Renaissance DVD Review

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Title: Renaissance

Region: One

Genre: Animated Science Fiction Noir

Starring The Voices Of Daniel Craig, Romola Garai, Ian Holm, Kevork Malikyan, Catherine McCormack, and Jonathan Pryce

Writers: Matthieu Delaporte, Patrick Raynal, and Jean Bernard Pouy

Story Consultant and English Dialogue By: Michael Katims

Based On An Original Story By: Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre De La Patelliere

Director: Christian Vockman

Feature length: 105 minutes

Extras: Making Of Featurette

Languages: English and French Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Subtitles: English Subtitles For The Deaf And Hearing Impaired and English, French, and Spanish Language Subtitles

Packaging: Amaray Keep Case

Chapter Stops: 16

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Year of Theatrical Release: 2006/DVD Release: 2007

Theatrical Distributor: Miramax Films

Home Video Distributor: Miramax Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: R

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

I was so taken back by the computer rotoscope animation of Renaissance that it prompted me to write an article about the technology used to make live action and animated films like this for my blog. The film is in many ways to me even more of a graphic novel come to life on screen than anything I have ever seen before. In fact this is a film I doubt could ever be made in mainstream America through the Hollywood studio system because of the amount of money it costs alone to hire A-list talent necessitates that the stars be recognizable to the audience to add extra insurance that people will see the film because this or that actor and actress are in it, which is perfectly understandable. Now granted my statement above may still be extremely unfair, since for all I know the characters portrayed by the French talent may be big stars or well recognized talent in their own respective countries. However just looking at a few recent films that either use sophisticated motion capture to paint over the actors and create virtual environments, such as The Polar Express, A Scanner Darkly and the mix of live action actors placed in the virtual backlot to create a live action adaptation of a graphic novel with films like 300 and Sin City, you can always recognize that at least one of leads will be clearly recognizable throughout the entire film. Check out the images of Angelina Jolie for the upcoming fall theatrical release of Neil Gaiman’s graphic novel interpretation of Beowulf and I think my point is pretty clear. Marketing for adult animated or inspired by graphic fiction live action cinema requires that there is someone we can recognize and for those of you who say I’m wrong because they didn’t know who Gerard Butler was before 300, trust me, the guy had a resume of feature film and even a miniseries TV credits going back at least to 2000 though I’m sure it goes back further than that.

Now we can thank the obvious influences and pioneers such as George Lucas and ILM, Peter Jackson and WETA, James Cameron and Digital Domain as well as a host of CGI studios like Pixar, PDI, Sony Imageworks among many others and we also can definitely look back on anime as well as American sci-fi fantasy anthology films like Heavy Metal, but the one guy I think is still under appreciated for his contributions for creating what was for their time ground breaking animated films that used rotoscope techniques that still at time amaze me to day, is filmmaker Ralph Bakshi. Check out in particular his 1978 version of The Lord Of The Rings or American Pop and I think even if you hate the movies, you will not be able to deny that Bakshi was pioneering the art we practically take for granted today in mainstream cinema now long before most people even owned a home computer, let alone what exists commonly now. Renaissance more than a lot of recent films drove home for me the reality that filmmakers and artists of all types haven’t even scratched the surface of what is possible. Now more than ever we are only limited by our imaginations and this melding of talents will date the effects films of the 80s and 90s the way the original Star Wars or the amazing makeup effects used for horror films like An American Werewolf In London changed the way my generation saw many of the sci-fi and horror films of the 50s and 60s.

Renaissance is a dark film that again in some ways I feel could only be produced overseas or heavily funded by independently obtained finance and still maintains that bleak feel. It reminded me a bit of Lars von Trier’s post apocalyptic noir The Element Of Crime. It deals with similar themes we have seen before that includes police states, corporate megalomania, soulless genetic research, and the classic detective looking to solve a mystery behind the disappearance of a kidnapped female scientist and yet the style and manner in which the film was produced makes it all seem fresh. Miramax Home Entertainment’s DVD edition features a jaw dropping anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratio presentation that while it made me question in my mind “would a high definition version really make any difference?” still makes me ask why not release Renaissance Blu-ray Disc? The film is already available on HD DVD in Europe for those willing to pay for the extra shipping costs. With so many animated films being released now on all three home video formats in the USA and with the eminent arrival of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner: The Final Cut coming to DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray Disc before the end of the year, Miramax and Buena Vista Home Entertainment would be missing a golden opportunity if they elected not to release a film they are already associating with films like Blade Runner for the American DVD release available now and reviewed here. So while I think the DVD picture and sound presentation is great on this disc, I’ve got to make this request, bring Renaissance out on Blu-ray Disc before Christmas please because I’d rather have the domestic high definition release then have to pay to have it imported from Europe on HD DVD, which is region free unlike Blu-ray Disc.

The English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is lively and well mixed and the French Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is included to along with English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired and English, French, and Spanish Language Subtitles as options. A making of documentary optionally subtitled in English (26:07) is the only extra value feature directly related to the film included on this disc. I remember seeing the American theatrical trailer on cable last year and I think it should have been included on the DVD along with the film’s original French theatrical trailer or whatnot. Instead there are just a reel of letterboxed home video previews that include The Invisible, The Hoax, Neverwas, The Roger Corman Collection, and The Lookout (10:51). Couldn’t we have dropped one unrelated preview to include at least the American trailer for Renaissance? The interactive menus are well rendered and easy to navigate.

Renaissance is available on DVD-Video now at retailers on and offline courtesy of Miramax Home Entertainment.

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