Fall, The

In 1920's Hollywood, little Alexandria (Untaru) is bored and isolated, not knowing that The Fall that landed her in a hospital would be the beginning of an epic and fantastic new adventure. When Roy (Pace), a broken and battered stunt man convalescing in the same hospital as Alexandria, strikes up an unlikely friendship with the young girl, he passes the time by spinning an elaborate fantasy tale of Governor Odious (Caltagirone) and the five remarkable heroes determined to defeat him. Only when the line between reality and fantasy begins to dissolve does Alexandria realize how much is truly at stake. (Stacey Pendry)

Special features include a photo gallery, two commentary tracks: the first by Writer/Director Tarsem and the second by Actor Lee Pace and Writers Nico Soultanakis and Dan Gilroy, two deleted scenes, two behind-the-scenes featurettes: Wanderlust (28 minutes) and Nostalgia (30 minutes), and previews.

The anamorphically enhanced 1.84:1 DVD uses different stylizations throughout the presentation to depict different moods, dominated by different color schemes throughout. Resolution is very good, with details delivered nicely, and compression artifacts are not overly distracting. The nicely saturated colors are bold and vibrant, popping from the screen well. Black levels are deep and unwavering and shadow detail is delineated nicely. Fleshtones have a brownish hue, but contrast is generally balanced well. Edge enhancement is minor and rarely becomes a distraction, but there are high-contrast transitions that are plagued with ringing. The H.264 AVC-encoded Blu-ray Disc shows very good detail, with the finest textures captured and delivered to the screen well. Again, black levels and shadow delineation are impressive, and colors are even more bold and vibrant than in the DVD. This is an enjoyable picture. (Danny Richelieu)

The DVD's Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel soundtrack features a broad, deep front stage and engaging surrounds, helping create a believably expansive experience. The LFE channel is incorporated nicely for both effects and music, dropping below 40 Hz with authority. Bass is also well defined, tight, and quick. Phantom imaging could be improved upon, but there is a good sense of imaging across the front stage. Low-level noise can be audible at times. There is a palatable sense of depth and breadth to the front stage that adds a level of naturalness to the soundtrack as well. The Blu-ray Disc's lossless Dolby TrueHD encoding features great fidelity and impressive spatial dimensionality. There are still subtle problems with the mix, but this is a superb soundtrack. (Danny Richelieu)