Noah [2 Discs] [Includes Digital Copy] [Blu-ray/DVD]

Director: Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky

Overview

Darren Aronofsky brings the story of Noah's Ark to the big screen with this Paramount/New Regency production. "In the beginning, there was nothing." So starts this version of the story centered on Noah (Russell Crowe), the man entrusted by God to save the innocent animals of Earth as the rising floodwaters cleansed the planet of mankind's evil. As the telling continues, we learn how Adam and Eve's sins have passed down through generations through their sons Cain and Abel, and how the descendants of their righteous sibling Seth were entrusted with defending creation. One day, while foraging in the country, a descendant of Seth, Noah, sees his father slain by a descendant of Cain. In the process, Noah's birthright is stolen from him. Decades later, as a father of three, Noah experiences a vision foretelling the great flood that will wash over the Earth, destroying every living thing that stands on the soil. That vision leads Noah to seek out his grandfather, Methuselah, in order to understand his mission. When a second vision reveals that Noah is to construct a massive ark designed to shelter every living animal during the great flood, Noah, his wife Naameh (Jennifer Connelly), their three sons Shem (Douglas Booth), Ham (Logan Lerman), and Japheth (Leo McHugh Carroll), and their adoptive sister Ila (Emma Watson) immediately begin construction on the vessel with the help of the Watchers, a race of angels created as beings of light, but encrusted in stone and mud and forsaken by God for their attempts to help man. Meanwhile, word of Noah's work soon reaches Tubal Cain (Ray Winstone), who gathers an army on a mission to overtake the ark, and survive the coming storm by any cost.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/29/2014
UPC:	0032429149442
Original Release:	2014
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	PARAMOUNT
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:17:00
Sales rank:	19,530

Special Features

Closed Caption; Disc 1: Blu-Ray feature film + special features -; Iceland: extreme beauty; The ark exterior: a battle for 300 Cubits; The ark interior: animals two by two; ; Disc 2: DVD feature film

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Russell Crowe	Noe
Jennifer Connelly	Naameh
Ray Winstone	Tubal Cain
Emma Watson	Ila
Anthony Hopkins	Methuselah
Logan Lerman	Ham
Douglas Booth	Shem
Leo McHugh Carroll	Japheth
Nick Nolte	Voices
Kevin Durand	Rameel
Dakota Goyo	M¿ody Noe
Mark Margolis	Voices
Marton Csokas	Lamech
Ariane Rinehart	Eve
Adam M. Griffith	Adam,Adam
Don Harvey	Mean Uncle
Sami Gayle	Refugee Daughter
Sophie Nyweide	Younger Sister
Ezra Barnes	Refugee Father
Nurit Monacelli	Refugee Mother
Barry Sloane	Poacher Leader
Arnoddur Magnus Danks	Laughing Poacher,One Eyed Crone,Laughing Poacher
Thor Kjartansson	Young Methuselah
Gregg Bello	Testu-col
Mellie Maissa Rei Campos	Newborn Baby
Oliver Lee Saunders	Newborn Baby
Frank Langella	Voice of Og
Finn Wittrock	Actor
Madison Davenport	Actor
Gavin Casalegno	Actor
Nolan Gross	Young Ham
Angela Dee	Voices
Joe Barlam	Soldier
Clint Mansell	Composer

Technical Credits

Darren Aronofsky

Ari Handel

John Logan

Darren Aronofsky	Director,Screenwriter,Producer
Ari Handel	Screenwriter,Executive Producer
Scott Franklin	Producer
Mary Parent	Producer
Stephen Consentino	Camera Operator
Ken Ishii	Sound Mixer
Adrien Morot	Makeup Special Effects
Douglas Crosby	Stunts
George Aguilar	Stunts
R. Bruce Steinheimer	Special Effects Supervisor,Special Effects
Burt Dalton	Special Effects Supervisor
Larry Zipf	Sound Effects
Brian Emrich	Sound Effects
Coll Anderson	Sound Effects
Jacob Ribicoff	Sound Effects
Chris Brigham	Executive Producer,Producer
Arnon Milchan	Producer
Steve Baine	Sound Effects
Frank Buckner	Sound Effects
Airon Armstrong	Stunts
Eugene Hitt	Special Effects
Aleksandr Lokensgard	Special Effects
Chris Cenatiempo	Stunts
Steve Decastro	Stunts
Mark Fichera	Stunts
Aja Frary	Stunts
Myles Humphus	Stunts
Natalie Jean	Stunts
Victor Paguia	Stunts
Kimmy Suzuki	Stunts
Raymond Mamrak	Stunts
John Logan	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Fundamentalist Christians take heed, Darren Aronofsky's Noah is not the story you learned in Sunday school. On the contrary, this vital interpretation of one of the Bible's most popular tales is a powerful and provocative work of art that fearlessly uses Noah's story as a springboard to explore complex themes of faith and the sins of man rather than another excuse to simply walk us through the motions once more. For anyone who's ever seen an Aronofsky film, of course, that will hardly be a revelation; for others buying a ticket seeking reinforcement of their beliefs, these waters will prove especially rough. "In the beginning, there was nothing." So starts this version of the story centered on Noah (Russell Crowe), the man entrusted by God to save the innocent animals of Earth as the rising floodwaters cleansed the planet of mankind's evil. As the telling continues, we learn how Adam and Eve's sins have passed down through generations through their sons Cain and Abel, and how the descendants of their righteous sibling Seth were entrusted with defending creation. One day, while foraging in the country, a descendant of Seth, Noah, sees his father slain by a descendant of Cain. In the process, Noah's birthright is stolen from him. Decades later, as a father of three, Noah experiences a vision foretelling the great flood that will wash over the Earth, destroying every living thing that stands on the soil. That vision leads Noah to seek out his grandfather, Methuselah, in order to understand his mission. When a second vision reveals that Noah is to construct a massive ark designed to shelter every living animal during the great flood, Noah, his wife Naameh (Jennifer Connelly), their three sons Shem (Douglas Booth), Ham (Logan Lerman), and Japheth (Leo McHugh Carroll), and their adopted sister Ila (Emma Watson) immediately begin construction on the vessel with the help of the Watchers, a race of angels created as beings of light, but encrusted in stone and mud and forsaken by God for their attempts to help man. Meanwhile, word of Noah's work soon reaches Tubal Cain (Ray Winstone), who gathers an army on a mission to overtake the ark, and survive the coming storm by any cost. Although it would be possible to go on at least another two paragraphs to discuss precisely what happens once the floodwaters rise and the ark sets sail, those details are best left to be discovered by those who choose to step aboard for this thrilling and thought-provoking ride, because therein lies the core of the themes that give this story such vivid life. Regardless of your personal belief system, screenwriters Aronofsky and Ari Handel make the aforementioned concepts of faith and sin not just urgent but relevant. Even today fanatics kill in the name of religion while as a culture we amass mountains of trash while raping the land for oil that spills into the ocean and pollutes the sky. This Noah questions whether our species, with our endless obsession with comfort and convenience, is actually a blight upon the land, rather than a blessing. Aronofsky and Handel's screenplay explores these ideas within the framework of a sound structure that, much like the ark itself, is well capable of maintaining its integrity. Their vision of Noah's tale is uncompromising, and at times deeply frightening (in the beginning we root for Noah to succeed, and in the end we fear his gaze for the terrifying figure he has become). Crowe instills this vision of Noah with an unrelenting honesty that draws us to the character, even as we shrink away from him onscreen. Righteous, fearless, and willing to do the unthinkable in order to honor God's plan, he can also be a compassionate figure and a caring father, and Crowe plays each of these emotions with total conviction. As his wife Naameh, Connelly is sent through an emotional wringer that would consume a lesser actress, delivering one of the film's most powerful, impassioned speeches with love in her heart but fire in her eyes. Among their offspring the performances are solid all around, but it's Lerman as Ham, torn between loyalty to his father and Tubal Cain, who's entrusted with baring most of the secondary story's dramatic weight, and anyone who saw him in The Perks of Being a Wallflower knows well that he's up to such a challenge. Even when faced with the thankless task of appearing opposite Winstone, whose imperial bluster here flirts dangerously with camp while highlighting the exact reason all of this is happening, Lerman gives Ham's torment genuine substance. As the mystical, berry-obsessed Methuselah, Anthony Hopkins instills Noah with its closest approximation to levity, while Nick Nolte's weatherworn voice provides the perfect inflection for the stony, tortured Watcher Sanyaza. Then, of course, there's the visual approach of Aronofsky's film. A director with an eye for detail, he works with loyal cinematographer Matthew Libatique to give Noah an otherworldly atmosphere in which stars sparkle in sunlit skies, and strange creatures walk the land. Despite taking place on Earth, the opening scenes of Noah appear to occur on an alien planet, mesmerizing us early on, reinforcing the film's ethereal feel and leaving us breathless by the time we witness the story of Genesis near the end of the film. Even then, there are more themes to be explored -- of forgiveness and the perception of failure -- but by that point one line of dialogue will likely be echoing in your ears and challenging your perception: "Maybe we can learn to be kind." Even if we take nothing else away from Aronofsky's Noah, that one hopeful sentiment is worth pondering now as much as ever before.

03/10/2014
Aronofsky and Handel adapt their script for the motion picture of the same name, coming in late March, to comics format. This Noah encapsulates elements of the cinematic samurai legend: a deeply conflicted man and warrior, vigorous but aging, wishing only for peace with his beloved family, but drawn into a conflict greater than himself. Henrichon (Barnum!, Pride of Baghdad) applies his beautiful and lush artwork to the tale, infusing vigorous energy into the people, flora, and especially fauna of the age, and adeptly pacing the Ark’s departure against the ticking clock of a warrior invasion. Following the line of the movie, the book reinvents the Bible story as an action epic, complete with PG-rated sex scenes, attempts to symbolize Creationism with depictions of DNA, and a subplot involving a family mutiny against Noah. While it may displease fundamentalists, Aronofsky and company’s work makes for a pretty good comic-book yarn. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly