Blu-ray Review: The Social Network (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Overall - 4.0 Stars (out of 5)
Synopsis
On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history... but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications.
Actors: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Armie Hammer, Justin Timberlake, Monique Edwards
Directors: David Fincher
Writers: Aaron Sorkin
Blu-ray Release Date: January 11, 2011
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Rating:
Overall rating weighted as follows:
Audio 40%, Video 40%, Special Features 20%,
Movie - it's just our opinion so take it with a grain of salt
Audio (3.6 Stars)
Dolby and DTS Demo Discs used as basis for comparison
Subwoofer - 3.5 Stars
Dialog - 5 Stars
Surround Effects - 3.0 Stars
Dynamic Range - 3.0 Stars
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
The Social Network has lots of snide and technical conversations in it, and they were all very important. The audio track presented them clearly and was not overpowered by ambient noise. With the exception of a ten speed in one scene and the low hum of florescent lights in another, the dynamic range and the surround effects were not utilized at all. However, there is an audio savior in this film, Trent Reznor's impressively mood building soundtrack. It brings a few low tones and some hi-tech flare to a purely dialog driven movie. I enjoy the soundtrack so much; I often listen to it while I'm working.
Video (4.4 Stars)
Spears & Munsil Benchmark Blu Ray Edition used as basis for comparison
Color Accuracy - 3.5 Stars
Shadow detail - 5.0 Stars
Clarity - 5.0 Stars
Skin tones - 4.0 Stars
Compression - 4.5 Stars
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
I have never been to Harvard, but thanks to the clarity of this film, I know how many bricks are on some of the buildings. There are several dark scenes in this film, and they all look great, and without any compression artifacts. However, the whole film has a slight green tint to it. So much so, it leads me to believe that David Fincher did it on purpose. I don't understand why he chose to do this. You would think that since the movie was based on real people, it would have real skin tones and color accuracy.
Bonus Features (4.0 Stars)
Audio Commentary with David Fincher
Audio Commentary with Writer Aaron Sorkin & The Cast
How Did They Ever Make a Movie of Facebook?: feature length documentary
Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter and Ren Klyce on Post
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and David Fincher on the Score
In the Hall of the Mountain King: Reznor's First Draft
Swarmatron
Jeff Cronenweth and David Fincher on the Visuals
Ruby Skye VIP Room: Multi-Angle Scene Breakdown
Movie (4.5 Stars)
The Social Network is a well crafted character driven film, and it had to be considering it's just a movie about creating a website and then fighting over it with lawyers. The fact that this film is elegant is a testament to its skillful acting, intelligent script, distinguished directing, and wonderful musical score. The cast of young actors did a great job of conveying a longing to become great and do something monumental. Unfortunately, most of characters they play are jerks, and all of them have axes to grind. I found myself wondering what demeaning spiteful wise-crack Mark Zuckerburg would say next. I might watch the movie again just so I could learn them all.
This film is the modern day embodiment of the American Dream. Innovative ideas, determination, and hard work are the key components to success. If that doesn't work, then sue someone and ride on their coat-tails.