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Noah (Blu-ray) Official AVSForum Review

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15K views 156 replies 61 participants last post by  NorthSky 
#1 ·



Academy Award Winner Russell Crowe stars as Noah in the film inspired by the timeless story of courage, sacrifice and hope. Also starring Emma Watson and Academy Award Winners Anthony Hopkins and Jennifer Connolly, this visually stunning, action-packed adventure from acclaimed director Darren Aronofsky.


The Review at a Glance:
(max score: 5 )

Film:


Extras:


Audio/Video total rating:
( Max score: 100 )

98



Details:

Studio and Year: Paramount - 2014
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Feature running time: 137 minutes
Genre: Drama/Thriller

Disc Format: BD-50
Encoding: AVC (MPEG-4)
Video Aspect: 1.85:1
Resolution: 1080p/24

Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD 7.1 Master Audio, French/Spanish/Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish, French, Portuguese
Starring: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, Ray Winstone, Logan Lerman, Anthony Hopkins
Directed by: Darren Aronofsky
Music by: Clint Mansell
Written by: Darren Aronofsky & Ari Handel
Region Code: A,B,C

Blu-ray Disc release Date: July 29, 2014


"The end of the world is just the beginning"


My Take:


My first glimpse of the trailer for Noah left me in a bit of a quandary. As a fan of epic biblical stories brought to the big screen (as well as always being intrigued by the story of Noah and the great flood) I was immediately interested in the subject matter however as a person of faith I was a bit turned off by what appeared to be an action/thriller that featured Noah in a light that didn’t seem befitting or respectful. I opted to wait for it to come to home video despite my son having seen it and giving it a lukewarm recommendation. It arrived yesterday and the whole family (my wife, son and daughter) sat down to watch with me.

Co-written by director Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel Noah] won’t be mistaken for a strict interpretation derived from the biblical text. It incorporates Aromofsky’s signature grandiose visual flair with a vaguely reverent retelling that eschews overt religious underpinnings in favor of an action conscious melodrama fantasy. Here God is referred to as the “creator” and there are no references to his direct contact with Noah. The early stages of the story swiftly establish a correlation between the past events; creation, Adam/Eve/the garden of Eden, their fall from grace and Cain & Abel, coming to rest in the present with Noah and his family who are the sole descendants of Seth, and remaining faithful to the creator. There are references to miracles however they are derived from an elder earthly being (Noah’s great grandfather) with no real explanation of his status/connection with respect to the almighty. The inclusion of the “Watchers”, celestial beings of sorts, were an odd choice but I found their presence less bothersome than I initially thought.

At times I was completely immersed in the dramatic elements of the story but there were instances where the narrative runs a ground by diverting to popcorn style entertainment that didn’t seem to coincide with the thematic tone or breadth of the film’s context. The primary example of this is the film’s antagonist/villain, a character of the cookie cutter variety whose interjection feels out of place at nearly every turn. What I found rewarding was the depiction of the struggle faced by Noah as well as his family to fulfill the wishes of the creator and inevitably what that would mean. I had to separate myself from what I knew about Noah as coming back to that made portions of the film incredulous.

Noah is probably more unconventional than not but in a good way I suppose as it plies us with familial subtext, spiritual meaning and ambitious execution. The production elements are excellent although the extensive use of CGI could draw some viewers out of the story (as it did with my wife). I thought that the performances by the primary members of the cast, notably Jennifer Connolly, Russell Crowe and Emma Watson were very good. Noah turned out to be exactly what I expected based on both the trailer and my son’s critique. It’s an ambitious, visually engaging film that while entertaining, fails to truly capture the inherent scope of its subject matter.


Parental Guide:

The rating is for violence, disturbing images and brief suggestive content.


AUDIO/VIDEO - By The Numbers:
REFERENCE = 92-100/EXCELLENT = 83-91/GOOD = 74-82/AVERAGE = 65-73/BELOW AVERAGE = under 65

**My audio/video ratings are based upon a comparative made against other high definition media/blu-ray disc.**



Audio: 96
(Each rating is worth 4 points with a max of 5 per category)


  • Dynamics:
  • Low frequency effects:
  • Surround Sound presentation:
  • Clarity/Detail:
  • Dialogue Reproduction:
  • Low frequency extension * (non-rated element):

Video: 100
(Each rating is worth 4 points with a max of 5 per category)


  • Resolution/Clarity:
  • Black Level/Shadow Detail:
  • Color Reproduction:
  • Fleshtones:
  • Compression:

Noah comes to Blu-ray Disc from Paramount Home Entertainment featuring 1080p AVC encoded video that has an average bitrate of 30 Mbps and lossless DTS-HD 7.1 Master Audio sound that has an average bitrate of 5 Mbps.

This film intentionally uses muted colors and uneven lighting to depict its world. Deep defining blacks and revealing details in low lit backgrounds and shadows provide excellent depth and gradational highlights to the film’s pervading darkened sequences. Detail is characterized by intricate and transparent imagery that has three dimensionality and defining resolution. This was the case in all but a few instances where definition softened slightly. I suspect that this was more than likely innate to the photography rather than related to the encoding. The film’s lighting/filtering kept fleshtones looking a bit flat and lacking in distinctiveness but this was in line with its stylized aesthetic which was fine. I thought that the creative choices made regarding the visual style of this film were right on target. It looked absolutely stunning.

The 7.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack is outstanding and truly enhances the film’s overall presentation. This is a dynamically charged surround mix that features high level detail, superlative clarity, and rich, room filling surround sound that doesn’t disappoint. This is sophisticated sound design that incorporates a vast number of sound effects that are intricately mixed to engage the listening position. Superb imaging and channel separation draw out both large and small sounds and allow their directional correlation based upon the onscreen events to be definable within the room’s acoustic boundaries. This is not an ostentatious audio presentation per se but it definitively offers powerful dynamics and deep bass extension that produces smooth, palpably rich low frequencies that occasionally reach the type of room energizing levels that bass lovers can get excited about. Dialogue is reproduced with lucid expression and exacting clarity. I never had any trouble distinguishing even the slightest changes in the pitch or tonal inflection of voices. I found this to be an entertaining home theater presentation that is tailor made for enthusiasts that demand the best from their surround sound systems.



Bonus Features:
  • (HD) Iceland: Extreme Beauty – 20 minute featurette
  • (HD) The Ark Exterior: A battle for 300 cubits – 19 minute featurette
  • (HD) The Ark Interior: Animals two by two – 19 minute featurette
  • Bonus DVD
  • Ultraviolet Digital Copy



Final Thoughts:

Director/co-writer Darren Aronofsky’s unconventional vision of the biblical story of Noah works on some level but fails to capture the reverence of subject in a meaningfully rewarding way. It comes to Blu-ray from Paramount Home Entertainment featuring superlative high definition audio/video quality coupled with a bland supplemental package that looks behind the scenes at the production. If you are already a fan this release is worth adding to your collection, otherwise Noah is a Blu-ray rental recommendation that will be fun to check out if you enjoy a rewarding home theater experience.






Ralph Potts
AVS Forum Blu-ray Reviews



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1 16
#4 ·
Thanks Ralph for the insight. I have not watched the movie and had no intention on watching it. My wife watched it at the theater and she mentioned that I should try it, she even mention you would like it. I was somewhat put off by the loose adherence to the real story -- My wife kept repeating "its just a movie". And YES, even though is just a movie then the title should had NOT been 'Noah". Sorry for the rambling.

Based on your score and if can freely take as just a movie I'll give it a try.
 
#79 · (Edited)
It's unfortunate that for as long as Aronofsky worked on getting this film made that he couldn't be more faithful to the source material.

The final product has enough artistic liberties taken to sink the boat the film is about.
The movie is faithful to the source material. Or, rather, the source materials (plural - though even the Genesis account appears to have more than one source). The movie is based on additional Noah stories besides the one(s) that are in the canonical Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Scriptures. That's what some people don't understand. There are additional Jewish stories about Noah related to the Flood, the Watchers, etc., in gnostic texts, the Enoch/Jubilees literature, etc. Aronofsky drew from those sources as well. So it is about the Noah of Jewish tradition - it's just that there is more to the tradition than the few chapters in Genesis.
 
#5 ·
didnt have patience to sit thru this at the theater... maybe i'll rent it
for me it felt ... disjointed in its story and presentation- didnt see any purpose in using the cartoon sky with shadow outline helping the story in anyway, and somewhat nonsense... some.. rock transformers helping build a boat ...?!?...seemed to me like an infantile idea

but the sound rating looks good to try it again :)
 
#8 ·
As a religious man I have heard many in church say that this movie does not follow the story in the Bible very closely. However, I am looking forward to seeing this movie regardless, it looks fun and entertaining and, in my eyes, anytime someone can make a Bible story fun and entertaining for the masses is a good thing.
 
#27 ·
As a religious man, you should be warned that the "rock creatures" represent fallen angels (demons) in the Bible. They were made out to be good...while Noah and God (The Creator) were portrayed as cold and cruel. Our culture flip flops good and evil a lot these days. I saw this at the IMAX... hoping for an epic Bible movie. It is pathetic from that perspective. Had they left out any kind of Bible connection and called this "Attack of the Rock Creatures", it would have been more acceptable.
 
#9 · (Edited by Moderator)
The rock creatures (Watchers) reminded me of the trees from LOTR, and I could not get past that for the rest of the film. The self proclaimed "king" was basically Dr. Evil. And Noahs son was no better than the people killed by the flood.
Since he survived, what was the point of wiping everyone out?

I also had an issue with the implication of incest (how else to repopulate the world), but I guess that's not the fault of the movie.
 
#19 ·
I regrettably saw this in theaters. Within the first couple of minutes when those terribly rendered rock creatures came about I knew this movie was going to suck, and it never let off that suck pedal. This movie was not for me.
 
#13 ·
All I ask if for you to please be respectful. I can respect your opinion if you want to say is based on a myth. Never the less, this story is taken from the Bible and the movie, what we are taking about does not adhere to what story in the Bible says. And BTW Noah was 600 when he constructed the ark and lived to 950.

You don't have to trust me, you can read it your self. Also here is a review of some of the differences from the movie and the actual book.

http://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/movies/animals-arks-how-noah-movie-compares-bible-n63926
 
#16 ·
Just a comment about the story it self. The director/writer called the movie "Noah" and of course he can call it anything he wants. However, by calling it 'Noah" I would give it the connotation that is based on the Noah story -- as most of us know this story is in the book of the Bible, thus I would imagine it would be base precisely on this story. Then the director disclaims that there are artistic freedoms taking from the original story.

My OPINION; there are other cultures that talk about a flood, and that have similarities with the Bible. As I mentioned, he could had called the movie something else and based it on a mixture of the flood stories. But, and again, My OPINION, if he called it 'Noah" he should had stuck to the real story. And be clear, I not referring to "real" as being true or not -- that is up to the individual -- real as what is actually in the original story.

Going back to Ralph's review -- based on this I'll give it a shot. 96 for audio and 100 for video deserves a look in my Book (pun intended)
 
#14 ·
guys please keep in mind we need to respect eachother relative to our comments from a religious perspective. NOT EVERYONE will see eye to eye, so trollish comments will not add to the discussion of the film. On a related note, even though this movie is based on religious context, the overall discussion of religion is still not appropriate for AVS. I realize it's a thin line relative to this or any film based on stories from a specific religion, but when in doubt, it maybe best not to post.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Noah and the flood can be traced back to its source: the Mesopotamian poem, The Epic of Gilgamesh and that's why Aronofsky's version has the "watchers" from the original original tale. Gilgamesh's adventures were also an inspiration for the Greek epics the Iliad and the Odyssey. The filmmakers blended fantastical elements and characters depicted in the two stories (the Old Testament biblical version of the poem and the mythological Mesopotamian tale) into one screenplay. You can choose to believe it as truth... or not.

This movie is no more "faithful" than a Cecil B. Demille melodrama staring Charlton Heston IMHO. It's supposed to be popcorn entertainment, not a Sunday school recitation. Take it as such. On that level, it's really not that good either.
 
#63 ·
I agree
 
#20 ·
I will give this a look see. If the video and audio are really that great, then I can enjoy the film for entertainment value alone. I didn't like the movie the Great Gatsby all that much but the video I thought was outstanding. I have watched it more than a couple of times just for that, so hopefully Noah will bring that same entertainment value also.
 
#105 ·
Frank, may I ask you a question that is off topic: Roughly, how large is your movie collection? :)
...Blu-rays including DVDs and Laser Discs.

____________

* BTW, I am scared, real scared, but I'll be watching this Blu tonight.
...'Noah', in 3D (frame-packing up-converted).
And thx for the review Ralph.
 
#33 ·
I ended up watching this a couple days ago. have to say, I'm not really sure who this movie would appeal to. I tend to avoid trailers once I've 'decided' to watch a movie, and I had only the expectation of this movie being an 'epic' audio/visual experience.


putting myself in the shoes of a religious person, it seemed bordering on offensive. if there was a 'message' in the movie(and I guess it changes at the end), it certainly didn't seem like a good one. it just felt like there was a lot of unnecessary 'internal struggles'.


now, from my own, non-religious point of view, it was just a downright terrible movie. the a/v presentation was fine, but I actually stopped partway through the movie(after the 5th time I checked to see how much time was left) to take a break and waste time online. I actually debated whether or not it was worth watching the last 25mins. without giving away any specifics(hopefully it's not considered a spoiler to mention that there was a flood, and an ark built ;) ) it almost seemed like the flood happened too early into the movie, and they spent too much time being terrible ppl while on the ark. I like movies where I can get behind a character and root for them. I found myself hating noah more than anybody else in this movie.


so again, I'm not really sure who the intended audience was, but it seemed to stray too far from the traditional story to be enjoyed by the more religious individuals, yet I found they made the movie pretty boring and overly 'in your face' dramatic instead of action packed. you'd think the story of a world-wide flood that 'resets' all life on earth would be dramatic enough, but they had to add in so many other character developments and plot lines, I just wanted it to be over after an hour.
 
#34 ·
I think I'll pass on this one. I was hoping that this would be an epic movie that was faithful to the Bible yet was able to add modern filming and CGI techniques to make it truly something special. By the sounds of it, it is so loosely related to the Bible and borderline irreverent that I can't justify supporting it with my wallet. Sucks because I really like Emma Watson. Once again, thanks for the review, Ralph. It helped me make my decision for sure.
 
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#35 · (Edited)
"Modern filming and CGI techniques" don't exactly give me the warm fuzzies either and they're not always "something special." Michael Bay and just about every Marvel or DC Comics summer movie keeps popping into my mind when I think this.

And yet... who's interpretation of this story are they going to be faithful toward? There are actually quite a lot of flood like, Wrath Of [insert your favorite deity here] tales from around the world with Noah-ish protagonists. They were going towards the mythological telling of this epic. Hollywood has to put in a name that English speakers may know and yet appeal to a worldwide audience for the biggest cash advantage. They're in a no win situation because with anything remotely religious, you're going to end up offending someone somewhere.
 
#36 ·
I wouldn't call myself a religious person. Perhaps more spiritual. At first I was worried this was some heavy handed, "BE A CHRISTIAN! SAVE YOUR SOUL!" type of movie, Then I remembered Aronofsky was directing it and Russell Crowe was in it. Neither scream bible thumping, God fearing men to me. Everything I've heard suggest it is respectful to religion (as I feel it should be) yet not alienating to non Christians. I never had the chance to see it in the theater but I did see a clip, I think a scene where Noah was explaining the creation and evolution of the universe. I thought it was vsually stunning and I really enjoyed how they weaved scientific theory in with religion. That alone increased my interest ten fold.

Thanks for the review Ralph!
 
#49 ·
I wouldn't call myself a religious person. Perhaps more spiritual. At first I was worried this was some heavy handed, "BE A CHRISTIAN! SAVE YOUR SOUL!" type of movie, Then I remembered Aronofsky was directing it and Russell Crowe was in it. Neither scream bible thumping, God fearing men to me. Everything I've heard suggest it is respectful to religion (as I feel it should be) yet not alienating to non Christians. I never had the chance to see it in the theater but I did see a clip, I think a scene where Noah was explaining the creation and evolution of the universe. I thought it was vsually stunning and I really enjoyed how they weaved scientific theory in with religion. That alone increased my interest ten fold.

Thanks for the review Ralph!
if only the other 90mins were as interesting...


I also enjoyed that part, and I also find it intriguing when 'science' and 'religion' can agree. the Noah story is definitely one of those cases.


but they missed imo. too much character development imo. and yet at the same time, I never felt like I understood any of the characters either...
 
#37 ·
Ralph, thanks for the heads up. I might watch this when its on Netflix but certainly would not buy a film on blue ray like this. I am surprised how many people take these movies as "gospel" after the entirety of the Gibson "Passion" film which was a feast for the eyes and terribly inaccurate or rather overly polarized. It is hard to do Bible movies with accuracy and of course we continue to engage and enjoy films that exaggerate or distort Greek and Roman mythos stories. I guess entertainment "wow" comes before any concept of accuracy. I think both can be done with good writing and directing but its a lost art of sorts.
 
#38 ·
Thanks for the review, Ralph! :cool:

I'll be picking this up based on your review comments, those nice audio/video scores, and the actors involved. I've heard the story many times but it won't disappoint me terribly if it's not exactly the same as I've heard before. Looking forward to some serious blu-ray spin with this...
 
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#39 ·
Greetings,

My thanks to everyone that has commented thus far. I figured this review would generate some discussion and differing opinion. I have no problem with that provided that adherence to the forum rules, thread topic and proper decorum are maintained.

As I have said before, you guys are the best.. :)


Regards,
 
#40 ·
The people at Answers in Genesis have probably done as much research in regard to the events in the book of Genesis as anyone on the planet (including the story of Noah). Below is their review of the film:

https://answersingenesis.org/noahs-ark/noah-movie-detailed-review/


Also, below is a link to an article about the similarities between the Biblical account of the flood and the Gilgamesh story:

https://answersingenesis.org/creationism/creation-myths/is-genesis-111-a-derivation-from-ancient-myths/
 
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