10kbullets

Spider – Sony Pictures (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 2022
Director: David Cronenberg
Writer: Patrick McGrath
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Miranda Richardson, Gabriel Byrne, Lynn Redgrave, John Neville, Bradley Hall

Release Date: December 13th, 2022
Approximate Running Time: 98 Minutes 52 seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: R
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $26.99

"Spider (Ralph Fiennes) is in a constant struggle to overcome a traumatic event early in his life. He has been allowed a second chance at life after a long stay in a mental institution and returns to the streets where he grew up; sent to a halfway house under the stern but unsupervised watch of Mrs.Wilkenson (Lynn Redgrave). The sights, sounds and smells of revisiting the familiar streets of his old neighborhood send Spider further down a shadowy path that reawakens memories of his where his mother (Miranda Richardson) and his father (Gabriel Byrne) raised him. He soon begins to uncover the real truth shifting seamlessly back and forth between the tragic events that polarized a boy's adolescence to the shell of a man enduring the surreal plausible reality of today." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5

Spider comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 27.1 GB

Feature: 21.8 GB

The source used for this transfer is in great shape, and any source-related debris is very minor. Colors and flesh tones look correct; image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid; and the image retains an organic look.

Audio: 4.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD 5.1 English track with removable English SDH subtitles. This audio track does a superb job maximizing the sound spectrum. Dialog always comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced. Also, ambient sounds and the score are well-represented.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 13 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival featurette titled Caught in Spider's Web: The Cast (12 minutes 24 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival featurette titled an archival featurette titled Weaving the Web: The Making of Spider (9 minutes 10 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival featurette titled an archival featurette titled In the Beginning: How Spider Came to Be (8 minutes 10 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and an archival audio commentary with director David Cronenberg.

Summary:

David Cronenberg is a filmmaker who always surprises me. Going into a David Cronenberg film cold is an exhilarating experience. That said, he is also one of the few filmmakers whose films never lose any of their potency, no matter how many times you watch them.

Though David Cronenberg is best known for his work in "Body Horror" cinema, identity is a key theme that runs throughout most of his films. And at the heart of Spider is a tale about a schizophrenic man who tries to make sense of his current state of mind by reliving moments from his past.

From the moment of the protagonist's arrival onscreen, the stage is perfectly set for the events that follow. Also, Spider does a superb job creating an unnerving atmosphere that puts you in the protagonist's state of mind. And nowhere is this more evident than in a few scenes that blur the line between what happened and what the protagonist remembers happening.

Spider features a phenomenal cast who are all amazing in their roles, especially Ralph Fiennes (Schindler's List) in the role of Dennis "Spider" Cleg. He becomes fully engrossed in character and delivers a remarkable performance that stands out as one of his best. Another performance of note is Miranda Richardson's (The Crying Game) in the roles of Mrs. Cleg, Spider's mother, and Yvonne, Spider's father's mistress.

There is no area in which Spider does not excel in terms of production. The premise is well-executed, and the narrative does a great job building to an unforgettable finale that brings everything that preceded into focus. Other strengths include another remarkable score from Howard Shore (Videodrome), which heightens the mood by perfectly fusing with the visuals. Ultimately, Spider is an unflinching look at mental illness as we see the protagonist deteriorate in real time as he remembers moments from his past that only further his descent into madness.

Spider gets a strong release from Sony Pictures that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and informative extras, recommended.