“The Lost City” is an entertaining film during a time where people want to escape reality and laugh. This film delivers.”The Lost City” is recommended!
TITLE: The Lost City
DATE OF FILM RELEASE: 2022
DURATION: 111 minutes
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: UHD HDR10 (Widescreen 2:39:1), English Atmos, French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, Subtitles: English SDH, English, French and Spanish
COMPANY: Paramount
RATED: PG-13
RELEASE DATE: October 12, 2021
Directed by Aaron Nee, Adam Nee
Screenplay by Oren Uziel, Dana Fox, Adam nee
Story by Seth Gordon
Producer: Sandra Bullock, Liza Chasin, Seth Gordon
Executive Producer: Margaret Chernin, Julia Gunn, Jonathan Hook
Associate Producer: Charlie Endean
Music by Pinar Toprak
Cinematography by Jonathan Sela
Edited by Craig Alpert
Casting by Miguel Fernandez, Tricia Wood
Production Design: Jim Bissell
Art Direction by Maria Fernanda Munoz, Wilhem Perez
Set Decoration by Karen Frick
Costume Design by Marlene Stewart
Starring:
Sandra Bullock as Loretta Sage/Angela
Channing Tatum as Alan/Dash
Daniel Radcliffe as Abigail Fairfax
Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Beth Hatten
Brad Pitt as Jack Trainer
Oscar Nunez as Oscar
Patti Harrison as Allison
Bowen Yang as Ray the Moderator
Stephen Lang as Slang/Fantasy Villain
Joan Pringle as Nana
Hector Anibal as Rafi
Thomas Forbes-Johnson as Julian
Slie Lewis as Shades
Loretta Sage’s novels are filled with ancient tombs and daring adventures, but that doesn’t mean she’s prepared for them in real life. When she is kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire to locate a legendary lost city, Loretta’s handsome cover model, Alan, sets off on a heroic but hapless rescue mission. Thrust into an epic thrill-ride through the jungle, the unlikely pair must work together to survive the elements, and survive each other, to find the city’s fabled treasure before it’s lost forever.
The Nee Brothers (Aaron Nee and Adam Nee) who are responsible for films such as “Band of Robbers” and “The Last Romantic” are back with a hilarious comedy which has received positive reviews worldwide.
Co-written by Oren Uziel (“Mortal Kombat”, “Eascape Room: Tournament of Champions”), Dana Fox (“Cruella”, “How to be Single”, “Couples Retreat”) and a story conceived by Seth Gordon (“The Night Agent”, “Breaking In”, “Big Man on Campus”) comes “The Lost City”.
And now the film has been released on Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD courtesy of Paramount.
“The Lost City” is a film filled with starpower with superstar talents such as Sandra Bullock (“Gravity”, “Speed”, “The Proposal”, “Miss Congeniality”), Channing Tatum (“21 Jump Street”, “White House Down”, “Foxcatcher”), Daniel Radcliffe (All “Harry Potter” films), Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“Lady Reed”, “People of Earth”, “The Guilty”) and Brad Pitt (“Moneyball”, “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”, “12 Monkeys”, “Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood).
“The Lost City” revolves around romance/adventure novelist Dr. Loretta Sage (portrayed by Sandra Bullock) who has created a popular romance/adventure series featuring the fictional characters Dr. Angela Lovemore and her romantic interest Dash McMahon.
And now her publisher Beth Hatten (portrayed by Da’Vine Joy Randolph) wants her to go on a book tour with her cover model Alan Caprison (portrayed by Channing Tatum), who is the model behind Dash McMahon. And a character that is popular among female readers.
But it’s not easy for Dr. Sage as she has been a recluse since the death of her husband. But also because she knows that while the character Dash McMahon is quite popular, she assumes that Alan is a man that is a bit too over the top and shallow.
And as she willingly goes on the book tour wearing an uncomfortable sequin jumpsuit and has a disastrous promotion with Alan, while waiting outside of the venue to catch a ride back to her hotel, she is kidnapped by hired guns working for billionaire Abigail Fairfax (portrayed by Danielle Radcliffe).
The kidnapping was witnessed by Alan and he and Beth try to find a way to rescue Dr. Sage.
As for the antagonist, the billionaire Abigail is a man who didn’t get the family business and wants to prove his worth by becoming a treasure hunter. He knows through Loretta’s books that her stories are based on actual historical research that she and her late archaeological husband were working on. And that was a lost city on the remote Atlantic island and is after the Crown of Fire.
And he wants nothing desperately but to get his hands on the priceless treasure, the Crown of Fire but wants Dr. Sage to decipher the ancient map in order for him to get the treasure.
But when Dr. Sage tells him that she is not interested, he uses chloroform and takes Dr. Sage to the secluded island which he has crews and thugs working to help find this treasure.
But fortunately, for Dr. Sage, her publisher Beth has her smart phone which is connected to her watch and they can attract her movements. But who can they call if the authorities are not willing to listen?
Alan calls on a mentor, Jack Trainer (portrayed by Brad Pitt), a former Navy SEAL turned CIA operative who agrees to help Alan get Dr. Loretta Sage right back.
For Alan, he wants to do all he can to rescue her because he has been secretly enamored with Dr. Sage and also is gracious for playing the role of Dash and will do anything to risk his life to bring Dr. Sage back home. But what happens when he joins up with Jack on this rescue mission?
Will they be able to rescue Dr. Loretta Sage?
VIDEO:
“The Lost City” is presented in 4K Ultra High Definition ala UHD HDR10 Widescreen 2:39:1.
Picture quality is excellent. The clarity and how things look in HD is incredible, especially on closeups. Colors are fantastic and the film looks magnificent in 4K Ultra HD.
IMPORTANT TO KNOW: To watch 4K Ultra HD, you will need a 4K UHD TV with HDR and an Ultra HD compatible Blu-ray Player + a high-speed HDMI (Category 2) Cable.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“The Lost City” features a wonderful lossless soundtrack in English Dolby Atmos and also in French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
The dialogue and music are crystal clear, but during the more gun-prominent scenes or during the island sequences, that is where you can hear the usage of the surround channels and the film become much more immersive.
Subtitles are in English, English SDH, French and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“The Lost City” comes with 50 minutes of special features including deleted scenes and bloopers, Bullock and Tatum: The Dynamic Duo, Jungle Rescue, Building the Losty City and more!
EXTRAS:
“The Lost City 4K Ultra HD” comes with a slipcase, Blu-ray and a digital code for Paramount Movies (and will show up on VUDU -Fandango-).
With a lot of the films being released in theaters, especially during this time where society hopes to regain a sense of normalcy in everyday life, we still need to laugh and smile and we turn to cinema at times to get away from reality and be entertained.
“The Lost City” is a big budget film from the Nee brothers and if there are two entertainers that you can depend on for laugh and smiles is actress Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum.
While Bullock is coming off her more serious film “The Unforgiveable” and Tatum from his comedy film with a canine in “Dog”, they are joined by supertalent that you would never expect to be in the same film as them, such as Danielle Radcliffe, who has been taking on film roles to shed the “Harry Potter” stereotype and Brad Pitt in a hilarious action role. And you also have Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who has been busy on various television series such as “Only Murders in the Building” and her voice role in “Madagascar: A Little Wild”.
But the premise of “The Lost City” is fun, adventurous, entertaining and straightforward. The film doesn’t break new ground, nor is the concept original. But what it does best is modernizing the old storyline with something fresh and modern.
You have a former archaeologist Dr. Loretta Sage, turned romance/adventure novelist, who has been a recluse since the death of her husband but yet popular for writing these adventure/romance novels, played out in scenes as her as the fictional heroine Dr. Angela Lovemore and her romantic interest, Dash McMahon.
For Dr. Sage, its an inconvenience to go on a book tour but her publicist feels that to promote this latest book, she and the man who plays Dash, Alan Caprison (portrayed by Channing Tatum) should do shows together. Considering Dash has a huge fan following, it could sell a lot of books.
Unfortunately, for Dr. Sage, having to wear an uncomfortable sequin jumpsuit that is hard for her to move in, let alone having to be on the same stage with Alan is something she could care less about and just wants it over. But unbeknownst to Dr. Sage, Alan has a crush on her. But he is also quite grateful for the opportunity has given him to play the role of Dash.
Unfortunately, their first promotional event for the book turns out to be a disaster, but even worst for Dr. Sage, the billionaire Abigail Fairfax (portrayed by Daniel Radcliffe) believes that because she’s writing about a lost city in the remote Atlantic, she is the best person in the world to help him find the priceless treasure, the Crown of Fire. So, he has her kidnapped, which Alan sees and now Alan and her publicist try to find a way to rescue Dr. Sage.
And unfortunately the real story of Dr. Sage being kidnapped and whisked to the Atlantic is not believable, so they turn to a former Navy SEAL and CIA Operative, Jack Trainer (portrayed by Brad Pitt).
And the rescue mission with Alan and Jack begins? But will they be successful?
Without spoiling the film, it’s these interactions and hilarious dialogue that makes the film so exciting and fun. The direction of the Nee Brothers and the screenplay by Oren Uziel and Dana Fox works! But it’s the two talents that attract your attention. Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum work well together!
Personally, I would have never imagined Bullock and Tatum in a film together, but their chemistry works and it leaves you feeling that these two, can continue a film series based on their adventures.
Paramount has no doubt found a comedy duo worth of starring in several romance/adventure films ala Dr. Sage/Alan and audiences would be excited for it. It’s a duo that I can easily root for, not to say that Tatum/Jonah Hill were not a fine duo in the “Jump Street” films and unfortunately, we never got the Bullock/Reeves reunion for another “SPEED” film, so I’m up for a “The Lost City” sequel or trilogy!
But after watching this film, I think of the many jungle adventure films over the decades.
Far too often, when you think of duos for action films these days, they are pretty much two men. And if there is a portrayal of a man or woman in an adventure film, it’s more to often about the brave man and damsel in distress (thoughts of the 1984 film “Romancing the Stone” and ’80s “Indiana Jones” films comes to mind).
For “The Lost City”, we have an intelligent romance/novelist who was a former archaeologist and a guy who moved to California to get a job as an actor and he may be fit, but he’s not exactly a fighter. So, in a way both characters of Dr. Sage and Alan feed off each other, two people working as a team and both are vulnerable but yet determined in surviving this adventure together.
I really do like that! It’s not perfect, but it’s something that many of us have hoped to see and escaping something that has been done before, but to escape the banality of romance/adventure films.
And for me, having watched these romance/adventure films develop through various decades, it’s something that feels just right to see the characters balanced and complimenting each other. In fact, machoism is poked fun at in this film. So, it’s no doubt a modern adventure/comedy that people can surely enjoy and gravitate to.
As for the 4K Ultra HD presentation of “The Lost City”, the film looks and sounds great in HD and there are many special features that will entertain you for almost an hour. Picture quality is amazing but the lossless soundtrack, audiophiles will enjoy this film!
Overall, “The Lost City” is an entertaining film during a time where people want to escape reality and laugh. This film delivers.
“The Lost City” is recommended!