DVD Reviews: Bringing Out The Dead

Nicolas Cage stars as troubled paramedic Frank Pierce in this wonderful film about a man haunted by the ghosts of patients that have died when he was on call to them. This movie is based on the book by author and paramedic Joe Connelly and is something extremely different indeed.

I found this drama compelling from beginning to the very end as the tale is about the search for redemption from the ghost of Pierce's patient named Rose. Is she real or is Frank going insane as he races through the Manhattan streets at night in Hells Kitchen.

The movie takes place over three days and every day brings a new challenge and a new partner for Frank to deal with. It's darkly comedic and the visual style of the movie is sensational as is to generally be expected from Martin Scorsese.

Taking place primarily at night, Bringing out the Dead shows you how drastically familiar streets change at night and how the other half of the world live and behave under the cover of shadows. Using some fantastic effects, Scorsese manages to perfectly illustrate the mind state that Frank Pierce is in and the disjointed reality that he lives in.

The film is beautifully transferred with no discernable artefacts or even low level noise visible. The movie uses subtle hues for the most part, although lights from signs do stand out as their luminescence lights up the night sky. There has been a bit of deliberate over exposure in some scenes and it looks wonderful. The title also fully takes advantage of the wonderful audio mixing to highlight key points of the film however doesn't use the rear and bass very much which was a surprise considering the environments the movie takes place in.

The disc also contains a production featurette that is more of an interview than anything else. I really enjoyed this as I found it to be quite informative and just wish there had been more there.

I recommend this disc however be aware that unless you like some extreme black humour that this will be one that you will not enjoy.