Blu-ray review: IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY

IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY
Blu-ray review by David Blackwell

DETAILS: 126 minutes, 11 deleted scenes, making-of featurette, one hour Q&A
VIDEO: 2.35:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen)
AUDIO: Bosnian/ Croatian/ Serbian 5.1 DTS-HD MA
Subtitles: English, English SDH

STUDIO: Film District/ GK Films/ SPHE
RELEASE DATE: 3-27-2012

IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY proves that Angelina Jolie has a career as a director if she ever gives up acting. The movie does need a stronger narrative voice, but it doesn't take away from some of the strong visual scenes Angeline Jolie directs in this movie. She wanted to bring attention to the turmoil that happened in the country of Bosnina that the world ignored at large as one of the various racial groups (the Serbs) tried to do genocide and rape women too. IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY isn't everyone's cup of tea. Next time, I wonder what Angelina will direct next and I wonder what she can do with a better written piece of material (she wrote the script).

SPECIAL FEATURES:

11 deleted scenes (scut for pacing reasons) show more scenes with Ajla and Danijel in addition to a scene where a photographer gets in trouble. The Making-of featurette is your usual promo fluff, but the one hour video of the internet chat with Angelina Jolie and actress Vanessa Glodjo is more insightful as it also covers some ground in the featurette too.

FINAL ANALYSIS: IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY is a good start for Angelina jolie as a director, but the movie would have been great if it was better written and have been shorter by 10 to 15 minutes. Too bad that the english version si only on the DVD and the version shot in the native languages of the region are only on the Blu-ray (Angelina shot the movie in English and the languages in Bosnina).

this review is (c)4-3-2012 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted iwthout permission. send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com