5.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Mary Walsh delivers boyfriend Kevin to a hospital for routine outpatient surgery. But when Mary returns to take him home, he's mysteriously vanished. An administrator can find no record of him, and a police search turns up nothing. Increasingly frantic, Mary's taken to a staff psychiatrist, who pronounces her unstable. Now she must not only find her missing boyfriend, but prove her own sanity as well.
Starring: Brittany Murphy, Dean Cain, Mimi Rogers, Peter Bogdanovich, Jay PickettDrama | Insignificant |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
You are not going to lose me...ever.
Abandoned, the final film of young Actress Brittany Murphy's career, is dedicated to her
remembrance at picture's end. For Murphy and her fans, Abandoned doesn't see the
actress
go out on the high note she achieved in the underrated 8 Mile or the
innocent
charm she exuded in the teenage Comedy Clueless, but both her performance -- and the
film itself -- is, thankfully, worlds better and a more suitable tribute than one of her other final
pictures, Megafault. While
Murphy plays a fairly transparent character in a mostly generic picture, Abandoned allows
the actress to put on display a wide berth of emotional and physical characteristics as her character
espouses love, contentment, and tranquility, only to find herself in a state of confusion and
inner-turmoil as she
struggles with questions revolving around her own sanity. Finally, she must confront a deadly
evil
head-on. Abandoned won't win Murphy any posthumous awards, but the film and her
performance in it are both worth checking out.
Frustrated, tired, abandoned.
Anchor Bay brings Abandoned to Blu-ray with a good at-a-glance but nevertheless problematic 1080p transfer framed within a 1.78:1 window. The film takes on a very glossy video-like sheen; with that comes good detailing and nice coloration, but almost no depth; Abandoned is one of the flatter images ever to grace Blu-ray. Still, the image displays above-average texturing, particularly noticeable in close-ups of faces and clothing. The image is also sharp with only a few wayward soft shots scattered throughout the movie. Colors, too, are nicely represented, every hue appearing stable and neither too dim nor too over-pumped. Unfortunately, the transfer is littered with some annoyances that range between harmless and moderately distracting. A fair bit of noise buzzes about some darker scenes while slight blooming, jagged edges, crushed blacks, and occasional banding all creep into the frame from time to time. While none are to the level of deal-breaker, altogether they manage to dampen, but not ruin, the viewing experience. Fortunately, the good outweighs the bad when the film is viewed within the context of its shot-on-video genesis. Anchor Bay's transfer won't dazzle longtime format aficionados, but neither is it an unbearable watch.
A mostly generic but certainly serviceable PCM 5.1 uncompressed soundtrack accompanies Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of Abandoned. The track captures some middle ground between "quality" and "clunky," with the net result a track that's sonically adequate but lacking behind some of the better Blu-ray soundtracks. Sound effects -- such as a rumbling vehicle engine or a gunshot -- sometimes sound harsh and artificial, while dialogue plays with some added weight across the low end to discernible but not-quite-natural effect. The track does capture some environmental nuances, mostly in the form of footsteps, rolling carts, closing doors, and other interior effects inside the hospital setting. Surround speakers aren't fully engaged, and this track rarely creates a wholly seamless atmosphere. Much like the video quality, Abandoned's soundtrack lacks spit and polish but, mostly, isn't cause for alarm.
All that's included is the Abandoned trailer (1080p, 1:39).
Abandoned isn't at all bad for a direct-to-video movie; still, "DTV" is a stigma the film will have to live with, but hopefully it's one that some potential viewers can look beyond. Abandoned is little more than a rip-off of Flightplan, but it acquits itself well enough in most every film-critical area. No matter, though, because Abandoned is destined to be remembered only as Actress Brittany Murphy's final on-screen performance. Fortunately, she turns in a good enough effort and stars in a movie that's not the best of her career but in one that is, thankfully, far from the worst. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of Abandoned sports a 1080p transfer that's not without a long list of faults, but it's one that looks solid when it's on. The PCM soundtrack is adequate, but Murphy's fans will be disappointed by the almost complete absence of extra content. Abandoned is worth checking out as a rental.
2012
Movie Only Edition
2013
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1967
Limited Edition
1980
2004
A Strange Case of Murder / Angel Street / SD
1940