The Burning Plain Blu-ray

The Burning Plain

 (2008)

Drama



Connected storylines about love, forgiveness and redemption that take place in different places and times--Mariana, a 16 year old girl tries to put together the shattered lives of her parents in a Mexican border town; Sylvia, a woman in Portland, undertakes an emotional odyssey to redeem a sin from her past; Gina and Nick, a couple who must deal with a clandestine love; and María, a young girl who helps her parents find forgiveness.

For more details about The Burning Plain on Blu-ray, see The Burning Plain Blu-ray Review

Starring: Charlize Theron, Kim Basinger
Director: Guillermo Arriaga

The Burning Plain Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


The Burning Plain blazes onto Blu-ray with a 2.40:1, 1080p/VC-1 encoded transfer that’s more than capable of handling the film’s many moods. In the disc’s “making of” documentary, director Guillermo Arriaga says that he used an elemental motif—earth, wind, water, fire—and it’s clear that each story in the film is given it’s own tonal feeling. Charlize Theron’s scenes, set largely in the Pacific Northwest, are characterized by a bluish cast, with water in nearly every shot, while Kim Basinger’s narrative thread is marked by dusty Southwestern tones. Though there’s a definite restraint to the palette, color are deep and stable throughout, with sporadic bold splashes like bright blue denim or the intense oranges of the trailer home fire. Black levels are also strong, contrast is nicely weighted, and if shadow detail is occasionally crushed, it seems to be intentional. The Burning Plain certainly isn’t the sharpest film I’ve seen this year—there are a few scattered soft shots—but there’s still plenty of detail to be found in the image, and many scenes have a fantastic, “window into the world” sense of depth and presence. Finally, the film’s grain structure is very fine, and I didn’t detect any banding, blocking, edge enhancement, or any of the other usual suspects. No real complaints here.

The Burning Plain Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


I’m always happy when a drama, which could easily settle for a front-heavy, dialogue-driven sonic experience, goes out of its way to deliver thoughtful audio design and a solid and immersive soundfield. And that’s exactly what you get with The Burning Plain’s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, which surprises by being almost constantly active and complementary to the unfolding story. This is still a quiet film, but the subtlety of the sound design is effective in drawing us into the world of the narrative. The surround channels output ambience with nearly every scene, from wind through the waving fields of sorghum and rain pouring down on Portland, to cicadas seething in the desert plains and the sound of dominos being slapped down onto a folding table. The film also has a fair share of discrete effects—a cropduster zipping through the rear speakers, cars roaring past, etc.—and all of the pans, crosses, and fades sound natural and unobtrusive. We even get some deep LFE engagement courtesy of waves pounding against a cliff, and the rippling explosion of the mobile home sends debris ripping outward impressively. The music—by Hans Zimmer and The Mars Volta’s Omar Rodriguez-Lopez—is detailed and weighty, dialogue is perfectly prioritized, and the whole experience is a lot more engaging than I had expected.

The Burning Plain Blu-ray, News and Updates

• The Burning Plain Blu-ray Announced - November 16, 2009

The Burning Plain Blu-ray, Forum Discussions

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