Gone Girl review
When his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) goes missing on their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) finds himself a prime suspect in the investigation. Under pressure from the police and an escalating media frenzy, the portrait Nick has painted of their perfect marriage begins to crumble away, revealing a web of lies and deceit. But does that really mean that he killed his wife?
Adapted from the best-selling novel by Gillian Flynn, David Fincher's latest looks like a standard whodunnit on first glance. But there's more to it than that – as the narrative twists and turns, getting nuttier and nuttier, it becomes clear that the film wants to scratch away at the idea of relationships, shining a light on the compromises and lies we tell while creating idealised version of ourselves.
Brilliantly acted, superbly photographed and razor-sharp in its no-holds-barred dissection of modern marriage, Gone Girl isn't necessarily the film the trailers promised. But in this case, that's no bad thing.
Picture: Shot digitally at 6K and mastered in 5K for its cinema release, Gone Girl arrives on Blu-ray with a barnstorming AVC 2.40:1 1080p transfer.
Even the most subtle nuances inherent in the original photography are delivered to your display. Textures retain a lifelike look at all times, thanks to the encode's combination of clarity and sharpness; colours are deliberated muted, but blended well; and graduated blacks lend a real sense of depth to the image. Like the Blu-rays for Fincher's previous The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and The Social Network, it's another pristine digital transfer.
Picture rating: 5/5
Audio: The highlight of the disc's capable DTS-HD MA 7.1 audio is its handling of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross's score – the film itself is powered by dialogue (which is nicely prominent here) rather than action, so the ethereal music proves particularly invasive as it expertly fills the soundstage with its fuzzy licks and jittery electronics. In doing so, it provides an aural exploration of the characters' mindsets, and adds to the sense of duplicity that haunts each turn of the narrative. Clever.
Audio rating: 4/5
Extras: The sole disc-based extra is a commentary by David Fincher. Thankfully, it's a corker, that finds the filmmaker in a light-hearted mood as he takes viewers through the making of the film, while still finding time to moan at the Regency Pictures logo, complain about wigs and poke fun at Ben Affleck.
The Blu-ray also comes with a replica Amazing Amy children's' book – but you'll need to watch the film to understand why.
Extras rating: 1.5/5
We say: A flawless HD presentation of David Fincher's box office hit – it's just a shame about the paucity of extras
Gone Girl, 20th Century Fox, All-region BD, £25 Approx
HCC VERDICT: 3.5/5
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