Manhattan Nocturne (DVD) : Review

Film

Manhattan Nocturne (or Manhattan Night as it is known in some territories). A story of a reporter, Porter Wren (Adrian Brody), becomes involved with a mysterious woman,Caroline Crowley (Yvonne Strahovski – I, Frankenstein ) while investigating the death of her late husband, Simon Crowley (Campbell Scott – The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ).

While on this new investigation, Porter seems to be drawing ever further away from his wife, Lisa Wren (Jennifer Beals) and kids. Not even the maid will speak to him. With a new owner, Hobbs (Steven Berkoff – Red 2) at the paper he works, things are looking a bit down for him.

For Porter, things aren’t looking great at home. But with the new boss, there is more than meets the eye. Afraid to lose his job as a columnist, he is soon called upon by Hobbs, and pressured into completing a task. One that is linked to the investigation of Simon, and all of which carry high stakes for him.

With such a cast of talented actors, and a story that is so engaging, Manhattan Nocturne is a mystery to keep one guessing, and on the edge of their seat. A plot that is not over-complex, but yet one secrets that elude the viewer until just the right moment.

Set against the cinematic background of New York, the cinematography and various locations of the film serve merely to add to its lustre.

Manhattan Nocturne, is one of those mystery dramas that comes around all too seldom, but is thoroughly enjoyable.

Disc

Over all, the disc is of a decent technical quality, with an enjoyable main feature. It does lack any additional features though.

Manhattan Nocturne is available now, to purchase on disc, in South Africa.

Video

Video is encoded at a high average bitrate, with no visible artefacts on-screen during the main feature. There are some compression artefacts during the trailers, but this would mean that with smaller trailer sizes, there would be more space on the disc, allowing for less compression where it matters.

There is no visible colour bleed, and detail in the several darker scenes is well maintained. Colours are vibrant, where needed.

Viewers with the necessary hardware or software can scale up to a larger or higher resolution screen, should they wish.

Audio

Audio is presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, with a 2.0 down mix option available via the audio menu.

Audio is encoded at a high average bitrate. Dialogue is clear via the centre channel, with the weight of the audio carried by the front channels. There is not a lot of use of the surrounds, due to the genre of the film, but these do serve in areas to expand the on-screen world, and further draw the viewer into the film.

Navigation

Navigation is simple, with a static main menu, and accompanying music. There are text menu items to play the main feature, chapters, and audio.

The chapters sub-menus each have four large, colour, motion thumbnails. While these are numbered, they are not labelled, and so an amount of guesswork would be needed in order to navigate to a specific spot on the disc.

The audio sub-menu has options to select a 5.1 or a 2.0 soundtrack.

Bonus Features

There are no bonus features on the disc, other than trailers for Alone in Berlin, Café Society, and Indignation. These autoplay at the beginning of the disc, and can not be accessed again via the disc menu.

 

By Andrew Germishuys

Founder of SAMDB | Actor | Armourer | Tech Enthusiast With over two decades in the film industry, I'm a seasoned actor and skilled armourer. I hold numerous certifications in acting and filmmaking, complemented by degrees and diplomas in IT and technology, giving me a unique blend of creative and technical expertise. When I'm not on set or in the workshop, you'll find me immersed in the world of gaming and VR, fuelling my passion for cutting-edge technology. Connect with me: X / Twitter Facebook Instagram Mastodon Threads Explore my work on SAMDB IMDb