Blu-ray Review: Tom Hanks and Halle Berry Star In 'Cloud Atlas' - Available May 14th!

Groundbreaking filmmakers Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer, and Andy Wachowski have returned with one of their most profilic films to date. ‘Cloud Atlas’ is a remarkably beautiful film, an adaptation of David Mitchell’s bestseller of the same name, the film weaves us through six stories, each of which take place in their own unique era between the 19th and 23rd centuries.

The cast of this epic film features Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Ben Whishaw, Jim Broadbent and Susan Sarandon. All of these very talented actors appear in multiple stories of romance and defiance, spanning from the 19th century to the distant future. At it’s core, the film explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future.

Having read the source material and being a fan of it, I wondered how one might go about translating the lavish story in it’s pages to the silver screen. Through the years, many people have pointed to literally works such as ‘The Great Gatsby’ and ‘A Confederacy of Dunces’ as being unfilmable novels. This was also the case with ‘Cloud Atlas.” However, what the filmakers have acheived with this picture is nothing short of remarkable and will certainly serve as a sign post to future directors on how to achieve their lofty cinematic ambitions.

Directors Lana and Andy Wachowski are certainly know for their outside-the-box thinking and shine in their most ambitious experiment in storytelling to date. The cinematography of John Toll and Frank Grieb is nothing less than stellar.

THE EXTRAS:

The Blu-Ray package for ‘Cloud Atlas’ includes seven short documentary-style extras that delve into the world of the film. Having watched them after our iniital viewing of the film, we felt almost compelled to watch the film once more. How often do you gat type of feeling in this day and age?!