David Lynch and collectors of Blu-Ray discs, 2006s Inland Empire, with its homemade, lo-fi aesthetic is probably not the most obvious choice for the hi-def treatment. Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive or Eraserhead may have been more obvious candidates to join last years release of The Elephant Man on the format, but rather than any of those accepted classics of the Lynchian oeuvre, we instead have a film which is dangerously close to self-parody. The film seems designed to provoke cries of how bizarre: yes, a group of prostitutes talking about how nice their breasts are, before launching into a rendition of the locomotion in unison is definitely a weird sight. If Lynch is simply in pursuit of unexplained images and unusual moments, then this film is an unqualified success. But for people who actually want to watch a film and not a three-hour art-house installation, it doesnt really hold any interest. Inland Empire, so it goes, was largely improvised made on a scene by scene basis, with Lynch and his stars (Laura Dern, Jeremy Irons and Justin Theroux) not knowing how the story would pan out. In theory this could create something fresh and interesting, but instead we have a disjointed and overlong film with some interesting moments and an impressive central performance from Dern (who goes through as many unhinged extremes of emotion as Charlotte Gainsbourgh in last years Antichrist), but lacking the feel of any overall drive or purpose. Throughout the film the line between dream and reality, fact and fiction, is blurred and this is achieved really well (as you would expect from Lynch), but when you have no connection to the story or the characters then it is hard to care which domain you are in. There are also some funny moments to enjoy in Inland Empire: the brief scene in which Jeremy Irons directs a stagehand to move a prop is really good, with Irons held in one tight close-up as he gives the same instruction repeatedly, growing ever more exasperated. There are also some jumpy moments and some good dialogue, but three hours of moments like this would still be too much (and most of the moments are nowhere near this good). As earlier stated, Inland Empire (Lynchs first film shot on digital video) is not the typical Blu-Ray release movie. It is not with a mind that Blu-Ray is only worthwhile for the likes of Iron Man and The Dark Knight that I say this, for the likes of art-house fodder such as Antichrist and The White Ribbon have had splendid releases on Blu-Ray. But nothing about the photography of Inland Empire seems to warrant the treatment. It is deliberately amateurish looking at times and has a certain DIY quality to its production with the film being captured on low-res DV camcorders. As such the movie can never be seen in true HD, which makes this Blu-Ray release seem faintly pointless, especially for those who already own the DVD. In terms of features, the Blu-Ray has the same features: five interviews with David Lynch, the longest running at 26 minutes and the shortest at just 6. To the credit of Optimum Releasing, these features (for what its worth) are all in high-definition, unlike those on many Blu-Ray releases (including Optimums own disappointing release of The Last Emperor also out this week and reviewed at OWF). It is nice to see the features given the hi-def treatment that should, by now, be a standard for the format. However, in every other regard Inland Empire is far from being an exceptional Blu-Ray release. Inland Empire on Blu-ray is available in U.K. at Amazon.