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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.
Red Sparrow (Blu-ray) (2018)

Red Sparrow (Blu-ray) (2018)

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Released 6-Jun-2018

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama Audio Commentary-Director Francis Lawrence
Deleted Scenes-x 10 (12:20)
Featurette-A New Cold War: Origination & Adaptation (12:42)
Featurette-Agents Provocateurs: The Ensemble Cast (15:21)
Featurette-Tradecraft: Visual Authenticity (13:28)
Featurette-Heart of the Tempest: On Location (10:56)
Featurette-Welcome to Sparrow School: Ballet & Stunts (12:12)
Featurette-A Puzzle of Need: Post Production (14:08)
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2018
Running Time 140:13
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Francis Lawrence
Studio
Distributor

Twentieth Century Fox
Starring Jennifer Lawrence
Joel Edgerton
Matthias Schoenaerts
Charlotte Rampling
Jeremy Irons
Mary-Louise Parker
Joely Richardson
Sebastian Hulk
Ciaran Hinds
Kristof Konrad
Thekla Reuten
Case Standard Blu-ray
RPI ? Music James Newton Howard


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame English DTS HD Master Audio 7.1
French dts 5.1
Spanish dts 5.1
German dts 5.1
Italian dts 5.1
Russian dts 5.1
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0
English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 1080p
Original Aspect Ratio 2.40:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English for the Hearing Impaired
English Audio Commentary
French
French Audio Commentary
Spanish
Spanish Audio Commentary
Danish
Danish Audio Commentary
Dutch
Dutch Audio Commentary
Finnish
Finnish Audio Commentary
German
German Audio Commentary
Italian
Italian Audio Commentary
Norwegian
Norwegian Audio Commentary
Russian
Russian Audio Commentary
Swedish
Swedish Audio Commentary
Estonian
Hindi
Latvian
Lithuanian
Mandarin
Ukranian
Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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

Plot Synopsis

     Red Sparrow starts in Moscow with two stories intermingling. Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) cares for her invalid mother Nina (Joely Richardson) before leaving their flat for the Bolshoi Ballet, where she is a prima ballerina; Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton), a C.I.A. agent at the US Embassy, receives a message from his contact, codenamed Marble, a highly placed officer in Soviet espionage, to meet in Gorky Park. While dancing Dominika’s partner missteps and breaks her leg badly; in Gorky Park Nate’s meeting with his contact is interrupted by the police. Nate fires his pistol to draw the police away and flees to the embassy; Dominika is rushed to hospital for surgery.

     Nate is reprimanded, suspended and sent back to the US. Three months pass. Dominika will never be able to dance again and as the flat and her mother’s medical treatment are subsidised by the Bolshoi, they face an uncertain future. Enter her uncle Vanya (Matthias Schoenaerts), a Deputy Director in state security. Vanya shows Dominika evidence that her injury was a deliberate act by her partner, the lover of her rival at the ballet, and indicates that he may be able to help Dominika and her mother. Dominika first takes revenge on her partner and his lover, showing an unexpected propensity for violence, then contacts Vanya; he will help provided Dominika is willing to take part in an operation to compromise Ustinov (Kristof Konrad), a wealthy, self-made man considered an enemy by the government. Dominika reluctantly agrees and meets Ustinov in a hotel room but Ustinov is murdered by Vanya’s man Matorin (Sebastian Hulk) and Dominika is now a witness to a state sponsored murder. Dominika is given a choice; either be killed herself or agree to be sent to Sparrow School where students are taught how to use their wiles, psychological manipulation and sex to obtain information from enemies of the state. Dominika, understandably, enters the programme run by Matron (Charlotte Rampling) and, perhaps not surprisingly, shows an aptitude for manipulation and discerning what targets want.

     With Nate back in America his contact, Marble, the mole within Russian security, goes to ground, refusing to make contact. Nate knows that he himself cannot return to Russia but he persuades his bosses to send him to Budapest where he expects that Marble will make contact. Russian security chief Zakharov (Ciaran Hinds) and General Korchnoi (Jeremy Irons), of course know who Nate is and of Nate’s contacts with Marble but do not know who Marble is; they are convinced by Vanya that Dominika could be sent to Budapest to seduce Nate and find out the identity of the mole. Dominika goes to Budapest and obtains lodgings with Marta (Thekla Reuten), an older Sparrow trained operative, but soon has problems with her boss in Budapest, the greasy and lecherous Volontov (Douglas Hodge). Dominika and Nate meet and do get friendly although Nate, and the C.I.A., know who, and what, Dominika is but Nate believes he can recruit her. The game of bluff and double bluff is on. And, if things were not complicated enough, Dominika discovers that Marta is running an operation to obtain classified information from Stephanie Boucher (Mary-Louise Parker), the chief of staff of a US Senator; Dominika offers the knowledge to Nate and the C.I.A. as proof of her recruitment. In an operation in London things go wrong; Volontov gets involved, Boucher is killed and Dominika is extracted to Moscow and tortured. Her first priority is to stay alive through the interrogation, the second is to find a way out of the hold Vanya and the security service has on herself and her mother. Exposing the mole may be one way out, but what side is Dominika really on?

     Red Sparrow is based on the book of the same name, the first of a trilogy written by retired C.I.A. operative Jason Matthews. The film is certainly about the unsavoury and sordid side of espionage, if there is a savoury or glamorous side that is, for it features brutal beatings, a garrotting, torture as a captive has the skin peeled from their body, bloody murder, stabbings, sex and nudity that well justifies its MA rating here. Red Sparrow is not a standard spy thriller for it does not feature a car chase, nor shootouts. There are certainly glamorous locations including Budapest, Vienna and London, and some stunning sets, but Red Sparrow is more about tradecraft, seduction, betrayal, suspense and mystery, although the identity of the mole, when revealed, is not a big surprise.

     Indeed, the mole is almost a McGuffin, a device to keep the plot moving, which is needed for the plot of Red Sparrow is overly convoluted, adding a number of side issues and thin characters whose motivation is sketchy and who add little to the story. However, while the camera concentrates on Jennifer Lawrence the film gets by. Lawrence is one of the best young actresses working today, and just about the highest grossing with The Hunger Games franchise, but she also has received four Oscar nominations, including one for the excellent Winter’s Bone (2010), winning one for Silver Linings Playbook (2012). This is her fourth film with director Francis Lawrence following the three The Hunger Games sequels and she obviously is very comfortable with him for this is a very different and brave performance. She is brutally beaten, raped, exposed, slashed with a knife as well as having to perform convincingly as a ballerina. In a succession of wigs and some stunning costumes, Lawrence is certainly worth watching as she dominates the film, the script not allowing Joel Edgerton’s character any depth or backstory. I did however enjoy the performance of Matthias Schoenaerts as the vain, handsome, manipulative and somewhat sleazy uncle!

     Those expecting a James Bond glamorised world of spies, sex and gadgets would be rather put off by the brutality, torture and sexualised violence of Red Sparrow. The film is too long at 140 minutes and sidelines a supporting cast that includes consummate professionals Jeremy Irons, Charlotte Rampling and Ciaran Hinds, but the film does have its good moments of subterfuge, loyalty, bluff and betrayal, especially while Jennifer Lawrence is on screen, and the locations are impressive. The critics who scored the film at 47% on rottentomatoes.com, and audience at 50%, were, I feel, being too harsh.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     Red Sparrow is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     This is a film of contrasts. The exteriors, be they of the snowy wastes of Sparrow School or the cityscapes of Budapest, are bright and clean with natural colours and good definition. The locations representing the Bolshoi theatre or classy restaurants and bars are opulent and detailed although other sets, such as flats and offices, have a more muted dusky feel. The blacks in the Gorky Park scene look a bit grainy but otherwise blacks and shadow detail are fine, skin tones natural. There is a bit of blur with motion against mottled surfaces and a number of sequences are shot with the light source behind the character resulting in some loss of detail and contrast. Marks and artefacts are otherwise not present.

     English subtitles for the hearing impaired are available plus a huge range of European languages, Hindi and Mandarin. A number are also available for the audio commentary.

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

Audio

     The audio is English DTS-HD MA 7.1 and there are Spanish, French, German, Italian and Russian dubs in DTS 5.1, Hindi, Urdu, Mandarin and Ukrainian dubs in Dolby Digital 5.1, an English descriptive audio (Dolby Digital 5.1) and an English audio commentary (Dolby Digital 2.0).

     I am not set up for 7.1 audio but the 5.1 is still good for this is not a film that is heavy on action. In sequences, such as at the Bolshoi ballet or the club scene later in the film, the audience, crowd and music fill the sound stage. Otherwise there was ambient sound and music while the thuds of beatings or other impacts were loud and made one flinch. Dialogue was mostly clear. The subwoofer added depth to impacts, crowds and the music.

     The original score by James Newton Howard, who over the years has been nominated eight times for Oscars but is yet to win one, is appropriate for the film.

     There are no lip synchronisation issues.

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

Extras

     These extra features utilise film clips, on-set behind the scenes footage, still photographs and interviews. Nearly all include comments by director Francis Lawrence, producer David Ready and cast Jennifer Lawrence and Joel Edgerton. Other cast members who comment in different places include Jeremy Irons, Sakina Jaffrey, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlotte Rampling, Bill Camp, Thekla Reuten and Sebastian Hulk.

A New Cold War: Origination & Adaptation (12:42)

     Along with comments from the director and Jennifer Lawrence, the author of the film’s source novel Jason Matthews explains his background in the CIA and that Red Sparrow is his first novel while screenwriter Justin Haythe talks about adapting the novel. Other matters discussed include trying for authenticity, the sexuality and brutality in the film and the question of, given the content, whether Jennifer Lawrence would do the film.

Agents Provocateurs: The Ensemble Cast (15:21)

     A lot about Lawrence, including learning the accent, plus bits on Joel Edgerton, Jeremy Irons, Matthias Schoenaerts and Charlotte Rampling.

Tradecraft: Visual Authenticity (13:28)

     Looks at the scope of the film, the various buildings on location, the look of the film and the costumes. Additional comments by costume designer Trish Summerville and DP Jo Willems

Heart of the Tempest: On Location (10:56)

     This extra includes concept art and looks at the locations in Budapest, set design and decoration; extra comments from production designer Maria Djurkovic and the production manager in Budapest.

Welcome to Sparrow School: Ballet & Stunts (12:12)

     Preparing for and shooting the opening ballet sequence including shooting with dance body double Isabella Boylston. Choreographer Kurt Froman talks about training Jennifer Lawrence to at least move like a ballerina. This extra also shows the rehearsal for one fight scene with comments by stunt coordinator Chris O’Hara.

A Puzzle of Need: Post Production (14:08)

     Editor Alan Edward Bell takes us through the editing process, the opening sequence and the framing of shots while composer James Newton Howard covers composing and recording the score.

Director Commentary

     Director Francis Lawrence speaks about the novel and the changes made for the film, the cast, Jennifer Lawrence, the tone and (US) R rating, the shooting style, using practical locations, the colour palate, the production design, the sex scenes, cameos, he explains how they shot certain sequences and where visual effects were used. This is a decent, informative commentary without being overly technical so is well worth a listen.

Deleted Scenes (12:20)

     Ten scenes, which can be played with or without commentary by director Francis Lawrence, who explains where the scenes fit and why they were cut. Some are only a few seconds, others a bit longer. There is a “Play all” option. The scenes are:

Censorship

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

R4 vs R1

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

     We have more subtitle and language options than the Region Free US Blu-ray of Red Sparrow and the same extras. Buy local.

Summary

     I enjoy espionage stories with their uncertain loyalties, betrayals and hidden moles. Certainly, these types of films are not meant to be simple stories as misinformation, bluff and hidden agendas are the order of the day. But the best of them, such as Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy, keep the focus on the main characters, the suspense and the hunt which is where I think Red Sparrow goes off on too many tangents and tries to cover too much ground. However, Red Sparrow grew on me and at least the filmmakers did not try to dilute the brutality for a lesser rating and the film certainly does have its moments of drama, some stunning sets and locations and, of course, a superb Jennifer Lawrence. If you don’t expect James Bond type glamour, but something more gritty (and I suspect more realistic) in the world of espionage films, this is a decent Blu-ray package for those prepared to give the film a try.

     The video and audio are fine, the extras are worthwhile.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ray Nyland (the bio is the thing)
Monday, August 20, 2018
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