Vanilla Sky - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Vanilla Sky



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


​

Movie
I’ve got another deep and dark secret. Just like The Shawshank Redemption, I have never seen Vanilla Sky. I’ve grown up watching a lot of Cameron Crowe’s movies, but for some reason the trailer for Vanilla Sky never caught my attention back when I was watching stuff like Jerry Maguire or Fast Times at Ridgemont High, so while I owned the DVD back in the day, I never actually WATCHED it. There, I’ve said it. I know I should be ashamed, so I will take my 40 lashings and go back to reviewing movies.

All jokes aside, I was kind of excited to watch this for the very first time. Having never seen the movie before this was going to be a virginal experience for what is widely considered a classic film. Especially considering the fact that this is Cameron Crowe’s most experimental film as well. The man has done a wide variety of styles over the years, ranging in quality from GREAT to just mediocre, but Vanilla Sky was the first time that Crowe did something that is akin to a David Lynch production, and I do like me some David Lynch.

Watching the movie I was in awe, sort of weirded out, and also felt a bit betrayed at the end. Sitting back and pondering what I saw meant that I needed to watch it at least once more. So, waiting a couple of days between viewings I did a grand total of 3 watches of this film, and now think I have a pretty good handle on all the twists and turns. The story itself starts out rather simply with Tom Cruise’s David Aames waking up from a weird dream where he is alone to going about his daily life as a majority board member of a gigantic publication that he inherited from his family. His best friend Brian (Jason Lee) brings a young woman to his birthday party to whom he is introduced as Sofia Serrano (Penelope Cruz), and David falls head over heels for her.

Ditching his sort of “friends with benefits” friend Julie (Cameron Diaz) for Sofia David soon finds out that he has a chance at love. Instead of just wining and dining and bedding her like everyone else, he forms a bond with her, that is until his life is turned upside down when he gets into a car with Julie and she goes completely nuts professing her love to him, and the two of them crash into a wall, killing Julie and disfiguring himself. Then comes a bizarre set of events that starts to make David question his sanity.

Vanilla Sky is part love story, part tragedy, part sci-fi, and a HUUUUGE chunk of misdirection and confusion. One thing I failed to mention so far is that much of the story is told as a flashback as David recalls his life in pieces to a court ordered shrink (Kurt Russell) who is analyzing him before a trial for the murder of Sofia. This is a massive clue to what comes next, but takes a while to be realized in the film. I’m going to be VERY cagey with spoilers, but I will tell you that it becomes fairly obvious around the half way point that we’re not seeing dreams and what ifs, but two different realities. One is the “present” that tells David’s story, and one is an “alternate” one. The problem is, you can’t really tell which reality we’re in from scene to scene until MUCH later in the movie (about the 1 hour 45 minute part). However, there are a TON of clues throughout the movie that come out in later viewings. When the big reveal happens near the end it made total sense what was going on. However, it took several viewings to pick up on all the bread crumbs that Crowe laid out throughout the movie.

The movie can be VERY confusing and surreal, but for some reason I couldn’t take my eyes off of the screen, even though I was having a hard time reconciling what was going on. That being said, I feel that Crowe went the easy way out with the ending by explaining TOO much. I really dislike movies which lead you only so far and then leave the ending as ambiguous as possible, but Crowe went the opposite direction and basically spelled it all out for you. I get why he did it as the very last few seconds is the theme of the movie, but it just felt a bit rushed when you watch it after all that has happened the last hour and forty five minutes.




Rating:

Rated R for sexuality and strong language




Video:

The 2.39:1 AVC encoded Blu-ray looks really good, but also has it’s fair share of problems as well. The typical teal imagery that is predominant in Asian films is a good looking image with more than it’s share of great details, but for some reason is distinctly soft in many scenes. Not enough to be a major problem, but I noticed obvious smoothing and softness around faces and backgrounds alike. I also noticed some pretty annoying banding and digital noise as well. Maybe it was the stylistics of the cinematography, but either way it kept the picture from being a great one, and just was a “good Blu-ray” at the end of the day.








Audio:

Judging by the previous specs and the specs on this disc (and Paramount’s history with the Paramount Presents films) I can guess that this is the exact same 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix found on the 2015 Blu-ray. Which seems to be a good thing as the mix is quite fantastic. The Nancy Wilson done score is hypnotic and airy, with breeze moments interrupted by deep and foreboding elements. The dialog is above reproach for all but 1 or 2 scenes (heard a volume dip a couple of times, once inside David’s house, and the other in the car before the accident). Bass response is good considering this is a drama flick, and surrounds get used quite a bit with the score as well as the hustle and bustle of New York. Very solid mix that is above average by a large margin.









Extras:

• NEW Filmmaker Focus: Cameron Crowe on Vanilla Sky
• Audio Commentary by Cameron Crowe & Nancy Wilson
• Alternate Ending with Optional Commentary by Cameron Crowe
• Prelude to a Dream
• Hitting It Hard
• An Interview with Paul McCartney
• Gag Reel
• Music Video "Afrika Shox" by leftfield/afrika bambaataa
• Photo Gallery with Audio Introduction by photographer Neal Preston
• Mask Test with Optional Commentary by Cameron Crowe
• Kurt Russell single take with Optional Commentary by Cameron Crowe
• Trailers
• Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Cameron Crowe
• Credits
• Collectible packaging featuring a foldout image of the film's theatrical poster and an interior spread with key movie moments

Final Score: ​

Vanilla Sky is crazy, unconventional, and while it’s very David Lynchian in nature, I feel Crowe isn’t as skilled at the art of misdirection, sometimes confusing the audience rather than being a skilled storyteller. However, I honestly couldn’t take my eyes off the screen and really enjoyed the twists and turns. The ending was a much different ending than I ever expected, and even though it’s technically a tragedy, has a silver lining of hope running throughout it as well. If you know anything about a David Lynch movie, then you know that by comparing this to one of his films you know that this isn’t going to be a film for everyone. Either way, it’s a good film and the new 4K remaster for the film looks and sounds great.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Kurt Russell, Jason Lee, Noah Taylor, Tilda Swinton, Michael Shannon
Directed by: Cameron Crowe
Written by: Alejandro Amenabar, Mateo Gill (film Abre Los Ojos), Cameron Crowe
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, German DD 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, German
Studio: Paramount
Rated: R
Runtime: 136 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: November 16th 2021

Recommendation: Very Good Watch for Lynchian fans

 

[Todd Anderson]

I've never seen this either... hmmm. Maybe it's time?

 

[Asere]

Thanks for the review. I saw this many years ago and if I remember correctly it was a strange film.

 

[Michael Scott]

Thanks for the review. I saw this many years ago and if I remember correctly it was a strange film.

you can say that again.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Ha ha... strange can be good, though. Annoying strange is not good. Intriguing strange is good.