Teenager Nola (Sabrina Carpenter) grew up living out of a van with her beloved father Clint (Steven Ogg), two nomads against the world. When tragedy strikes, Nola is confronted by the reality that life as an outsider may not be her only choice.
For in-depth thoughts on The Short History of the Long Road, please see my colleague Dom Fisher’s review from its original theatrical release here.
Video Quality
The Short History of the Long Road comes to Blu-Ray in a 1080p presentation that features some truly beautiful moments. This is a visually rich film with gorgeous shots of nature throughout where you can see an incredible amount of detail. The vivid colors really leap off the screen from the greens of the foliage to some of the colors in the clothing and production design. Much of Nola’s existence is not bursting with color, but it is appreciated when it pops up. The white levels are handled beautifully, along with the fairly deep blacks that do not appear to suffer from any compression artifacts. There are no instances of intrusive digital noise in the presentation. Some of the interior footage can look a bit murky and lacking the sharpness of the open-air scenes. The skin tones look very detailed and natural all around. This presentation is definitely a winner from MVD Entertainment
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray disc comes with a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that brings this environment to life perfectly. The music from Morgan Kibby is showcased beautifully here with a gently enveloping use of the surround speakers. The dialogue comes through crystal clear without ever being overpowered by the sound effects or the score. The sound design is precisely executed with all of the sounds positioned just right in the mix. The environmental effects create a really nice soundscape of subtle nature sounds. This is not an action-heavy film, so the activity in the low end is primarily saved for musical moments. This is a lovely sounding release that brings the movie to life exactly how you would want it to.
Special Features
- Blooper Reel: Two minutes of silly moments, flubbed lines and ruined takes from the production of the film that are pretty amusing.
- Photo Gallery: A collection of candid moments from the production of the film are included here.
- Trailer: A two-minute HD trailer that gives you a good sense of the film.
Final Thoughts
The Short History of the Long Road is a truly inspiring and uplifting independent drama that largely succeeds based on the stellar performance from Sabrina Carpenter. First time feature director Ani Simon-Kennedy makes the most of her talented ensemble while bringing some steady directorial skills to the proceedings. The film stumbles in a few places on the narrative journey, but it holds together as a really enthralling piece of entertainment. MVD Entertainment has provided a Blu-Ray with a great A/V presentation and a couple of special features. If this one has flown under your radar, it is well worth seeking out. Recommended
The Short History of the Long Road 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.
