Land Blu Ray Review (Universal)

by todayshaul · Published · Updated

Land is a 2021 drama film produced and directed by actress Robin Wright (House of Cards and The Dark of Night) in her film directorial debut. It was written by Jesse Chatham and Erin Dignam (Denial, Loved, 8, Submergence, The Last Face, and The Yellow Handkerchief). It was produced by Peter Saraf (Safety Not Guaranteed, The Kings of Summer, Little Miss Sunshine, The Opportunists, Adaptation, and Sunshine Cleaning). It premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. Robin Wright was originally only attached to direct but took the lead role to help production get it made easier.It grossed $2.6 million at the box office.

After experiencing an unspeakable tragedy with her family, a grief stricken woman named Edee Holzer (played by: Robin Wright from The Princess Bride, State of Grace, Forrest Gump, The Pledge, Justice League, and Wonder Woman/Wonder Woman 1984) walks away from her life in the big city to an isolated cabin in the Wyoming wilderness to be away from the world and change her life from what it was before. She gives up her vehicle and phone to be alone from everything. She battles depression and she is found almost dead by a local hunter named Miguel (played by: Demián Bichir from Perdita Durango, The Grudge, The Nun, Godzilla vs. Kong, Chaos Walking, and The Hateful Eight). She learns how to survive and hunt for herself. The two become friends and their relationship gets stronger after connecting with each other. Can Edee move on with her life and be happy again after experiencing so much pain in her past????

Land is very sad and depressing but it’s a high quality drama. Veteran actress Robin Wright finally gets behind the camera for this one to direct her first full length feature after directing several episodes of House of Cards. This one is a character study about a woman that loses everything so she moves away to the middle of nowhere to be alone from society. The script is great here and it really shines for it’s few roles that are featured in Land. Robin Wright gives her strongest performance in a long time for this tragic role. She carries this one with ease. If you are fan of her work, this is a must watch because this is some of the best acting that she’s ever done when it comes to her impressive. She has amazing chemistry with Demián Bichir. He was top notch as a stranger that saves her life and they become really close after the near death experience. You really get invested into these two and Land makes sure to take advantage of that towards the end. It has a solid supporting cast that includes Kim Dickens (Deadwood), Finlay Wojtak-Hissong (The Banana Splits Movie), and Warren Christie (The Resident) in smaller cameos. This is basically two person movie and both leads deliver here. I really enjoyed this one but like I said before it’s a extremely sad drama so be prepared for that. This definitely deserved a bigger push but Covid-19 slowed everything down, RECOMMENDED!!!!

Let’s talk about the high definition presentation and special features from Universal Pictures! This 1080p (1.67:1) transfer looks beautiful on blu ray and the locations really shine here. It has a few different audio options which includes English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French: DTS 5.1, and Spanish: DTS 5.1 on the disc. This is not your typical action packed or explosive type film so don’t expect it to blast through your sound system but it does sound great for the other audio elements. All of the dialogue is crystal clear and the music has a nice boost to it. It has English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles. “Crafting Land” is a little over 5 minutes. It has interviews with Robin Wright, production designer Trevor Smith, producers Allyn Stewart, Lora Kennedy, Leah Holzer, actor Demián Bichir, and hair department head Jo-Dee Thomson. It has behind the scenes footage from the shoot. They chat about the story, characters, cast, production design, and locations. They talk about their rough and short shooting schedule for this production. They bring up the look of it plus the visuals/costumes of the main roles here. “Robin Wright: Feature Film Directorial Debut” is almost 4 minutes. It has interviews with Robin Wright, producers Allyn Stewart, Leah Holzer, actor Demián Bichir, and writer Jesse Chatham. It has behind the scenes footage from the shoot. They chat about working with the actress on their full length feature debut. They talk about her having a rough shoot but could easily go into her character for hard scenes during the production. “After the Trauma” is a little over 3 minutes. It has interviews with Robin Wright, producers Allyn Stewart, Leah Holzer, Lora Kennedy, actor Demián Bichir, and writer Jesse Chatham. They chat about the main character here. They talk about the script, story, and traumatic events of Land. It also includes a slipcover and a digital code. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!