview segments.
- Kathy Bolkovac: The Real Whistleblower (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:05:31)
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Whistleblower is not a documentary, so don’t go into it expecting an in depth exposé and you’ll be reasonably entertained. Unfortunately, the barebones disc that comes minus any sort of Digital Copy, bonus DVD, and little in the way of extras doesn’t make it much of a value. Perhaps a weekend rental is in order for this one.
Additional Screen Captures
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[amazon-product]B006DHATF0[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase The Whistleblower on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0.5/5]
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