Get Out (DVD) : Review

Film

It’s time for a young African American, Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya – Kick Ass 2) to meet with his white girlfriend, Rose Armitage’s (Allison Williams), parents, Missy (Catherine Keener – Captain Phillips, Bad Grandpa) and Dean (Bradley Whitford – Saving Mr Banks) for a weekend in their secluded estate in the woods. All is not as it might seem, and before long, the friendly and polite ambience will gives way to a plethora of strange behaviour, and eventually a nightmare.

Get Out pulls a huge twist on the viewer. It builds the story along a certain route, and just as you feel you’re figuring things out, it takes a totally different direction. Any predictions that one might have are thrown out the window, with a fair amount of force.

The masterful way that the unease of a mixed race relationship builds the tension as Chris tries to fit in with the Armitage family will both evoke emotion, and misdirection.

Get Out is a film that mixes horror and mystery with just the right amount of tension, letting ones mind run rampant before totally dispelling any thoughts and sending shivers down ones spine. Well written and directed by Jordan Peele, and brought together by a talented cast, the film is both highly entertaining, and an artistic creation to behold. Certainly a must see.

Disc

Disc quality for Get Out is not bad. The menu system is frustrating, and cryptic, but the disc contains a really good main feature, and a good number of interesting bonus features.

Get Out is available now, to purchase on disc, in South Africa.

Video

Video is encoded at a high average bitrate. There is an amount of colour bleed near the edge of the letterboxing. While this does not detract from the main film, it is clearly visible, and an unfortunate mark on an otherwise good film, content-wise. There is also a fair amount of colour bleed visible in other areas, with finer detail, or title text.

It is not recommended to scale up to a larger or higher resolution screen, due to these issues.

Audio

Audio is presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Audio is for the most part clear via the centre channel, with the weight of the soundtrack carried by the front channels. There is some use of the surround channels, but considering the nature and content of the film, it is understandable why these are not made constant use of.

Navigation

Navigation is the same annoying, frustrating, and cryptic mess that is on way too many discs from Next Entertainment. The main menu presents a group of five symbols, leaving the viewer to guess their purpose. There is a highly compressed still background image to the menu, with accompanying music.

The triangle allows one to play the main feature.

The book looking symbol accesses the chapters sub-menus, where one is presented with four still, colour thumbnails per sub-menu, for a total of twenty chapters. These are numbered, but not labelled, meaning navigation to a specific part of the disc will require some guesswork.

The asterix symbol navigates to the bonus features sub-menus, with a list of text labels to access each of the featurettes.

The speaker symbol leads to a sub-menu where one can select the desired audio languages.

The symbol that looks like a page, with a few lines on it, leads to a sub-menu with text choices for the subtitle language, if desired.

The menus are a lot more compressed than the main feature, with visible compression artefacts on-screen, however this does not detract from the viewing experience, and it is better to rather have a highly compressed menu, thus saving more space to have the main feature compressed at a better quality.

On top of the cryptic menu system, is the auto-navigation. Should you leave the disc on a sub-menu, it will return to the main menu after a few minutes. You are unable to pause the disc on at the menus.

Once on the main menu, the disc will then start to play the main feature if left for a few minutes. A really illogical move, as many viewers put a DVD in to watch, and then head off to go make snacks. This just means needing to navigate back and start things over. At least with this auto-navigation, anyone confused by the menu symbols will eventually get to see the main feature.

Bonus Features

There are a few really good bonus features included on the disc.

There is also a trailer for Split that autoplays at the beginning of the disc. This can be fast forward, or skipped. It is not accessible again from any navigation on the disc.

Alternate Ending With Commentary By Writer/Director Jordan Peele – The first ending shot for Get out. This can be viewed either with the original sound, or with a commentary.

The scene is interesting in a way that, according to Peele, he was influenced by the politics of the time when he wrote the original script. His explanations give some interesting insight into his mindset, and reasons as to why the eventual ending was used, instead of this one.

Deleted Scenes – There are eleven deleted scenes to view, with the option of commentary by writer/director Jordan Peele.

The scenes are varied, and with the accompaniment of Peele’s commentary, it is clear to see why things were changed in the films final cut. And with that, this collection of short clips is sure to be of interest to both the average viewer, and filmmakers alike.

Unveiling the Horror of Get Out – Some background about the conceptualisation of the film, with some valuable input by the filmmakers, namely Jordan Peele and producer Sam Blum.

Q&A Discussion With Writer/Director Jordan Peele – This featurette provides a very interesting look at the question and answer session, presented in front of a live audience at a screening.

Feature Commentary With Writer/Director Jordan Peele – The commentary by Jordan Peele, on Get Out, is one of those rare gems where you just realise you are listening to someone who not only knows the film he has worked on very well, but is someone who has a passion for their art, and is good at what they do.

Peele takes into account that he is not only sitting talking about his film, but he is speaking to filmmakers, and the average viewer, alike.

A very interesting commentary, that the average viewer should take some enjoyment from, and any filmmakers will take away at least a few bits of knowledge.

There is a trailer that autoplay at the beginning of the disc for Split.

 

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