The Battery (2013) - Blu-ray Review

Details: By Loron Hays; 19 September 2014

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The Batery - Blu-ray Review

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Rarely do cinematic miracles like The Battery occur for a mere $6000 and the cost of a butt-load of cigarettes.

The Battery, the directorial debut of Jeremy Gardner might be exactly what the zombie craze needs to keep its forward momentum smelling as fresh as daisies. Grounded by a limited budget, Gardner’s quiet horror drama focuses not on the dead but the relationship between a pitcher and a catcher. This focus on intense character development is central as two former baseball players, completely different in personality types, face the end of their world at the hands of the walking dead.

The Battery, taking its name from an archaic baseball term, doesn’t move mountains; it doesn’t have to. What it does do is draw us in with believable dialogue, honest situations, and a grave reality stretching across everything. Compelling to the last minute, the film and its two main actors, Gardner (who also wrote the movie) and co-producer Adam Cronheim, share in the intoxicating affect the film creates. Mood is central but scenes including one of them with a winning lottery ticket are haunting reminders that their world will never be made right again.

The rise of the living dead is mere background information. Oh, the threat is real but it isn’t the end-all be-all drive of this film. The two former ballplayers go on about their lives by roaming the countryside and taking the supplies they need. Every once in awhile they stop to play catch and recall the better days. The fact that a zombie film unveils itself as a character-driven piece is exciting. There’s freedom here to explore the characters; a freedom The Walking Dead sometimes utilizes.

More often than not, the duo is in disagreement about how long they should stay in houses before moving on. One feels perfectly at home on the road killing zombies and the other – more withdrawn and always feeding batteries into his discman so he can mourn the loss of his girlfriend – wants to settle in a house. He also refuses to kill for his survival. The dynamic pulling them a part is also what is keeping them together and it is a compromise – taking shelter in a car – that will be their ultimate and wonderfully appropriate undoing.

Some might accuse The Battery of being Gardner’s $6000 vanity project and I certainly see their point; his name is all over this sick and twisted puppy. In his defense, though, I can safely say that there is nothing pretentious and off-putting about the many hats he wears throughout the film. At times, The Battery reaches a pure level as if it is cinematic poetry. It certainly doesn’t drag and had many, many chances to fall apart but it does not. Ever.

Offering a new voice in the fight against zombies, The Battery promises to be heard above all others. Hell, this isn’t even a movie about zombies…it’s a movie about two men and their bromance at the end of the world.

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MPAA Rating: Not rated.
Runtime: 101 mins
Director: Jeremy Gardner
Writer: Jeremy Gardner
Cast: Jeremy Gardner, Adam Cronheim, Niels Bolle
Genre: Drama | Horror
Tagline: How Will You Survive?.
Memorable Movie Quote: "I want to sleep in a house. In a bed. Like a real human."
Distributor: No theatrical release
Official Site:
Release Date: No theatrical release
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: September 16, 2014
Synopsis: The personalities of two former baseball players clash as they traverse the rural back roads of a post-plague New England teeming with the undead.

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The Batery - Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray Details:

Available on Blu-ray - September 16, 2014
Screen Formats: 2.35:1
Subtitles: English
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Discs: 50GB Blu-ray Disc; Single disc (1 BD)
Region Encoding: A/1

Released by Scream Factory, the AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1 transfer really makes the impressive visuals pop, making this low-budget horror flick look like something David Gordon Green or Terence Malick would fabricate, had they the gumption to work within the horror genre. Black levels are solid and pure. Colors are beautifully crisp and a green hue is present; rare indeed for an end of the world setting. There are tons of nature shots and the natural lighting is perfectly rendered here. The lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 may not overwhelm but it fits the bill nicely.

Supplements:

Commentary:

Writer, Director and Actor Jeremy Gardner, Producer and Actor Adam Cronheim, and Director of Photography Christian Stella provide an awesome commentary that is well worth a listen – especially if you are into low-fi shoots.

Special Features:

The Criterion Collection of genre films, Scream Factory, does it again. With a reversible cover and a stash of solid supplemental features, they are at the top their game with this brand new release. Most notably, on the Blu-ray comes a feature-length documentary about the making of the film. Unlike some shoddy making-of docs just thrown onto a disc for good measure, this one could stand on its own as a separate release altogether. A nice collection of outtakes, behind the scenes looks, and a trailer round out the material.