When Kamal resolves to change his life for the better, he leaves Belgium to help war victims in Syria. But, having arrived, he is forced to join ISIS and is left stranded in Raqqa. Back home, his younger brother Nassim quickly becomes easy prey for radical recruiters, who promise to reunite him with his brother. Their mother, Leila, fights to protect the only thing she has left: her youngest son.

For in-depth thoughts on Rebel, please see my colleague Lane Mills’ review from its theatrical debut here.

Video Quality

Rebel makes its Blu-Ray debut with a sumptuous 1080p video presentation that captures the rich cinematography well. The thoughtful production design and narratively vital shooting locations provide crisp and clear textural details that are a treat to explore. The black levels occasionally show slight signs of banding in a few scenes, but largely they maintain their depth. The flesh tones are natural with a magnificent amount of detail present in close-ups. The image presents with a nuanced, natural color palette radiating off the screen. The film supplies some deep, complex hues within this mixture of environments. The presentation shows off a significant amount of depth, especially when it comes to some of the impressive shots exploring the locale. Overall this Blu-Ray is a top-notch representation of this movie.

Audio Quality

Yellow Veil Pictures gives this Blu-Ray a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 track along with a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that brings a vitally immersive quality to the proceedings. The results are at the forefront from the opening moments with the distinct and effective sound design coming alive in the locale. Environmental sounds of the world engage the surround speakers in an enveloping way such as the audio from news reports or the chaos following an attack. When the characters are moving through the debris, some unique ambient details flesh out the setting.

Truly hard-hitting moments make themselves known with this track as thrilling sequences deliver some nice texture to the proceedings. The music is an important part of this narrative, and it flows through with favorable fidelity. The music is effective and well-balanced with all other elements. The dialogue emanates clearly without being drowned out by any competing sounds. The audio track knocks it out of the park. This film is presented with optional English and English SDH subtitles.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Filmmakers Adil and Bilall provide a great commentary track in which they discuss the development of this film, other titles that were considered for the feature, where they found the performers, what movies they used as a reference for scenes of peril, the structure of the film, and more that is well worth a watch.

Introduction: An optional 24-second introduction from the directors is provided thanking you for watching the film.

LA Premiere Q&A with Oliver Stone A 25-minute conversation with the directors moderated by filmmaker Oliver Stone in which they discuss the authenticity of the story, the care with crafting the narrative, mixing genres within this story, the thematic content, points that Stone wishes they had explored, and much more. This is a very interesting discussion since Stone is a strong personality who is trying to get his point of view into the mix.

Behind-The-Scenes Footage: There are three videos of behind-the-scenes footage totaling 11 minutes provided that look at the production of different moments.

Animatics-To-Scene: Two scenes totaling nearly four minutes are shown in rough animatic form in comparison to the final film.

Broeders (Short Film): A nearly 25-minute short film from 2011 is provided that shows two different paths of young men that intersect in a powerful way.

Kamal Kawasaki Video Clip – Double K: A nearly three-minute music video piece is provided.

Family Testimony – The Full Scene: A ten-minute uninterrupted version of a key scene is provided.

Dance Rehearsals: A nine-minute look at dance rehearsal is provided.

Photo Gallery Slideshow: A nearly four-minute collection of stills from the production is provided.

Theatrical Trailer: The two-minute trailer is provided.

Booklet: A multi-page booklet featuring the essay “Rebels with a Cause: The Cinema of Adil el Farbi and Bilall Fallah” from writer Evrim Ersoy is provided here. This piece gives a well-rounded history of the filmmakers along with an analysis of the themes.

Final Thoughts

Rebel tackles a vital subject in a way that embraces the possibilities of cinema while never taking away from the serious nature of the subject matter. Filmmakers Adil and Bilall have been making big waves in Hollywood over the past several years, but it is rewarding to see them doing something more personal with their newly earned clout. They have a really clear sense of visual dynamism that feels visceral throughout this tense narrative. The ensemble all put forth memorable performances that keep you invested throughout. While the film is slightly bloated, it is a rewarding watch. Yellow Veil Pictures has released a Blu-Ray featuring a stellar A/V presentation and a nice assortment of special features. Don’t let this one slip by you so easily. Recommended

Rebel is currently available to purchase on Standard Edition Blu-Ray or with a Limited Edition Slipcover exclusively through Vinegar Syndrome.

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

Disclaimer: Yellow Veil Pictures and OCN Distribution have supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.