Customer Reviews

Grey, The (Blu-Ray/DVD Combo) / Peur grise (Blu-ray/DVD Combo) (Bilingual)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Not what I expected but well worth watching. Liam is as good as ever in this suspenseful story although I have to admit the conclusion wasn't as anticipated.

The presence of Liam Neeson is main reason that I wanted to see The Grey. I've become an even bigger fan since I bought Taken and saw that he could even bring depth to a character in an action movie. Neeson seems authentic in just about any role, even if he's just providing the voice for an animated character.

In The Grey, Neeson is clearly the main character. We see him contemplate suicide at the start of the movie, before deciding against it. The story involves a group of oil workers stationed in Alaska. Ottway (Neeson) is a marksman who keeps the workers safe from wolves when they are at work. He carries a rifle and is always watching for possible attacks. He has a low opinion of most of the workers and doesn't enjoy having to spend time with them.

Ottway's world changes when he's involved in a plane crash. The oil workers encounter bad weather and turbulence, and the resulting crash leaves most of the group dead or dying. It's here that Ottway assumes a leadership role without being asked or voted in. Like the wolves he kills, his instincts cannot be denied. In the surviving group, it quickly becomes clear that he's the alpha. Ottway has a way of facing facts and helping others to accept the inevitable. This is perfectly illustrated when one of the crash victims dies in front of him. Ottway calms him and takes charge of the situation when the other men are incapable of deciding how to handle it.

The movie partly reminded me of The Edge, starring Anthony Hopkins. Although this group of survivors is larger, and they are hunted by wolves instead of a bear, the terrain is similar. The Grey seems realistic and doesn't idealize the situation in any way. The men are in danger and fighting for their lives, and their actions are plausible. If you are facing a pack of wolves unarmed, your chances of survival are not good. The Grey doesn't shy away from that fact.

Action scenes are infrequent, but have considerable impact. How would you try to survive if you had no food or shelter and had to make your way through freezing snow? Would it be best to try to make your own way back to civilization, or stay at the crash site and hope for rescue?

The movie explores the characters of several of the crash survivors and we come to understand their individual choices. The setting is grim, so don't expect a heartwarming story. This is real.

I didn't know what to expect from The Grey, but it left me somewhat surprised. The body count was definitely higher than expected, and I assumed that the group would generate more internal conflict than it did. That said, I did feel as though I was a part of the quest for survival and I was engaged at all times. Neeson carried the movie, but three or four supporting characters were important to the story.

If you enjoy experiencing things that you are unlikely to witness in your real life, The Grey is a compelling story which transports you to an unfamiliar setting. If you are sensitive to watching characters get picked off one at a time, it might not be for you.

The Blu-ray offers a pleasing presentation. The audio is just about perfect, and you'll feel involved in scenes such as the plane crash. The picture quality is also very good, but sometimes appears intentionally grainy to heighten the effect of being lost in a bleak, snowy wilderness.

I love movies about the wild. Liam Neeson is such a versatile actor. It would have liked to see who won in the end.

I should have read the ad a little closer. This product was in mediocre shape- rental stickers on box, well used. Had I known it was a previous rental disc, I would have gone elsewhere. Seemed to take an exceptionally long time to arrive compared to other products I have ordered thru Amazon. Just be careful to read the ad copy to be sure this is what you want.

not what i thought it would be, I expected much more action and the ending was again not what i expected

Liam Neeson seems destined to play characters with sketchy pasts, ready to snap at a moment's notice. In 'The Grey,' however, he's a different sort of anti-hero placed against the backdrop of a chilling environment that is both serene, and very deadly. The result is a movie that will divide audiences cleanly down the middle, and that's mostly the fault of the marketing department. So how does the actual film stand up?

Well, it's interesting, to say the least. 'The Grey' tells the tale of John Ottway (Neeson), a survivalist/sniper working in northern Alaska to protect an oil drilling team from ravenous packs of wolves that test the boundaries of the station. Isolated away from society with the workers as his only link to humanity, Ottway slips gradually into thoughts of suicide, driven by separation from his wife (Anne Openshaw), whom he remembers warmly and fondly through a series of flashbacks where she repeatedly tells him, "Don't be afraid." After refraining from suicide, Ottway boards a plane to head back to civilization, accompanied by other workers on shift leave. The plane suffers a catastrophic malfunction and crashes, killing some of the crew while leaving only a handful of survivors. Alone and isolated in the frozen, harsh wilderness, Ottway must gather up the men and utilize his survival skills to bring them all out safely. Things soon take a turn for the worst, however, when a pack of ravenous wolves begins stalking and eliminating the survivors one by one. Ottway must fight not only his own despair, but the selfishness, paranoia and stubbornness of the others whom he is forced to lead, if they wish to escape alive.

Without spoiling anything, let's just say that the film succeeds marvelously as a set piece. There's some truly breathtaking scenes in the movie which harken back to the 1993 film 'Alive,' whose characters faced almost identical circumstances (sans wolves). The film was shot in British Columbia (no surprise), which is always ground for great film, but the true grasp of the film is its harsh atmosphere. There's a realism to the unforgiving environment that these men are thrust into that is sadly missing from a lot of films in the same genre these days.

The problem is in figuring out just what genre 'The Grey' belongs in. The film's marketing strongly suggested a breakneck, high-intensity, bite-your-nails action/thriller, but nothing could be further from the truth. Actually, 'The Grey' is slow-paced, methodical, introspective, and character-driven, while interspersed with moments of fear and tension. Those who watched the film's trailer showing Liam Neeson decked out for a melee fight against his canine adversaries will be in for a SEVERE disappointment, and they'd be right to. There is clearly a betrayal here towards the audience, but that fault lies solely with the movie studio, not the movie itself. I have a sneaking suspicion that many will turn their anger on the film, which would be unjust, as 'The Grey' is a proud testament to films with a social message, even if that message is a bleak one at times. Neeson is once again in fine form, delivering all his acting chops on a character that has every single right to be depressed, devoid of hope, and angry at God. His character compatriots are slightly more hit and miss, however. Frank Grillo plays his antagonist role of John Diaz with plenty of self-centered conviction, and his begrudged bonding with the rest of the men in the group makes him one of the most sympathetic characters by the time the final curtain falls. By contrast, Dallas Roberts plays the role of Pete Hendrick more wooden, and less expressive in tone. Despite the contrast, the characters are dynamic and interesting enough to be more than just two-legged chow for their four-legged enemies, which is nice to see. This isn't a horror/gore/slasher film, and it never treats its characters as anything less than solid, real human beings.

'The Grey' on Blu-Ray is presented in 2.40:1 HD, but you'd be hard pressed to notice. The film, by design, was given a heavy dose of grain to "dirty" the picture for the sake of dramatic effect. Colors are desaturated and ran through color grading filters to achieve the right tone as well, so don't expect a film bristling with a sheer, shimmering, crystal-clear quality, because it was never meant to be that. The DTS-HD Master 5.1 lossless track, however, is the direct opposite, having been polished and buffed to a sheen that would make "Mutt" Lange himself envious. This is how a wilderness film SHOULD sound, by carefully placing sonic elements on all the right channels to craft a definitive surround experience where the actors aren't drowned out by sound effects. Nicely done. Extras are spotty and unimpressive, though. Director Joe Carnahan offers up a commentary track seemingly for the purpose of settling a few personal scores in relation to tensions on the set and necessary cuts to the film. He's a brilliant director, but one gets the feeling he's a lot like James Cameron on the set, which is to say...not very fun to be around.

Overall, 'The Grey' is a drama wrapped up in the false, misleading packaging of an action film. SHAME on the movie studio for making it that way, but alas, that's how it is. Those expecting to be on the edge of their seat will most likely find themselves crumpled deep into it, while those expecting a drama fest will awed by the presentation of the film. It's a difficult movie to judge because of it's extreme nihilism and negative tone, like dark clouds occasionally pierced by beams of sunlight in the form of beautiful memories and the will to survive when you've lost literally everything, including your life five minutes from now.

I would have liked this moving a lot more with the exception of it's ending. I liked the action/plot and the acting was good, the plane crash was very well done! If you like Liam Neeson, you will like him in this one. But this is not a movie about survival, not at all.

Almost did not buy this movie, because of the reviews. After watching it, I regret the purchase.
I kept waiting for the fake looking computer generated wolf, to suddenly morph into a werewolf, like creature. It would have been just as realistic as the actual movie.
I was also expecting a battle of survival between two groups of top predators, with the humans winning by outsmarting their stronger foes.
However, in this movie, the wolves were smarter than the people.