Cast: Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish, Robert De Niro
Directed by: Neil Burger
Written by: Leslie Dixon
Genre: Thriller

Rating:
Video: ★★★★★
Audio: ★★★★★
Extras: ★★★★★
Value: ★★★★★1/2

Read more about Limitless (2011)

Review: 

Video: ★★★★★
Limitless glistens in High Definition. The film inherently tests the range of any television – as Edward is off of the drug the gritty and muted photography display a wide range of grays and blacks, which contrasts very well to the vibrant colors and whites when Edward is on the drug. This is a glossy film that translates perfectly to HD, and it goes without saying that Fox presents us with a faithful transfer in its proper 2:35:1 aspect ratio.

Presented in 2.40:1 aspect ratio.

Audio: ★★★★★
As the ultimate accompaniment to the grand visual design of the film, the audio track does not disappoint. It’s highly charged with an energetic score, immense sound design, and in its large amount of dialogue scenes, an attention to the nuance of performance. The track is as clean as can be with no hisses, cracks, drop-outs, or flatness. While it’s not the quintessential film to show off your home audio system, it surely makes great use of it.

English 5.1 DTS-HD-Master Audio
French 5.1 Dolby Digital

Extras: ★★★★★
The features here are disappointingly skimpy.  They only briefly touch down on the interesting facets of the filmmaking process. The most glaring omission is the lack of insight into Bradley Cooper’s approach to the character and experience leading a film for the first time. It’s hard to gripe too much though, because we are given an informative audio commentary by the director.

Digital Copy

Theatrical and Extended Versions
Fox has included two versions of Limitless on the disc – the theatrical, and the unrated extended (not to be confused with “director’s”) cut. Like most of these alternate versions, the extended cut only has a few extra shots of violence, vulgarity, drug use, and nudity – however, it was glaringly obvious that Limitless had been cut for a PG-13 release, so the addition of these shots feels appropriate. Ultimately though, any viewer will have the same experience watching either version of this film.

Audio Commentary with Neil Burger
Neil Burger sits down with us to explain his approach to bringing the script to life. His insights are sometimes very interesting – particularly when he delves into how the shots compliment the story and themes – but the commentary eventually becomes a bit redundant, with a number of long pauses. There is information here that is not spoken of in any of the featurettes though, so it may be worth your time.

A Man Without Limits (HD, 04:29)
This is a typical on-set production feature that intertwines interviews with cast and crewmembers.

Taking It to the Limit: The Making of Limitless (HD, 11:38)
This feels like an extension of the previous featurette, this time with more attention paid to the technical side of the film and how the director of photography achieved the sometimes-extreme visual palate(s).

Alternate Ending (HD, 05:14)
The alternate ending here suffers the fate of a lot of alternate endings, alluding to something far more drastic than it actually is. However, the alternate ending here is a wonderful demonstration of a slight shift can imply a grossly different outcome. This particular ending is inferior to the theatrical ending, opting for something more conclusive.

Theatrical Trailer (HD)

Value: ★★★★★1/2
Limitless is a Blu-ray that looks and sounds fantastic. Fans of the film certainly won’t find a better transfer down the road in a double-dip, though it is a bit scant on special features. The featurettes here allude to an interesting script process that is never quite embellished upon – something that I would have like to seen more of. Likewise, as a film that definitely cemented Bradley Cooper as a proper leading man, the material on his experience with the film is limited (ha!) to a few moments within the featurettes. But in the long run, what matters most is the audio/visual department, and Fox doesn’t disappoint. Add in a Digital Copy for fun, and you’ve got a winner.

Will There Be A Double Dip?
It’s hard to say, but I would venture to think that there won’t be another blu-ray version of this in the future. This disc contains two versions of the film, audio commentary, and enough goodies to make it a definitive [enough] version.

Read more about Limitless (2011)

• «Previous Post
• Next Post »

---