- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/16-bit), English Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles: English SDH
- Region: A (B? C?)
- Rating: Not Rated
- Run Time: 94 Mins.
- Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
- Studio: Entertainment One
- Blu-ray Release Date: January 17, 2012
- List Price: $29.98
[amazon-product]B005OTGS08[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com
Purchase Age of Heroes on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for More Blu-ray Titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Film
[Rating:3/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(All TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
–
The Film
[Rating:1.5/5]
Age of Heroes is an action/adventure film set during World War II that purports to show the first mission by the famed elite 30 Commando unit commanded by Ian Fleming, who would go on to write the James Bond novels.
Sadly, the film is mostly a lot of wasted potential masked in lots of cliché patriotism and paint-by-numbers war movie scene. Case in point, they have the soldier with a problem with authority, Rains (Danny Dyer) who has to learn how to become a real soldier through a series of tough exercises and tough but insightful concern from his commanding officer. We already know where this film is going before the real action – and that goes by quickly – ever gets started.
The mission for the commandos is to slip behind enemy lines in occupied Norway and steal a radar device that will aid the Allied forces develop their own technology for the war effort. Led by Jones (Sean Bean), the small group of 30 commandos head into unfriendly territory on what is destined to be a suicide mission to meet their contact, known only as Beowulf, find the device, and hopefully return. Of course, things turn bad, the SS is on their trail, and it becomes an all-out gunfight to get back to friendly territory.
I had hopes for this film going in, but the plot is telegraphed, the characters one-dimensional, and, lastly, the character of Ian Fleming, one of the major selling points here, is hardly in the film.
Video Quality
[Rating:3/5]
An uneven transfer marks this AVC encodement Age of Heroes. While it looks generally film-like with good contrast and natural flesh tones during the multitude of bright scenes, the darker scenes are awash in grain the definitely cross the line into noise and also show a bit of crush.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/16-bit) soundtrack is rather good at capturing the sounds of battle. Gunfire fills the surrounds, explosions boom with an authoritative resonance courtesy of a healthy use of the LFE and dialogue is clean and clear, balanced nicely in the mix. It’s no Saving Private Ryan or Letters from Iwo Jima, but for the sort of film and budget we’re talking about, it is effective.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
The supplements consist mostly of extra footage in the form of deleted scenes, bloopers, and B-roll, but there are some brief interviews and a brief documentary on the 30 commando unit from World War II worth having a look at as well.
The supplements:
- Trailer (2.35:1; Dolby Digital 5.1; 1080p/24)
- “An Age of Heroes” Documentary (1.78:1; SD; 00:14:35) – A brief documentary of the WWII commandos.
- Interview Soundbites:
- Sean Bean (Jones)
- Danny Dyer (Rains)
- Adrian Vitoria (Director)
- Guy Burnet (Riley)
- Aksel Hennie (Steinar)
- Deleted Scenes (2.35:1; 1080p/24; 00:06:02)
- Bloopers (2.35:1; 1080p/24; 00:06:10)
- B-Roll Footage (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:02:47)
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3/5]
There are much better war films than this out there and this role seems far below Sean Bean whose acting skills are way above this material. I’d recommend skipping this entirely.
Additional Screen Captures
–
[amazon-product]B005OTGS08[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com
Purchase Age of Heroes on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for More Blu-ray Titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Film
[Rating:3/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
–
