The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc – Blu-ray Disc Review
November 19, 2008 – 8:20 AM - Posted by: Danielle ByingtonTags: BD-Live, Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway, John Malkovich, Luc Besson, Milla Jovovich, Sony, Tchéky Karyo, Vincent Cassel
has an average rating of 6.3 on IMDb
1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on a 50gb disc
Dolby TrueHD 5.1
ONLY include BD-Live
– 
– 1999
– 158 minutes
– Sony
– 
Street Date: December 2nd, 2008
Overall Verdict – Worth A Look
Buy it for $19.99 @ Amazon.com
— Review written by: Danielle Byington —
The Movie Itself is written/directed by Luc Besson, with the additional writing credits of Andrew Birkin. The movie is based on the historical happenings of the young French peasant girl who, with angelic guidance, lead the French military to its first significant accomplishments in decades during the 100 Years War.
The film begins with telling a small bit Joan of Arc’s background, as a child living during the 100 Years War in a territory hanging on to its French loyalty, though close to the borders of English invasion. We are shown her first “Holy experience” as a child, that is rudely followed by an English raid in her village, in which she is forced to witness her mother murdered then raped (yes, in that order). Though this isn’t necessarily historical fact, due to many court records claiming her mother is one who demanded a re-examination of her daughter’s trial after her execution, it does serve as a spark of explanation behind Joan‘s motivations and ways of understanding what to do with the “messages” she heard from the heavens.
After many letters to The Dauphin, Charles VII (John Malkovich), he has accepted to meet the peasant girl who has visions and wants to lead the remaining French military at his expense. Perhaps even speaking on behalf of history, Charles VII most likely agreed to her request due to the massive lose of France’s territory over the decades. After speaking to him in private, he is convinced of her, and she begins her to make the military actions that we would be talking about 500 years later.
Overall, the film is a nice Hollywood-styled input on the widely known historical figure. The film is also generally historically accurate, including the arrow she takes to the chest/neck, which left a wound she returned to the battlefield with the following day. I personally had a predisposition of an interest in the film, being a fan of films based on European history, such as “Elizabeth“, “The Other Boleyn Girl“, and “Henry V“, and others of similar tastes will most likely find this movie favorable. The only dragging point about the film is its close to 3 hour runtime, which however, is wisely used touching on as many historical highlights of Joan of Arc as possible, then again it’s sort of like the movie “Titanic“; if you were awake for your history classes, then you already know what’s going to happen. It is however fitting, especially now, that Joan is played by Milla Jovovich, an actress whom audiences have a history with, and is popularly known for her roles in the “Resident Evil” films, similarly portraying a different type of “tough girl”. All in all, the film earns a “3.5 Star Rating“.
Video Quality on this release is in full 1080p using the AVC MPEG-4 codec on a BD-50 (50 gigabyte dual-layered Blu-ray Disc) in the 2.40:1 aspect ratio. This nearly 3-hour film has lots of room to breathe on this BD-50, and presents abundant detail in everything, from the crude and seemingly unkempt 15th century hair styles, each freckle on the face of the young Joan along with her dirty-peasant-fingernails, and great detail in the costumes, including the battle-experienced armor. The color palette seems suitably subdued for the majority of the film, giving a proper presentation of the dull hues of this time period, with the exception of the beginning of the film as young Joan is running through the French country side where she has her first enigmatic experience. This subdued color palette also compliments the fair skintones of the cast, which are perfectly accurate, along with a solid black level. There are no signs of DNR or Edge Enhancement filters used, and definitely no signs of compression issues. Overall, the video quality for this release earns a “4.5 Star Rating“.
Audio Quality on this release is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1. There are two elements that shine the most in this audio format; the “visions” experienced by Joan, and the 15th century battles. Through out the film, Joan experiences a handful of visions in which, historically, she experiences the presence of an enigmatic force (to her claiming, God). These sequences provide a really nice use of the soundscape, with some meta-physically reminiscent panning and reverb, syncing with the mental confusion and lack of understanding a young French peasant girl would most likely feel in such a situation. I think this was also a more original idea on behalf of the makers of the film, to present the audience with what they learned about Joan of Arc in history class in the past as not simply hearing voices, but a thorough experience from something not of this world.
Secondly, the battles of Joan‘s army taking on the English sound impressively solid. The battle roars of the army fill the landscape of sound, and more notably, the clanking of the swords and armor is very distinct, as you can also hear each individual strike of the metal on metal coming from individual channels for each “clank”. The “visions” experienced by Joan, the battle scenes, and the rest of the movie for that matter, are wonderfully complimented by French composer Eric Serra, who had previously composed the music for another Luc Besson film, “The Fifth Element“. Overall, the audio quality on this release bares some great bass and rear channel presence, and some nice panning within the soundscape, earning itself a “4.5 Star Rating“.
Bonus Materials are presented in High Definition using Dolby Digital 2.0.
- The BD-Live feature on this release will activate at street date (December 2nd, 2008).
- Preview: “Blu-ray Disc is High Definition”
Overall, the the bonus materials; or lack there-of are a huge disappointment. The only real things included are trailers for other Sony films and of course BD-Live.
Blu-ray Disc packaging:
