Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler was one of my favorite films of 2008. I first saw it in theaters in early January and have been anticipating its release on dvd/blu-ray since. And now it's finally here! Here's what I thought of it.
The movie:
Mickey Rourke! That's all you gotta say. You can't talk about this movie without mentioning what a tremendous performance he gives as the films protaganist Randy "The Ram" Robinson. His acting alone is reason enough to watch it. I hear that before Rourke signed on that Nicholas Cage was gonna play "The Ram", which seemed to me to be an odd decision, but, luckily for us, that never happended. Probably for the best. Part of this movies appeal was that it was being heralded as Rourke's big comeback into the picture business. Who doesn't like a comeback, right? Some of the films plot has to do with the potential for a comeback. But I'm not gonna spoil anything for readers who haven't seen The Wrestler yet. Just know that it's a very solid piece of work, compelling, brutal, but also tender, and heartbreaking as well. The good kind of heartbreak, you know? All the good qualities great movies should have. The Wrestler is my second favorite Aronofsky film next to The Fountain.
My only criticism is that I wanted more. There's a secondary plot involving "The Ram" and his daughter that I would have liked to have been fleshed out a little more. Oh, well. Be happy with what you got.
The dvd/blu-ray:
Now, I bought the blu-ray myself , but I'm pretty positive that the dvd and blu-ray of The Wrestler are indentical in regards to special features. The picture quality itself, on the blu-ray, I believe, holds true to how the film was shot and how it looked in theaters. It's a very grainy movie so don't expect a clean pristine picture like you'd see on a pixar or spiderman dvd/blu-ray. Sharpness varies from scene to scene somewhat but, again, the movie was probably shot this way. The finest detail can be seen in close up shots of faces, bloody wounds, and bare butts. Of which there are many. I'm talking about butts, of course. As far as the colors go I didn't see any discrepancies from what I remember in the theater. They're not to dull, not to over saturated either. Granted, my television has not been professionally calibrated, so you might have some different impressions regarding the visuals of the disc itself when you watch the blu-ray in your home.
As far as special features go I found this disc to be a little bit lacking. There are 3 special features. Just three? You get a music video of Bruce Springsteen's theme song "The Wrestler", not HD! A roundtable discussion of former professional wrestlers talking about the movie and wrestling, not HD! Seeing a trend yet? Then finally you get, and this was the only feature I found worth a damn, a 43 minute making of documentary. It's actually pretty good. Oh, yeah, NOT HD!!!!
If only blu-rays had something more to offer that would separate them from their dvd counterparts. But I guess blu-ray isn't profitable enough, as of now, to warrant that kind of special attention from the studios. What a ripoff! Just kidding. Or am I?