Japanese filmmaker Sion Sono has certainly left his imprint on cinema with some wild, amazing, and truly memorable films. His newest outing is Prisoners Of The Ghostland and mixes a ton of genres all into one big pot and stirs it up with Nic Cage of all people. All of the wackiness and chaotic moments work perfectly in this violent, endearing, and often funny film that must be seen to be believed. Sonos' visual paradise of an apocalyptic world mixes punk rock with Japanese neon-fueled clubs in a western landscape that oddly seems perfect. Cage is on top of his energetic game here as well. There's nothing this movie doesn't have and is for sure a good time for those seeking out something strange and unusual.
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Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Prisoners Of The Ghostland travels its way to Blu-ray via RLJE Entertainment. There is one sole Blu-ray Disc inside a hard, blue plastic case with a cardboard sleeve. There are no inserts for digital copies. The artwork features Nic Cage with a ton of blood and other characters from the movie.
Prisoners Of The Ghostland comes with a great 1080p HD transfer in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 that will boggle everyone's mind into the chaotic color spectrum from this film. The opening sequence is highly stylized with great bouts of bright popping color inside a gumball machine that showcase all of these vibrant colors against a grayish-white backdrop. After this sequence, the movie jumps around from a desert wasteland to a neon-infused alley of bars and clubs, along with Japanese influences.
The costumes, visual effects, and the walking dead all make for some wonderful if not some whacky choices on color. The Governor's white cowboy outfit is a bright white that goes well with all the shades of red in the background or when blood is splattered. Cage's black suit also has some inky levels as well. The purple, green, and blue supernatural effects lighting also look wonderful here. The detail also delivers some funny close-ups that showcase the glued-on facial hair on Cage and some of the gorier makeup effects. Wider shots though look a little soft at times and there is some ample banding and aliasing when smoke appears. It doesn't last long, but it's noticeable. Other than that, this 1080p HD video presentation looks good.
This release comes with a good DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio track that gets the job done. Sound effects are boisterous with some decent directionality. The noises of gunshots, explosions, swords clanking, or a punch to the face all sound good here, but it never packs a big pop like in heftier action films. On a couple of occasions though, the low end of bass travels in when a bus or a horde of people come charing in, which has a nice rumble to it.
Atmospheric sound effects of people screaming or being tortured can be heard through the surround speakers. Even Cage's tricycle has a nice sound to it when he rides it for a few minutes. The score always adds to the chaos and thrill of the film and the dialogue is always clean, clear, and easy to understand, void of any audio problems. This is a solid audio presentation.
Only eight minutes of bonus material is included here, which is just an EPK piece.
Prisoners Of The Ghostland is not for everyone. But for those who love Nic Cage, absurd Japanese films that mix genres, and are looking for a bloody good time the likes of Army Of Darkness, then this film will satisfy. There's nothing else quite like it in its unique world of cowboys, ninjas, zombies, and apocalyptic people. This release features a good 1080p HD transfer and a better DTS-HD 5.1 audio track. There isn't really anything much in the way of bonus material though. Again for such an "out there" movie, this release really is For Fans Only!
