Amsterdamn - 4K Digital Review

[Michael Scott]

Amsterdam

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras: :
Final Score:


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Movie
If the salaciousness and behind the scenes drama of Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling wasn’t a juicy bit of gossip to sink your teeth into, then you’re going to have a ball with this one. David O’Russell has been a massive name in the film industry for the better part of 30 years, with hits like Silver Lingings Playbook, I Heart Huckabee, American Hustle, The Fighter and many more garnering the man tons of academy awards nominations. But he’s not just known for making good movies. He’s known for being a complete nimrod on set, with a million sexual abuse and physical/verbal abuse claims made against him over the years, with this film being no exception. Amsterdam was slated to be the next big Oscar bait film of 2022, but ended up losing nearly $100 million at the box office due to very very poor marketing (it was marketed really weirdly here in the states) and a horrendous amount of controversy over the infamous director going postal on the set once more. Not to mention a complete misstep with the direction of the film (in my personal opinion) and this has become the year’s biggest box office bomb that wasn’t meant to be.

Amsterdam revolves around Burt Berendson (Christian Bale) and Harold Woodsman (John David Washington) who both served together in the first world war, and ended up becoming victims due to their battle wounds. Burt is a doctor who gets by serving the wounded veterans who were not as lucky, inventing new experimental pain meds, bypassing payment so that his clients get the help they need, and also suffering himself with a damaged back and a glass eye. Harold is a lawyer and has decided to dedicate his life to helping the same patients that Burt takes care of, making sure they get the benefits they so richly deserve. However, there lives turn upside down when the body of a high ranking social elite is smuggled to them by his daughter (Taylor Swift) in hopes of finding out if there was any foul play in his death. Unfortunately there appears to have been, but before Burt and said socialite’s daughter can make it public the woman is pushed in front of a car and killed (the killer amusingly played by a nearly recognizable Timothy Olyphant)

It turns out that the dead elite is not just a coincidence, as there is a dark conspiracy a foot forcing Burt, Harold and a French nurse by the name Valerie (Margot Robbie) into tracking down who is responsible and making them pay before they turn the United States into another tin dictatorship like the Axis powers once were.

Based upon a true story of rich elites trying to force another war on the general public for private gain (how shocking, the military industrial complex and social elites working together to continue conflict for profit?), Amsterdam had all of the trappings for a great movie. It had an INSANE ensemble cast that spans way more than I’ve listed here (Ed Begely Jr., Mike Myers, Robert DeNiro, Michael Shannon, and many many more), but the direction is truly bizarre. The film feels like a high school dramatization, with over acting galore and tons of cheesy dialog. From what I’ve been able to gather, O’Russell really wanted to make a surreal and cheeky film that was light on the feet and snappy with the wit, but instead it’s a mess of jumbled ideas told through a serious of flashbacks that really don’t make much sense. The movie is awkward, unwieldy, and the over the top intentionally hammy acting just leaves me wondering if there was any oversight on deck, or whether O’Russell was just given free rein to do what he wants




Rating:

Rated R for brief violence and bloody images.




Video:

As I always state, I don’t give a star award for a streaming service’s picture quality simply due to the fact that streaming is highly bitrate dependent, and a person’s internet quality will determine just how good or bad it can get. Anyways, the image appears to be excellent from the 4K stream that I was watching (via Vudu). Colors lean heavily towards amber and muted primary shades, with pastels, browns and a strong assortment of the grungier colors shining through. Image clarity is superb though, showing every line and crease on Bale’s face, as well as the obvious CGI and prosthetic “patches” he makes for his clients. Darks are exquisite, with brilliant shadow detail and I couldn’t see any major artifacting to the naked eye outside of your typical banding scene in streams.








Audio:

The Dolby Atmos track found on the stream was just as superb as the video. A fully immersive track that really excels when the film goes back in time to the war, but also is superb in the middle of New York city where the hubbub and bustle of traffic is all around the listening position. Dialog is spot on perfect from what I could tell, and overall this is a well done mix. My only complaint was that I didn’t hear a ton of discrete overhead activity except a FEW moments during some of the shelling. All in all, can’t complain.







Extras:

• Welcome To Amsterdam – Learn how this original, witty crime epic was made. Hear from the writer/director about his process, the actors who transformed into their characters, and discover how the production created the period look of this visually spectacular film.
• Trailer

Final Score: ​

I honestly don’t know what went wrong with Amsterdam. It had it all. A great cast, a highly decorated director (despite his obvious controversies), but also a horrible marketing campaign that basically ignored the target audience and aimed directly at young folks, and of course a steaming pile at the box office ($80 million budget before marketing and only $31 million made at the box office). It’s now going to go down as one of this decade’s biggest flops, which is sad being that I like a lot of O’Russell’s previous films.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy, Zoe Saldana, Raimi Malick
Directed by: David O"Russell
Written by: David O'Russell
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Audio: English: Dolby Atoms
Subtitles: English
Studio: Disney/Buena Vista
Rated: R
Runtime: 134 Minutes
Digital Release Date: November 10th, 2022

Recommendation: Rental