BLU-RAY REVIEW

Adaptation.

Featured In Issue 253, January/February 2021

Picture4
Sound4
WSR Score3.5
Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
(Studio/Distributor):
Shout Factory
(Catalog Number):
SF 2131197
(MPAA Rating):
R
(Rating Reason):
Language, sexuality, some drug use and violent images
(Retail Price):
$22.97
(Disc Type):
Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
(Running Time In Minutes):
115
(Color Type):
Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
A
(Theatrical Year):
(Theatrical Release):
Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release):
No
(Disc Release Date):
10/20/2020
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
(Director):
Spike Jonze
(Screenplay/Written By):
(Story):
(Music):
(Director Of Photography):
(Production Designer):
(Visual Effects):
(Costume Designer):
(Editor):
(Supervising Sound Editors):
(Re-Recording Mixers):
(Executive Producers):
(Co-Producers):
(Producers):
(Academy Awards):
(Principal Photography):
(Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
(Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
(Disc Soundtrack):
DTS HD Lossless 5.1
(Theatrical Sound):
(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
(DTS Bit Rate):
(Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
(Additional Languages):
(Subtitles):

"Adaptation." blends fictional characters and situations with the lives of real people: obsessive orchid hunter John Laroche (Cooper), journalist and author Susan Orlean (Streep), Hollywood screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Cage) and his twin brother Donald (Cage). As Charlie struggles to adapt Orlean's best-selling book "The Orchid Thief," he writes himself into his own movie. The various stories crash into one another, exploding into a wildly imaginative film. (Gary Reber)

Special features include the original featurette (HD 02:03), a still gallery, and the theatrical trailer.

The 1.85:1 1080p AVC picture, reviewed on a Sony Bravia Z9D 4K Ultra HD HDR display, upconverted to 2160p with greater resolution and luminance, was photographed spherically on Kodak film stock and sourced from a 2K master Digital Intermediate format. The picture achieves a visual trick that makes Nicolas Cage appear as twins Charlie and Donald Kaufman and achieves well-crafted editing as the story goes back and forth in time between interior screenwriting and orchid hunting in the swamps of Florida. Shot on film, the appearance is high quality with no objectionable grain. Color fidelity is natural and vivid, especially in the greens in Florida and in the orchid flowers. Resolution is excellent. Facial and body features appear natural, including a scene in which Charlie is sweating. Foliage and water textural detail in the swamp is finely resolved as well as object textures, especially in the delicate veining in Laroche's orchids. Contrast is well balanced throughout and natural. This is a nicely crafted picture that is compelling. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack is dialogue focused with excellent intelligibility with realistic spatial integration. Atmospherics are realistic sounding. The music is a rather background element but nicely supportive. Two car crash segments really energize the sonics. As well, there is a nightmare scene that excites the surround field. Dialogue is well integrated spatially and at times the dialogue becomes a voice-over narrative with perfect forwardness. During a lecture scene the dialogue in the auditorium is nicely reverberant. The excitement intensifies in the swamp scenes with various bird sounds and atmospherics, as well as the during the last act. This is a well-crafted soundtrack that effectively creates environmental effects, especially in the swamps where Laroche hunts his orchids. Overall, this is a very natural-sounding and engaging soundtrack. (Gary Reber)