The Good

A very good film that should have been more appreciated than it was.

The Bad

I think there should have been more features that were exclusive to Blu-ray disc.While we have certainly seen this story before, in today's political climate it is almost certain that like many films from the 1970s, Body of Lies, will be looked back on with reverence. I say that because this highly stylized, cat and mouse thriller was all but ignored on its theatrical release. The film gives us Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio), a CIA foot soldier who does everything he can to stay on top of the world's situations on the ground. Monitoring all his movements via satellite link is Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe). This is a man who will stop at nothing to find his targets and that often puts him and Ferris at odds with one another. As the story moves forward, we come to realize just how much of the events on the world's stage operate in a range of gray areas. Things continue this way with our main characters eventually forced to confront not only the realities of their job but also of their relationship.

Features

Blu-ray Exclusive Features

Actionable Intelligence

Utilizing on-set footage we have the ability to examine certain sequences in this movie that are central to its plot. In addition to this, users can also access BD Live features if their systems are set up for this. Personally, my current Blu-ray player is not. I really liked this featurette. It allows users to navigate around these scenes and get a better idea of the mindsets at work behind them. Also, the quality of the footage is really impressive. Ridley Scott is the kind of filmmaker who truly delves into the visual aspects of his medium; all of this plays out strongly here.

Standard Features

- Commentary Track

- Interactive Debriefing

- Additional Scenes

Video

1080p High Definition - 16x9. 2.4:1. 1080p High Definition. This movie looked amazing. Sometimes I think that Ridley and his brother Tony Scott get too caught up in camera and editing trickery. It almost seems like they go out of their way to confuse the audience. While that is questionable in some of their films, this is all done to good effect here because the situation is totally complicated anyway. By using different film stocks, different styles of editing, viewers are shaken up in the best way. When that stylization is transferred on to Blu-ray disc, the results are a movie that will more than put your system through its proverbial paces.

Audio

Dolby TrueHD: English 5.1. Dolby Digital English, French, Spanish and Portuguese 5.1. Stereo. Subtitled in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese (movie and select Bonus Features). This film sounded incredible. Again, audio is a huge component of Ridley Scott's films. This is a director who always seems to be pushing the limits of technology in his movies. The audio on this disc is rich, layered and almost seems to be telling a different story than the images we are seeing on screen. In a theater I might have felt like I was being down with some of the sound, but in a home theater I thought that things played just right.

Package

DiCaprio and Crowe are shown in a very clandestine way on this blue, black and gray front cover. The back cover features some shots from the movie, background images that look like satellites, a technical specs listing, a story description, special features, and a cast list.

Final Word

All in all I really liked Body of Lies. I think that Ridley Scott has made a film that speaks to our times. The biggest problem seems to be that he has made a movie that all too closely mirrors the events we see every night on the news. The fact that this movie has something to say, is both intelligent and interesting, cannot be lost on those in the audience. What was most intriguing was that even though this story feels familiar, the way DiCaprio and Crowe play these characters we never know for sure just who they truly are. Playing this out in a world (both on and off screen) that is filled with terrorists, I think that Body of Lies e a lot of legs when the first 10 years of new millennium movies are examined and critiqued.

If you have a Blu-ray player a film like this really can class up your collection.