“This film is an endeavour to consider cows. To move us closer to them. To see both their beauty and the challenge of their lives. Not in a romantic way but in a real way. It’s a film about one dairy cow’s reality and acknowledging her great service to us. When I look at Luma, our cow, I see the whole world in her.”

– Andrea Arnold

For in-depth thoughts on Cow, please see my colleague Larry Fried’s review from its original theatrical release here.

Video Quality

Cow comes to Blu-Ray featuring a myriad of stunning material that gives you unparalleled access to this world. There is no doubt that the movie itself and everything within it looks as technically excellent as it can look in high definition. This can be attributed to the fact that RLJE Entertainment has delivered a great encode and given the film plenty of room to breathe. This company has been so great in this respect, and it is always appreciated. There is no evidence of compression artifacts or other digital nuisances of the sort. This new footage looks incredibly sleek and clear with natural color grading and detailed textural features. Some of the filming environments are not as optimal as others, but everything looks as good as it possibly could. I do not see how this could have been improved visually. It’s a real treat as it stands.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray comes with a wonderful DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that captures this journey flawlessly. Without the aid of dialogue for most of the film, you are treated to the natural wonders of the environment and all it entails. Ambient sounds are precisely placed in the correct channels to be directionally accurate while remaining wholly immersive. The filmmaker does a really great job of capturing the animals and making sure all this information comes through with supreme clarity. The music and the score establish the atmosphere of the film, and those sounds are resolved well here as music often permeates the room. The audio track is not pushed to the limit with this content, but it nonetheless proves to be the perfect representation of this feature. There are optional English SDH subtitles included for those who desire them.

Special Features

There are no special features provided on this disc.

Final Thoughts

Cow is an absolutely transfixing portrait of life of a singular animal and what it means in the grand scheme of things. Director Andrea Arnold makes the wise choice to not make a “message” film, instead allowing the audience to come to their own conclusions about what this footage means to them and how it might inspire them in the future. There are audiences who will find this an incredibly dull experience, but those who are willing to slow down and take some time to see the world in a different way will appreciate what is accomplished here. RLJE Entertainment has provided this film with a Blu-Ray that sports a strong A/V presentation but nothing in the way of special features. If you are a verite documentary fan or simply open to witnessing different aspects of life, you are going to love this. Recommended

Cow is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: RLJE Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.