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Ghost Canyon

'Dying Of The Light'
(Nicolas Cage, Anton Yelchin, Alexander Karim, Claudius Peters, et al / Blu ray / R / 2014 / Lionsgate)

Overview: When a devastating illness threatens to end Evan Lake's career in the CIA, he goes rogue to hunt down a terrorist who tortured him during a mission gone awry years ago.

Blu ray Verdict: Well, this film has not come to us in a smooth fashion, that's for sure. We all know Nicolas Cage does way too many movies a year to ensure that one of them is a classic. But, that's why we love him as no matter what the paycheck is, no matter what the tone of the movie is, Cage is usually on board.

But, sadly, and as much as 'Dying Of The Light' - for my money - is a damn decent movie, it seems that the film was taken away from director Paul Schrader in post-production and re-edited by the producers! Indeed, in October 2014 Schrader posted on his Facebook page, "We lost the battle. Dying of the Light (2014), a film I wrote and directed, was taken away from me, re-edited, scored and mixed without my input."

I don't honestly know what that meant for the final cut of the film, but suffice to say that a) the cover art changed and so did the final edit, by all accounts. I actually like the grey, mean, moody cover art for the Blu ray and as for the film, yeah, that to.

Nicolas Cage is Evan Lake, a dedicated veteran CIA agent in the last stages of his career. He has been riding a desk for the last years and does not like it. The most elevating moments are the motivational speeches he is asked to do for the new CIA agents in training.

When the trail of an old enemy, presumed dead for decades, surfaces and coincides with Lake being diagnosed with a terminal form of dementia, the choice is easy. He is going to settle one last score. So, as you can tell, the story has some potential, but sure, there are moments when you feel the movie never gets past the B-movie predicate.

'Dying Of The Light' features our hero, Cage, battling terrorists, and although he never actually gets tortured, those many scenes where he exhibits the symptoms of dementia, the bouts of forgetfulness, the stammering and blank looks from questions asked of his character, you can't but help feel that Cage's acting range - anger included, of course - is also on the verge of seeping dry.

That said, 'Dying Of The Light' is another Cage get-up and get-'em flick that showcases, once more (and as if we needed continual proof) that he is 100% most definitely the go-to action man of the cinematic experience these days. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:
"Behind The Scenes of Dying Of The Light" Featurette
Cast And Crew Interviews
Deleted/Extended Scenes
Trailer Gallery

www.LGF.com





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