emlogomain.jpg

L' Empire des loups

Main
Facebook
Tumblr
News/ Updates
DVD Reviews
DVD Reviews 2017 to 2024
Blu-ray Reviews
2024 Blu-ray and 4K UHD Reviews
2023 Blu-ray and 4K UHD Reviews
2022 Blu-ray and 4K UHD reviews
Blu-ray Reviews 2021
Movie Reviews
Movie Reviews 2019 to 2024
TV
Interviews
Blu-ray Review: THE CROW (2024)
4K Blu-ray Review: THE AFRICAN QUEEN
4K Blu-ray Review: TWISTERS
Blu-ray Review: CUCKOO
4K Blu-ray Review: THE HITCHER (Second Sight)
4K Blu-ray Review: A BITTERSWEET LIFE
Blu-ray Review: THE FLASH the Original Series
Movie Review: THE CROW (2024)
Movie Review- ALIEN: ROMULUS (2024)
4K Review: THE CASE OF THE BLOODY IRIS
Blu-ray Review: APOCALYPSE TETRALOGY
4K UHD Review: THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE
4K Blu-ray Review: CIVIL WAR
Blu-ray Review: IMMACULATE
Blu-ray Review: DUNE (1984) Three Disc Limited Edition
Blu-ray Review: DOCTOR WHO: THE DALEKS IN COLOR
4K Blu-ray Review: ALIENS Ultimate Collector's Edition
4K Blu-ray Review: THE ABYSS UCE
Blu-ray Review: THE MOON
Blu-ray Review: BLACK CAT 1 and 2
Blu-ray Review: FERRARI
Blu-ray Review: I.S.S.
Movie Review: DUNE PART TWO
Blu-ray Review: DIVINITY
Bluray Review: THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER
DVD Review: INTO THE ABYSS
Blu-ray Review: THE EXPENABLES 4
4K Blu-ray Review: THE CREATOR
4K Blu-ray Revew: TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A.
Blu-ray Review: FOG CITY
4K BR Review: OPPENHEIMER
Blu-ray Review: BLUE BEETLE
Movie Review: THE MARVELS
Blu-ray Review: TALK TO ME
4K Blu-ray Review: SCREAM 3 steelbook
Blu-ray Review: THE CRIMSON RIVERS 2
4K bluray review: THE BLOB 4K steelbook
Blu-ray Review: ON THE SILVER GLOBE
Blu-ray Review- BABYLON 5: THE ROAD HOME
Blu-ray Review: GOD IS A BULLET
Blu-ray Review: SKY PIRATES
Blu-ray Review: SISU
Blu-ray Review- HOLLYWOOD DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES
Movie Review: COLONIALS
4K Blu-ray Review: NIGHTBREED
Movie Review- MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE- DEAD RECKONING PART ONE
Blu-ray Review: STONE COLD
Blu-ray Review: ONE RANGER
Blu-rayReview: THE FLASH
blu-ray Review: MAD HEIDI
4K Blu-ray Review: THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE
4K Blu-ray Review: DRAGONSLAYER steelbook
4K Blu-ray Review: STREETS OF FIRE
Blu-ray Review: A MAN CALLED OTTO
Blu-ray Review: THE CRIMSON RIVERS
4K Blu-ray Review: THE ITALIAN JOB (1969)
4K Blu-ray Review: EVENT HORIZON
4K Blu-ray Review: CLOVERFIELD steelbook
4K Blu-ray Review: ACCION MUTANE
4K Blu-ray Review: WINGS OF DESIRE steelbook
Blu-ray Review- DOCTOR WHO: THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN
Blu-ray Review: SAMPO
Movie Review- AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER
Bluray Review: HALLOWEEN ENDS
4K Blu-ray review: HIGHLANGER Director's Cut steelbook
4K BR Review- STTMP The Complete Adventure
Blu-ray Review: MOONAGE DAYDREAM
Blu-ray Review: NO ESCAPE
Blu-ray Review: GINGER SNAPS TRILOGY
Blu-ray Review: I'M DANGEROUS TONIGHT
Blu-ray Review: THE INVITATION
Movie Review: HALLOWEEN ENDS
Movie Review: HELLRAISER (2022)
Blu-ray Review: AFTER BLUE
DVD Review: DEUS
Blu-ray Review: WOLF HOUND
Movie Review: PREY (2022)
Blu-ray Review: CRIMES OF THE FUTURE
Movie Review- THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER
Blu-ray Review: THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT
Blu-ray Review: FIRESTARTER (2022)
Movie Review- TOP GUN: MAVERICK
Movie Review- JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION
4K UHD review: LIFEFORCE
Blu-ray Review- WYRMWOOD: APOCALYPSE
Blu-ray Review: BELLE
DVD Review: THE KING'S DAUGHTER
Blu-ray review: PROJECT GEMINI
Movie Review: EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Blu-ray Review: SETTLERS
Movie Review: THE NORTHMAN
Blu-ray Review: HOUSE OF GUCCI
Blu-ray Review- GHOSTBUSTERS AFERLIFE
Blu-ray Review: LAST NIGHT IN SOHO
Blu-ray 4K Review- RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY
Movie Review- SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME
Blu-ray Review: RAGING FIRE
Movie Review: THE MARIX RESURRECTIONS
4K Blu-ray Review: NO TIME TO DIE
DVD Review: THE FLOOD
Blu-ray Review: DOCTOR WHO Season 24
Blu-ray Review: CANDYMAN (2021)
Blu-ray Review- DOCTOR WHO: EVIL OF THE DALEKS (import)
Movie Review: DUNE Part One
Blu-ray review: ELVIRA'S HAUNTED HILLS
Blu-ray Review: THE COLONY (2021)
Movie Review: ETERNALS
Movie Review: NO TIME TO DIE
Movie Review: HALLOWEEN KILLS
Blu-ray Review: THE GREEN KNIGHT
Blu-ray Review: FAST VENGEANCE
4K Blu-ray Review: BLACK WIDOW
Blu-ray Review: F9 THE FAST SAGA
Blu-ray Review: DOCTOR WHO Season 8 (1971)
4K Blu-ray Review: PROSPECT
Blu-ray Review: SPARE PARTS
blu-ray Review: SIBERIA (2021)
Blu-ray Review: DOORS (2021)
Blu-ray Review: THE UNHEALER
Blu-ray Review: VOYAGERS
Blu-ray Review: TIMELINE (import)
Blu-ray review: KING KONG (1976)
4K UHD Blu-ray review: PERDITA DURANGO
Blu-ray Review: PYSCHO GOREMAN
DVD Review: SKY SHARKS
DVD Review: WILLY'S WONDERLAND
Blu-ray Review: EVENT HORIZON Collector's Edition
Blu-ray Review: SPUTNIK
Blu-ray Review: PUMP UP THE VOLUME
Blu-ray Review: MONSTER HUNTER
Blu-ray Review: SOUTHLAND TALES
Blu-ray Review: SHADOW IN THE CLOUD
Blu-ray Review: SPACEWALKER
Blu-ray review: THE IPCRESS FILE
DVD Review: STRANDED ON MARS
Blu-ray Review: TENET
DVD Review: SKYLINES
Blu-ray Review: POSSESSOR UNCUT
Blu-ray review: FLASH GORDON
Movie Review: TENET
PHOTOGRAPHY
empirrewolves.jpg

EMPIRE OF THE WOLVES

DVD Review by David Blackwell

DETAILS: 128 minutes, previews

STUDIO: SPHE/ Gaumont

RELEASE DATE: 12-26-2005

Anna (Arly Jover) is losing her memory of her husband and she swears the man coming into the pastry shop where she works is someone she knows. She begins to think her husband has changed his face and she doesn't remember it, but the truth will really shake her up. Meanwhile, Captain Paul Nerteaux (Jocelyn Quivrin) brings retired detective "Shifty" Schiffer (Jean Reno) to help him to investigate the murders of three seamstresses (who are also Turkish illegals) in the Turkish part of Paris, France. When they stumble upon the fact it is the work of a Turkish terrorist group called The Gray Wolves, Schiffer tells Nerteaux to back off. Another thread in the story is a group of Anti-Terrorist cops who have brought in a Turkish illegal from a sweatshop raid three months ago.

Despite some really big logic leaps in the last half hour, EMPIRE OF THE WOLVES is a thriller made by the bastard lovechild of David Fincher and Michael Bay. The movie is based on a novel by the writer of THE CRIMSON RIVERS (which was also made into a great French thriller that spawned an equally entertaining sequel). Chris Nohan has to be commended for the good direction job, but the cinematography of Michel Abramowicz stands out whether it is displaying gritty realism, the oppressive rain, or the surreal look of some early scenes with Anna. EMIPRE OF THE WOLVES is a film that mainly focuses on two characters: Anna and Captain Nerteaux. Jean Reno plays an important supporting character who drops in and out of the story as does Mathilde, a shrink that Anna sees. The film has many characters to focus on. It is trying to be a cop thriller and a Hitchcock thriller at different times. You have to get used to the switching between the two interconnected stories because one will have you really interested before going to the other story. Back and forth it goes on like that before everything comes together. EMPIRE OF THE WOLVES does have several twists that will have you asking what surprise they have planned next.

VIDEO: 2.35:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen)

Colors, shadows values, and image detail is grain. Film grain is present during dark scenes.

AUDIO: French 5.1 Dolby Digital, English 5.1 DD

Subtitles: English

The sound mix and surround action is impressive. The English language dub is just plain bad. The voice actors are all wrong. They don't even try to get someone to even sound like Jean Reno. Even the dubbing doesn't sink up with the lip movements. The English language dubs for WASABI and CRIMSON RIVERS: ANGELS OF THE APOCALYPSE are far superior to this lousy dub. Watch the film in the original French language with English subtitles.

EXTRAS: Yep, another SPHE DVD that misses out on not including any of the extras from the three disc collector's edition available in France. That edition has an audio commentary (with Chris Nahon, Arly Jover and Michel Abramowicz) and featurettes (one on the writer of the novel, a Shooting featurette, and a look at the invisible special effects. I love it when SPHE includes extras for THE CRIMSON RIVERS movies, but a few extras here wouldn't have hurt at all. So no extras on the R1 except for previews of other SPHE titles.

PREVIEWS: THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE, THE CAVE, USS POSEIDON: PHANTOM BELOW, 8MM2, RAMPAGE: THE HILLSIDE STRANGLER MURDERS, LA MENTALE- THE CODE, THE ESCAPIST

FINAL ANALYSIS: EMPIRE OF THE WOLVES is an entertaining thriller worth a rent despite the logic leaps in the last half hour. Please listen to the original French language track (with English subtitles) and avoid the bad English dub track.

this article is (c)1-11-2006 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission (except for excerpts and a link to the review). Look for additional content at http://www.livejournal.com/users/enterlinemedia and send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com