Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

AE Apocalypse Earth Blu-ray Movie Review

Apocalypse film.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 30, 2013

The recent Will Smith/Jaden Smith Sci-Fi release After Earth has been met with much critical derision and substantially lower box office returns than was predicted for a film directed by M. Night Shyamalan and starring one of the most bankable actors in Hollywood history. Nevertheless, it's a high profile release and one of the summer's more noteworthy titles. That means The Asylum is up to its old tricks, creating a low-rent knockoff of one of Hollywood's biggest would-be moneymakers and notable releases. This is that film. AE Apocalypse Earth tells the story of a handful of humans who, after fleeing Earth, find themselves on an exotic world filled with invisible hunters, huge insects, dinosaurs, albino cave dwellers, and camouflaged girls. And no matter how abysmal the Shyamalan picture may be, it's certainly a far superior production. AE Apocalypse Earth is typical Asylum all the way. It's completely unoriginal, lacks much of a plot, fails to provide robust action, shortchanges audiences looking for honest drama and characterization, and scrapes by on putrid visual effects. In other words, it's The Asylum being The Asylum, though there's probably more of other movies in here than there is of After Earth. After all, as long as the title sounds similar, the release dates fall closely together on the calendar, and the basic plot is more or less the same, who cares?

A kiss to my fans, a bullet to my enemies!

At some point in the future, when mankind has mastered the ability to travel quickly and in some number to the heavens, Earth falls under attack by a vicious alien race. When it becomes clear that the world is lost and total destruction is right around the corner, space vessels are packed with the chosen few and several lucky lottery winners for a journey to a faraway planet and begin life again. The survivors enter a state of cryogenic sleep and awaken crashed on an alien world and under attack. The humans repel the attack and set out to find a way off of the world populated by invisible hunters, angry natives, oversized bugs, and deadly aerial attacks. As they search for a way home, they ultimately learn a startling secret that will reshape everything they've known and set a drastic new course for their uncertain future.

Although AE Apocalypse Earth would rightly be identified as The Asylum's "official" knockoff of After Earth, the film actually takes many of its cues from several other Hollywood favorites. There's certainly the basic After Earth set-up, but there's also quite a bit of Predator and Avatar in the film, too. In fact, the back of the box makes a point to scream, in large font, that the movie is just like those two. It's a quote attributed to nobody, which means someone at The Asylum just made it up, but it does fit. There's the invisible aliens (Predator), and, oh yes, the main character must have seen the movie at some point before making the trip because one of his first priorities is to smear mud all over himself, just like Arnold's Dutch. There's also the unique, scantily-clad and differently colored natives (Avatar). What else...there's a rather long scene that's humans-versus-oversized bugs that's straight out of King Kong, and there's an android character named TIM whose actor obviously prepared for his part by watching a few episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The film also copies (but at least reworks...slightly) the famous ending of one of the true classic movies from several decades ago (don't click on the link or it'll spoil AE's big reveal). So this is nothing other than a huge compilation piece made from better ideas, all blended together into a loose plot that's about, um, hmmm, not much, really.

Yeah, still thinking. AE Apocalypse Earth doesn't have much of a plot. It's a "rover" sort of movie in the tradition of The Asylum's own 2012 Zombie Apocalypse, a film in which the characters more or less wander around until the end with the only goal being to get somewhere other than where they are. Occasionally, they'll stop to battle the bad guys, usually with some sort of bad special effect the centerpiece of the scene. Whether smoking debris or characters engulfed by digital fire, the effects prove laughably bad, as always. The acting is flat, though Writer/Director Thunder Levin, filmmaker for The Asylum's own Battleship knockoff American Warships, really gives them little with which to work. There are no dynamics beyond a generic love interest; the rest is just filler, even the "Data" ripoff TIM. The movie is competently photographed, that is if getting everything in-frame counts as "competency." In truth, Levin does about all he can with both the script and the direction considering the budget limitations and the typical Asylum stylings. There's only so much creativity available in a movie that's a total ripoff of other, better films. The ending is fairly well made, thanks to a sudden uptick in the script and the acting, but otherwise, this one's the usual Asylum dud, not the studio's worst effort but certainly far from the best.

AE Apocalypse Earth Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

As usual, The Asylum has produced a rather good-looking Blu-ray release. AE Apocalypse Earth's digital photography usually sparkles. Bright skies look washed out, as they seem always to, and there are a few instances of black crush and a bit of noise across darker backdrops. Otherwise, this is a tight, good-looking image across the board. Details and colors both pop with regularity. Close-ups reveal facial textures as complexly as the digital photography allows, to the point that pores, beads of sweat, and beard stubble may be effortlessly counted on the individual level. The vegetation around the film looks great, too, whether veiny leaves or soil. Even extreme distance shots maintain tremendous sharpness, clarity, and attention to detail. Colors are equally brilliant. That same vegetation sparkles and represents the most consistent bright, high-yield color in the film. However, all of the surrounding earthen tones take on a true, natural balance. Blacks, despite that bit of crush, are at least consistently deep. Flesh tones appear accurate. All around, this is another rock-solid transfer from The Asylum.

AE Apocalypse Earth Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

AE Apocalypse Earth enjoys a quality DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. It could stand to be a bit richer, fuller, and more robust, but for a low-end, low-budget picture the track proves rather satisfactory and well put-together. There's a rather good presence to the Earth attack that starts the film, with mass crowd hysteria on the ground and enemy weapons from above reigning down to fair effect. It's the first of several instances where the track seems to miss out on an opportunity to really deliver a more potent, full-stage effect, but the end result is nevertheless pleasing. The ship's descent to the planet enjoys a good bit of activity with alarms and clanks and crashes and all sorts of chaotic effects; it's a good facsimile of the tremendous opening to Pitch Black, though The Asylum's track never does quite find that seamless immersion into the moment. There's not an excess of natural ambience down on the planet, but there's enough in the way of satisfying gunplay and other action sound effects to bring the stage to rather robust life. Dialogue is presented with positive clarity and stage presence. All around, a rather good track considering the film's roots and limitations.

AE Apocalypse Earth Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

AE Apocalypse Earth contains the following extras:

• Audio Commentary: Writer/Director Thunder Levin and Director of Photography Richard Vialet cover the film's progression from original ideas to final product, crafting "artsy" scenes and The Asylum's "disapproval," working around a lower budget, visual effects, the cast, anecdotes from the set, and more. This is a very well spoken track that paints the movie in a more positive light, and understandably so. It's interesting to hear what goes into making even a cheap movie; the participants do a great job of describing that process.
• Making Of Featurette (HD, 6:30): A nuts-and-bolts overview of the challenges of the shoot, makeup, cast, shooting locales, and visual effects construction.
• Gag Reel (HD, 1:54).
• Previews (HD): Additional Asylum titles.

AE Apocalypse Earth Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

AE Apocalypse Earth is the poster child for the typical Asylum experience. It banks on a similar title and release date of a major blockbuster, rips off elements of several other films, and features a minimalist plot, poor acting, and miserable special effects. It's all that's bad (or great, depending on one's perspective) about the studio, and if anyone's been wanting a good entry point into just what The Asylum has to offer, this would be it. The Blu-ray features the typically strong Asylum video and audio qualities. A couple of extras, including a commentary, are included. Worth a rental for the morbidly curious.