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Savior: Imprint Collection #389
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - Australia - Via Vision Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (6th June 2025). |
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The Film
 "Savior" is a grim, unflinching portrait of war's dehumanizing effect on the soul. Set during the Bosnian War, the film follows Joshua Rose (Dennis Quaid), a former American soldier whose descent into moral numbness and violence begins with a personal tragedy and ends amid the ruins of a brutal ethnic conflict. Director Predrag Antonijević eschews sentimentality in favour of a harsh realism that challenges the viewer to confront the ethical void created by modern warfare. Dennis Quaid gives a startling, career-defining performance, burying his usual charismatic persona beneath layers of hardened stoicism and moral fatigue. His character, under an assumed identity and now a mercenary, rarely speaks, but every glance and gesture conveys the psychological weight he carries. This is a performance stripped of vanity, and Quaid fully commits to the bleakness of the role, making Joshua both repellent and heartbreakingly human. The film is unrelentingly raw in tone, immersing the viewer in the chaos and cruelty of the Bosnian conflict without offering easy resolutions or heroic arcs. Scenes of violence are presented not as spectacles, but as devastating ruptures in the fabric of human decency. One of the most compelling storylines involves Joshua escorting a young Bosnian woman (Nataša Ninković) who is pregnant with a child conceived through rape. Their tense journey becomes the moral core of the film—a stark examination of complicity, redemption, and the burden of survival. Cinematographer Ian Wilson captures the Balkan landscape with a muted, desolate palette, amplifying the film's emotional austerity. The war-torn environments feel lived-in and exhausted, reinforcing the film’s central thesis: war corrodes everything, including the possibility of redemption. There is no triumphant resolution here, only the suggestion that dignity can still flicker within the ruins. Yet "Savior" is not without flaws. Its relentless bleakness, while thematically justified, can feel emotionally punishing, risking disengagement from the viewer. Some of the supporting characters are underwritten, serving more as narrative tools than fully realized individuals. Nonetheless, the film succeeds in what it sets out to do: confront its audience with the moral ambiguities of war, stripped of idealism. Ultimately, "Savior" is a harrowing and powerful film that refuses to let its audience look away. Anchored by Quaid’s haunting performance and Antonijević’s uncompromising vision, it stands as a stark reminder that in war, the line between victim and perpetrator is often agonizingly thin.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 1.85:1 mastered in HD 1080p 24/fps using AVC MPEG-4 compression. The image looks solid, detail is rendered well, the colours are muted and the transfer represents the filmmaker's intentions fairly accurately. Black levels are inky, there is a nice layer of grain structure through the print which looks natural. Overall this is a very good transfer.
Audio
Two audio tracks are included in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mixed at 48kHz 24-bit and an English LPCM 2.0 stereo option. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its 5.1 track, the resulting track is fantastic. While the track is mostly in English there are characters that speak Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian and for those instances subtitles appear onscreen. Dialogue is crystal clear, surround activity is well mixed to immerse the viewer into the film and the score is well balanced throughout the mix. No complaints here. Optional subtitles are also included for the hearing impaired.
Extras
Imprint has delivered a solid package of supplements for this release and they include: An audio commentary by director Predrag Antonijević, the director offers up some excellent trivia on the development of the film, alternate versions that existed in the writing process, he delves into the character moments and provides a lot for listeners. it's worthy of exploring for sure. "A Story Once Told" is an interview with screenwriter Robert Orr (28:27), in this clip Orr talks about his career as a photojournalist and on the process of writing this script along with some inspiration he gained from covering the war in Bosnia. "During the War" is an interview with actor Sergej Trifunovic (19:56), the Bosnian actor talks about the unsettling time in the country's history and on the unspeakable horrors about what his fellow countrymen did, he talks about his process on becoming an actor and on working on this film, which at the time was just his third acting job. Archival interview with Dennis Quaid (12:14), a classic EPK clip with the actor talking about what drew him to this film and on trying not to make a political statement. Archival interview with Stellan Skarsgård (10:40), here the actor talks about the violence and brutality of the film. Archival interview with executive producer Cindy Cowan (2:33), in this short clip the producer comments on Quaid's performance in the film. Rounding out the extras is the film's original theatrical trailer (2:27)
Packaging
Packaged in a keep case that's housed in a cardboard slip-case and is limited to 1500 copies globally.
Overall
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