Bronson [Blu-ray]

Who ever delivered followed my request of putting it in the mail box instead of carelessly throwing it on the porch to bake in the sun and be drenched with rain, thank you very much. Amazing movie as always and Tom is the best of course which is why I wanted this in actual physical form for my collection. Also came in a timely fashion and in reasonable shape. I do however feel that I continue to pay for (NEW) Blu-rays and get used instead. I get tired of taking plastic off and scratches all over the case, damage to case, movie not in place which of course=during shipping and handling that I pay $7 for please ship and handle better. Maybe start shipping in small boxes instead of envelopes. And a long with all this tons and tons and tons of fingerprints all over inside and out of the case along with movie too. I pay a lot for these plastic discs it would be great to get better quality. Being a collector certain things drive us crazy about damage and it's hard enough to even find what we are looking for these days.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but this film is one of Nicholas Winding Refn's lighter efforts. There is humor in almost every scene, and Bronson, despite his violent tendencies, is presented as a guy who just wants to make light of his situation. Tom Hardy buffed up for the role, and his insight into the man is as good as it gets. He knows they expect the worst from him, so he'll strip naked, cover himself in grease, and create a scene, so the guards can't get a grip on him.Bronson never killed anyone, and, despite a botched robbery in his youth, can't be accused of anything but bi-polar stress. The mental institutions didn't want to deal with him, so he went back in the prison system. While paroled, he looked confused, and eventually did something stupid that put him back in prison. It's actually a simple story about a misunderstood person.The facts may have been sugar-coated, and I admit I don't really know the man, but Bronson, as presented in this film, it almost adorable. Tom Hardy, easily one of our finest actors, gives 100% into this guy, and I was completely taken in. The cunning and behavior were given purpose, and his humanity is left intact. In extras, Hardy had met with Bronson, and said he'd present an honest character.Regardless of any factual accuracy, Refn's film is actually delightful and intelligent, maybe as seen through the eyes of Bronson, as he sees himself. Despite how others watch this film, it's not the downer you might expect. A very courageous, varied and unflinching performance from Tom Hardy. I'm VERY impressed.

Bronson was one of my favorite if not my favorite film from last year so it was an easy purchase to make this one of the first Blu-Rays I owned that I wasn't re-purchasing from DVD. Like its protagonist Bronson isn't an easy film to explain.On one hand you can say its a biopic of Michael Peterson, a british prisoner who has rechristend himself in his fighting name of Charles Bronson and made a name for himself by causing riots and taking hostages so many times He's now serving a life sentence in his own prison to protect guards and other convicts from him. The movie isn't so simple though taking what I call a more gonzo approach to the idea of a biopic of a man who's so off kilter a personality. The best critics and even director Nicolas Winding Refn admit that the film is operating on different levels. The normal biopic features Peterson narrating his life, the story of young man who leads an existence engaging in fights at an early age until at nineteen He decides to rob a post office. He's sentenced to seven years in prison and once in decides to make the most of it engaing in fights and other violence.Then theres another angle as Bronson puts on a suit, paints his face and narrates his life story to a crowd, telling jokes and basically as He says from his opening becoming famous through his actions as a prisoner. This is more the surreal aspect of the film exploring a duality between the personality and the person I found interesting. Even the lifestory reenactments seem to use a technique. The film opens on a vicious fight with a caged Bronson squaring off against six guards scored to a normal song that does provide the feeling of general disturbance of the man. Certain scenes want to show this reality while the movie switches soundtracks to a more classical score when Bronson is retelling his life becoming more of the showman He wants to be. We go from rock and roll to Wagner at the drop of a hat to emphasize a more larger than life quality to the story.Refn's an interesting director who totatlly seems to have changed his direction from his films like the Pusher series which were more realistic compared to this. This change of tone and style definitely makes him a filmmaker I'm more interested in seeing after this film but I'll be remiss if I didn't mention Tom Hardy's performance. The film has become mainly recognized for Hardy's work reminiscent to Eric Bana as Mark Brandon Read in Chopper. Unlike Bana who became known outside of Australia because of Chopper though, Hardy's been working for nearly ten years in films like Black Hawk Down and Layer Cake. He's mostly been a character actor in small roles gaining some leads in other films. After this though I can definitely see this changing as He totally owns his role as Bronson. He bulked up considerably shaved his head, but more than that He has an almost animal intensity in the performance. He's funny, He's brash but at the end you do in a way see the wounded animal existing underneath the persona- again something reminiscent of Bana's performance in Bronson. I enjoyed Refn's direction but I can definitely recommend the film from the performance of the lead actor.The film is a biopic of an interesting person that thankfully doesn't glorify the man. There is a free Bronson campaign but it never seems to argue for this idea. In the end its a entertaining film with great direction and an amazing performance. Like I said this is one of the first Blus I purchased so I'm not as good at others at judging picture and the like. I've heard some reviews that have said the pictures good but not great but to me the picture popped with an amazing ammount of sharpness and detail while still retaining a film like appearance. The sound though is spectacularly good benefiting the dialogue and music selection. Magnolia thankfully isn't a company that skimps on extras for either DVD or Blu-Ray and there is a great selection of features including a making of that includes some of Bronson's family, select interviews with Refn, Hardy and actor Matt King. Theres also a feature on training Tom Hardy as well as behind the scenes footage and everything is rounded out with recorded monologues from Charles Bronson himself. The last feature should be something interesting like interviews with Mark Read were on Chopper, but truthfully asides from the rambling nature the audio isn't very good.Thats a good ammount of material rounding out an excellent disc. Like I said I loved the film and would definitely recommend the Blu Ray for fans of the movie. However you can see the movie though its a definite recommendation from me.