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    • BLU-RAY REVIEW

    Sleepwalking

    Featured In Issue 134, September 2008

    Picture3
    SoundNR
    WSR Score3
    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):
    Anchor Bay Entertainment
    (Catalog Number):
    N3044
    (MPAA Rating):
    R
    (Rating Reason):
    Language and a scene of violence
    (Retail Price):
    $29.98
    (Disc Type):
    Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
    (Widescreen Edition):
    Yes
    (Full Screen Edition):
    No
    (Running Time In Minutes):
    101
    (Color Type):
    Color
    (Chaptered/Scene Access):
    Yes
    (Closed Captioned):
    Yes
    (Regional Coding):
    1
    (Theatrical Year):
    2008
    (Theatrical Release):
    Yes
    (Direct-To-Video Release):
    No
    (Disc Release Date):
    07/08/08
    (THX® Digitally Mastered):
    No
    (Director):
    William Maher
    (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):
    Dolby Digital 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):

    Tara (Robb) is a 12-year-old who must come to terms when her mother, Joleen (Theron), abandons her to the care of her Uncle James (Stahl). After being taking into the state's foster-care system, James visits Tara at the group home she now lives in, and Tara begs her uncle to take her away somewhere—anywhere but back to the group home. Not able to break his niece's heart, James decides to take her back to the farm that he and Joleen were raised on. But James' abusive father (Hopper) has not mellowed with age, reminding James of why he and his sister vowed to never return to their childhood home. Now it is up to James to confront the monster of a man who made him feel as though he were Sleepwalking through a nightmare his entire life. (Stacey Pendry)

    Special features include a 16-minute featurette A Mother's Shame, A Family's Pain: The Making Of Sleepwalking, the orignal theatrical trailer, and up-front previews.

    The anamorphically enhanced 1.78:1 DVD shows good detail, with fine textures preserved well, but poor compression makes the image look digitized and smeared. Random noise is also visible throughout. The poor compression rates could be because they fit both the widescreen and full-screen versions of the movie on the same side of the disc. Black levels can be deep, but there are times when they look washed-out and flat. Shadow delineation is good though. Fleshtones have a cold, pale appearance and the color scheme is dominated by cool hues. Colors are desaturated and contrast is low. Edge enhancement is relatively minor, but can be distracting at times. The H.264 AVC-encoded Blu-ray Disc shows good resolution without the compression artifacts, but black levels are still inconsistent, and shadow delineation isn't as good. Fleshtones still look pale and contrast isn't balanced well. Night scenes look better than day scenes. (Danny Richelieu)

    The DVD's Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel soundtrack features a solid front stage, with a good use of the surrounds to build ambiance. The audio is not as pristine as the best releases, with compression artifacts audible at times. The noise floor is low and dynamic range is good; subtleties in the soundtrack are audible. Phantom imaging is rare, but the front stage does sound wider than its physical dimensions. The Blu-ray Disc's uncompressed linear PCM encoding sounds somewhat harsh and digitized, but dynamic range is improved, giving the surround channels a more audible presence. (Danny Richelieu)

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