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    • BLU-RAY REVIEW

    Tourist, The

    Featured In Issue 156, April 2011

    Picture5
    Sound5
    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):
    Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
    (Catalog Number):
    37748
    (MPAA Rating):
    PG-13
    (Rating Reason):
    Violence and brief strong language
    (Retail Price):
    $38.95
    (Disc Type):
    Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
    (Widescreen Edition):
    Yes
    (Full Screen Edition):
    No
    (Running Time In Minutes):
    103
    (Color Type):
    Color
    (Chaptered/Scene Access):
    Yes
    (Closed Captioned):
    Yes
    (Regional Coding):
    A
    (Theatrical Year):
    2010
    (Theatrical Release):
    Yes
    (Direct-To-Video Release):
    No
    (Disc Release Date):
    03/22/11
    (THX® Digitally Mastered):
    No
    (Director):
    Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
    (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):
    (French Language):
    (Spanish Language):
    (Chinese Language):
    (Subtitles):
    (Cantonese Language):
    (Mandarin Language):
    (Japanese Language):
    (Italian Language):
    (German Language):
    (Portuguese Language):

    In The Tourist, a mysterious woman named Elise Ward (Jolie) and a mild-mannered American named Frank Tupelo (Depp) become involved in an international web of intrigue, romance, and danger in the City of Venice, Italy. During an impromptu trip to Europe to mend a broken heart, Frank unexpectedly finds himself in a flirtatious encounter with Elise, an extraordinary woman who deliberately crosses his path. Their whirlwind romance quickly evolves as they find themselves unwittingly thrust into a deadly game of cat and mouse. (Gary Reber)

    Special features include commentary by Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck; five featurettes: Canal Chats (HD 06:01), A Gala Affair (HD 07:12), Action In Venice (HD 06:29), Bringing Glamour Back (HD 09:08), and Tourist Destination Travel The Canals Of Venice (HD 03:17); an alternate title sequence; an outtake reel (HD 01:26); up-front ads and previews; BD-Live functionality; a DVD version of the film; and a digital copy.

    The 2.40:1 1080p AVC picture is terrific, with a backdrop of Venice and Paris. Resolution is excellent and revealing of fine detail, especially in close-ups of facial features, clothing, and object textures, such as the ornate building façades and architectural intricacies. The look is pure film, with a slight grain structure and a warm embellished tint that renders fleshtones with an orange-like hue and accentuates reds. Contrast is excellent with deep, solid blacks and shadow delineation, which enhances the perception of dimension. The picture is pristine as well, which further enhances the dimensional quality. This is a fantastic visual experience that is sure to please. (Gary Reber)

    The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack is engaging, especially James Newton Howard's sweeping orchestral score, which imparts a sense of elevation throughout the soundfield and displays an aggressive surround presence. Instrumentation is nicely delineated, and the sound is dynamic. Sound effects and atmospheres are, at times, punctuated in the surrounds but generally impart a more subtle presence. But when fully engaged, such as gunshot and explosion incidents, the surrounds are effectively engaged. Deep bass is solid and nicely defined, with transient precision across the channels and in the .1 LFE channel, which extends to 25 Hz at times. Dialogue is largely the focus and is both production sound and ADR, but conventionally limited in spatial integration. This is a soundtrack that effectively uses orchestral music to imbue the grand scale of the settings and set the mood. The music score is impressively holosonic® in scale, resulting in an engaging sonic experience. (Gary Reber)

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