Quiet and demure Joseph (Ben Whishaw) leads a modest life in London, shuttling between his solo apartment and the airport where he forms part of the security team. His birthday goes unnoticed by his colleagues and only mildly celebrated by his irritable parents. Something seems to be simmering in Joseph just under the surface. It only takes a few strange incidents to unlock his impulse to go on a reckless, frantic, and unbelievable journey through the streets of the city as he determines that boundaries and niceties will no longer govern his life.
For in-depth thoughts on Surge, please see my colleague Mike Vaughn’s review from its original theatrical release here.
Video Quality
Surge comes to Blu-Ray in a detailed 1080p presentation in its original aspect ratio that is quite strong in high definition. The clarity throughout is outstanding when not trying to replicate the hazy headspace of the character. In neutral times, there are subtle flourishes in the production design that come through perfectly. Color saturation is great with the color palette showing off some striking hues in certain moments. This is a film that is often bathed in shadow throughout the runtime. Black levels are deep and do not fall victim to any noticeable digital noise or errors of the sort. Skin tones are natural to the lighting conditions, although a lot of exposed skin is covered in all manner of cuts and bruises as the story goes along. MVD Entertainment has delivered a pleasing high definition presentation here.
Audio Quality
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is extremely engaging, and it never fails to deliver something truly unbelievable. The soundscape on display here is very rich thanks to the way in which Joseph’s mind is experiencing the bustling world. This film is not meant to be a full-throttle action film, but there are moments where certain kinetic sequences pack a bigger punch that one might expect. There are moments in this track that feel almost assaultive to the audience in their intensity. Dialogue comes through crystal clear with none of the information feeling lost to the music in the film or the sound effects. All of the effects have a nice sense of direction within the mix with noises such as the traffic zooming by or people yelling at each other on the street coming to life. The movie uses environmental sounds to great effect, and the track retains strong detail even in the more chaotic developments. There are numerous moments that make good use of the low end. The track is an unexpected powerhouse from start to finish.
Special Features
- Interview with Director Aneil Karia and Actor Ben Whishaw: A five-minute piece in which the participants dive into the narrative of the film including the motivations of the lead character, the environment that breeds this behavior, his background and the process of bringing him to life on screen.
- Photo Gallery: A collection of still images from the film are provided here.
- Theatrical Trailer: The minute-and-a-half trailer is provided here.
Final Thoughts
Surge is a very cold and unhinged journey into psychological degradation as flawlessly performed by star Ben Whishaw. The path is not always the most comfortable as the character pushes against the boundaries of civilized society, but it is typically oddly fascinating. The momentum does start to stagnate a bit near the end as actions become a bit repetitive, but the directorial style of Aneil Karia keeps you gripping your seat nonetheless. The film keeps you at an emotional distance which both benefits and detracts from the overall narrative in varying ways. Overall, though, this feature debut has more positives than negatives and is worth giving yourself over to the madness. MVD Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray featuring a rock solid A/V presentation and a very slight amount of special features. Recommended
Surge 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: MVD 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.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
