Sniper: The White Raven - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Sniper: The White Raven



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
It’s not often that we get not one, but TWO movies from a localized world conflict to review in a short period of time. The very first was The Pilot: A Battle for Survival which Well Go USA released back in March of 2022, but we were asked by the studio to stand down and not publish the piece due to the fact that the movie heroized a Russian pilot and the Ukrainian invasion by Russia had JUST happened in the weeks prior. Now we have Well Go USA releasing another film, but this time on the opposite end of the spectrum with Sniper: The White Raven taking a glimpse into the Slavic realm of war but from the Ukrainian point of view. It’s not exactly about the latest Russian/Ukrainian war per se, but rather about the 2014 Crimean conflict that sort of kick started the last 8 years of stand off “fighting” between the two countries.

Supposedly taken from the pages of real life, Sniper: The White Raven tells the story of a heroic pacifist turned sniper Mykolo (Pavlo Aldoshyn) and his tale of revenge as he seeks to avenge the death of his wife by the Russian invaders. While the film states that this was a true story, my guess is that much of the story is highly fictionalized and modified from the original story (as is the case with MOST “based on a true story” films) in order to rally the people and lionize someone that fights for your particular cause. Many parts of the movie play out a bit too rote and heavily telegraphed, but overall Sniper: The White Raven actually surprised me. I can’t remember watching a Ukrainian film before, so I was actually pleasantly surprised to find the movie carried a nice pace to it, blended artsy introspective moments with some cool action, and while it wasn’t perfectly polished and had some nationalistic jingoism built in (kind of self explanatory), left me pleasantly surprised by the time the credits roll.

We are introduced to Mykolo and his “hippie” wife Nastya (Maryna Koshkina) living out in the sticks in the Donetsk region of Eastern Ukraine. Mykolo is working as a physics teacher at the local school, while Nastya stays home and crafts art out of the land around her. While Mykolo is away at school, Russian forces invade around Crimea for the first time and delve into their land. As you can guess, he gets home just in time for his wife to get murdered by a pair of ruthless Russian soldiers, leaving him alone in the world. Picked up by a band of Ukrainian soldiers, Mykolo decides that he wants to enlist in the army and seek out vengeance against those who invaded his home and murdered his wife.

Being a physics teacher, Mykolo aptly adjust to the life of a specialized sniper, soon distinguishing himself among all his peers. Now the man is given the tools to take out his hatred on the invading Russians, and hopefully avenge his wife in the process.

As I said, in many ways Sniper: The White Raven is a fairly telegraphed film. If you’re a veteran film watcher you’re going to already see most of the beats coming ahead of time. He leaves his wife alone, she gets killed. He becomes a sniper, he’s magically going to come across the men who killed his wife. He’s pitted against a legendary sniper with better weaponry, and of course he’s going to win. None of these are exactly spoilers, but it DOES reduce some of the tension in the film because you can see them coming a mile away.

HOWEVER, there are some really cool aspects of the movie that elevated it from a boring and tired genre. The film doesn’t have much of the super stylized and dramatized Hollywood aspects to it. In some ways I guess you could call it a bit rough. But it’s these foreign “anti-Hollywood” aspects that makes the movie a bit more grounded and realistic. Call me a huge nerd, but the middle act of the movie is absolutely FASCINATING with how in depth they get with the mechanics of being a sniper. Usually we see some personal struggle that the hero has to over come in order to become a bad boy soldier, or we see him do some really cool stuff in order to let the audience know that he is. Here we spend nearly half an hour going over the actual mechanics of long range shooting. Using a previous engagement notebook to catalog distances and elevation drops. The use of physics to describe why their using outdated 7.62x54 and .308 was inferior to the Russians Lapua and BMG rounds due to distance and flatness curves. We actually get to see Mykolo (dubbed “The Raven”) utilize an outdated SKS and his physics math skills to calculate distances and bullet drop during his training. This is just something that we don’t see in modern Hollywood movies, and I was COMPLETELY draw into that middle act (it also could be that I’m a huge Combloc weaponry enthusiast, so seeing some of my favorite weapons on screen was a real treat). The final act is much more your typical heroes ending, where the Raven gets to face off against the mysterious enemy sniper who is taking out his team mates one by one. It ends very stereo typically, but at the same time it’s rather satisfying.




Rating:

Rated R for violence, bloody images, language and some sexuality/nudity.




Video:

As with many foreign films, I haven’t been able to confirm what cameras or what resolution the DI was for the film, but I would simply estimated digitally shot and a 2K master based upon what I’m seeing. The results for the film are actually quite nice, with a crisp and clean look to it that is really striking at times. The film does give that sort of blue/green tinge to itself during the more dramatic moments, although outdoor engagements can be spotted with dusty dead fall foliage, or bright green peeking through from the growing foliage. There’s even some yellows and greys that seep through in some of the interior wreckage shots. I did notice a few scenes (such as when they go into the classroom half way through) that looks a bit crushed and there is some noise spikes. Otherwise this is a very very good looking transfer that only has minor banding to really act as a negative.









Audio:

The film gives us dual audio languages and tracks, with a 5.1 DTS-HD MA in both English and Ukrainian, as well as a Dolby Digital 2.0 track in both languages as well. The English dub is actually quite good, and if I didn’t have the native language track I would have been quite satisfied with it. However, I naturally lean towards the Ukrainian track as it sounds the most impacful dialog wise. Both mixes sound phenomenal in terms of dynamics and surround usage. There’s an incredible amount of ambient noise as characters crawl through enemy infested territory, with bullets whizzing by, and the sound of boots and truck tires rumbling in the background. Dialog is always crisp and cleanly located up front, and the bass was something else. There’s a goodly amount of bass throughout the flick, but there are some stand out moments that will literally slam you back into your seat. The roaring of their house burning down at the beginning is deep and rather punishing, as is the rumbling of motor cars near the end. But it’s the scene where Cap and The Raven take out the soldiers in the woods with mines that really just absolutely SLAMS you back into your chair. Well done mix that’s for sure












Extras:

• Well Go USA Previews
• Trailer

Final Score: ​

Sniper: The Raven is a nifty look into the Ukrainian side of a national war going on over half the world away. It’s not the single best movie in the world, and the ideas don’t really go beyond the surface level of a typical sniper movie, but it’s fascinating nonetheless. The movie is well acted, well shot, and generally an all around solid watch if you’re interested in what’s happening over there (or what HAPPENED over there, as this took place about 8 years ago in terms of the story’s time line). The Blu-ray itself looks and sounds great, but we’re stuck with the typical “trailers only” level of special features from Well Go USA.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Aldoshyn Pavlo, Maryna Koshikina, Andrey Mostrenko, Oleg Drach
Directed by: Marian Bushan
Written by: Marian Bushan, Mykola Voronin
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Ukrainian 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English, Ukrainian DD 2.0
Subtitles: English
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: R
Runtime: 112 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: September 13th, 2022

Recommendation: Solid Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I will have to check this out as well as the other one -- The Pilot: A Battle for Survival