Director: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes
Writers: Gary Whitta
DVD and Blu-ray release date: May 31 2010
Studio: Entertainment in Video
Number of discs: 1
Price: From £9.99
Running Time: 114 mins
Certificate: 15
Starring: Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson, Jennifer Beals
Living in a post-apocalyptic world Eli (Denzel Washington) is a man on a mission. After the war tore a hole in the sky and the sun came down, burning everybody, he heard a voice that led him to a bible and told him to take it west to a place where it would be protected.
Thirty winters since the flash and Eli is still walking through a barren wasteland “by faith, not by sight” with his trusty MP3 player. The sky is a dismal grey and dust storms wrack the land but he loyally pursues his destiny.
Mad Max style “Road Crews” terrorise loan travellers; cats are hunted for sustenance; the remaining population seek refuge behind masks and sunglasses; desperate souls have become quivering cannibals; people clutch on to what may be the last shampoo on the planet; whole communities live in the rubble of once great cities and the small takes on new meaning as Eli is able to barter with KFC wipes.
Eli’s journey comes to a halt when he has a run in with one of the Road Crews and their leader, Carnegie (Gary Oldman), takes an interest in him. Tough man Carnegie is obsessed with getting a copy of the bible – he knows its power, that the book has the right words to help people and should be shared and spread. Carnegie believes that if he has the book, he will rule the town and people will come from all over to hear its words.
When Carnegie discovers Eli has a copy of the book he has spent years searching for, sending out illiterate Road Crews to find, he realises he has met his match. Washington is a road weary kick-arse violent lead, single-handedly fighting off gangs with just a knife: “Put this hand on me again and you won’t get it back”.
After Eli escapes Carnegie, The Book of Eli becomes a road movie as Carnegie takes chase. Carnegie ultimately sacrifices his power and rule of his dustbowl kingdom for nothing. Although he holds “the book” it means nothing to him and Eli is still the winner.
Oldman as always, convincingly plays the bad guy but still fails to make The Book of Eli a film worth investing nearly two hours of life in. Unless you care about the book as much as Carnegie it is unlikely you will care for this film.
**
DVD AND BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:
Standard Edition:
Wide Screen version of the film
Additional scenes
Lost Tales: Chapter 1 (Carnegie’s Story)
Blu-ray Disc Combo Pack:
Blu-ray version of the film
SD version of the film
Digital Copy of the film on Disc
Additional scenes
Lost Tales: Chapter 1 (Carnegie’s Story)
Starting Over – Featurette
Soundtrack Featurette
Eli’s Journey – Featurette
Maximum Movie Mode – 40 minutes of PIP commentary with Denzel Washington and the Hughes Brothers, and 10 Focus Points
