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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Isolation (Blu-ray) (2015)

Isolation (Blu-ray) (2015)

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Released 21-Jun-2017

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Thriller Trailer-x 5 for other Eagle Entertainment releases
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2015
Running Time 93:54
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Ads Then Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Shane Dax Taylor
Studio
Distributor

Eagle Entertainment
Starring Luke Mably
Tricia Helfer
Dominic Purcell
Stephen Lang
Claudia Church
Marie Avgeropoulos


Case Standard Blu-ray
RPI ? Music Ben Lovett


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 1080p
Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     In an attempt to salvage their marriage Creighton (Luke Mably) and Lydia (Tricia Helfer) fly to the Bahamas for a week. When the house in Nassau where they are staying turns out to be extremely noisy due to construction next door they are offered a beach house on a small, remote island. It turns out to be an idyllic location, peaceful, sunny and almost deserted. Walking on the beach they meet William (Stephen Lang), a rather strange man, who invites them to come to his cottage and have dinner with himself and his wife Mary (Claudia Church). Creighton and Lydia accept and spend a long, lazy evening eating, drinking and smoking weed with William and Mary; however, when they stagger home they find that their house has been ransacked, their money, passports and cell phones stolen and the phone cut off.

     In the morning they return to William’s house, but no-one is there. Further around the island they meet Max (Dominic Purcell) who is sympathetic but confused as he says that nobody called William and Mary live on the island. He takes them to his house where they meet his girlfriend Nina (Marie Avgeropoulos). Max then offers to take Creighton out on his boat to report the crime, leaving Lydia and Nina to await their return. But evil is lurking on the island and Creighton and Lydia find themselves in a fight for their lives.

     Isolation is co-written and directed by Shane Dax Taylor, his third feature film in eleven years. I don’t mind thrillers that take their time to build tension but Isolation is probably the most leisurely thriller I can remember. It takes over 30 minutes to establish Creighton and Lydia, most of that time being pretty much a travelogue for Nassau and the Bahamas, which certainly look beautiful although nothing happens. After the couple reach the isolated beach house, another 30 minutes pass in conversations, dinner, drinks and red herrings, leaving any action and surprises to the last 30 minutes of the film when, after this long build-up, the climax feels perfunctory, contrived and predictable.

     Isolation features beautiful locations and the cast have some decent dialogue to work with but are let down by the pace of the film. There are familiar faces in the cast including Dominic Purcell and Stephen Lang, who also worked together the same year in Gridlocked, rather a better thriller. Isolation starts with a screen stating that the film was inspired by true events; make of that what you will.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     Isolation is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     Shot using Arri Alexa cameras, the print is spectacular. Detail is incredibly sharp, both in wide shots and close-ups of faces, colours are bright and glossy with beautiful blues of the sea and sky, green foliage and yellow beaches, blacks and shadow detail are pristine, skin tones natural, brightness and contrast consistent.

     Artefacts and marks were not present.

     No subtitles are provided.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     English DTS-HD MA 5.1 is the only audio choice.

     The dialogue is centred and easy to understand. The rears and surrounds were used mostly for the score and gentle ambience, such as the wind and waves. Gunshots were crisp. The sub-woofer mostly added depth to the music.

     The score by Ben Lovett was gentle and atmospheric.

     There are no lip synchronisation issues.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Trailers

     Trailers for From a House on Willow Street (2:02), Fear Inc. (1:57), Tell Me How I Die (2:33), Gridlocked (1:06) and Three West (1:57) play on start-up. They cannot be selected from the menu.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

     This Australian release of Isolation is the only Blu-ray version of the film listed on Amazon. A US Region 2 DVD has no extras.

Summary

     The Bahamas look fabulous in Isolation, just the place for a sun drenched, leisurely holiday by the beach. However, thrillers are not supposed to be as leisurely as Isolation, a film which leaves any action to the last 30 minutes.

     The video is spectacular, the audio fine. Trailers for other films are the only extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ray Nyland (the bio is the thing)
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Review Equipment
DVDSony BDP-S580, using HDMI output
DisplayLG 55inch HD LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderNAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated.
AmplificationNAD T737
SpeakersStudio Acoustics 5.1

Other Reviews NONE