Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

After Earth Blu-ray Movie Review

Welcome to (After) Earth.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 5, 2013

Every single decision you make will be life or death.

Few directors break into the business and find as much immediate success as M. Night Shyamalan. The Philadelphia, PA-based filmmaker exploded onto the scene with the tremendously successful -- commercially and critically -- The Sixth Sense and followed that film with two pictures that might even best it, Unbreakable and Signs. He gained a reputation for keen filmmaking, brilliant storytelling, and fantastic twist endings, all of which had many labeling him as "the next Hitchcock" and on his way to solidifying himself as one of the all-time great directors, even as his career was only starting. Unfortunately, things haven't worked out in his favor since. His subsequent films -- Lady in the Water, The Village, The Happening, and The Last Airbender -- have been met with lukewarm public reception and mediocre-to-poor critical reviews. Certainly Shyamalan really had nowhere to go but down from the summit on which he landed to begin his career, but all is not lost. Each of his films retain his eye for magical storytelling and expert craftsmanship, at least to some degree. Inside each of his "lesser" movies is a superior experience yearning to be freed. Whether their relative failures are of his own making or other circumstances perhaps beyond his control is up for debate, but it's difficult to figure why a filmmaker of his caliber has fallen on such difficult times. Sadly, his latest effort does little to recapture the magic of his trio of early films. After Earth, as with his other, lesser films, shows tremendous promise and skill but falls well short of the sort of quality Shyamalan is capable of producing.

Becoming a man.

Mankind has effectively destroyed his home world. It's been a thousand years since man was evacuated from Earth under the auspices of a global military force. Man has made a new home on Nova Prime, a world on which he lived in peace until he was forced to battle native aliens that cannot see but that prey on the pheromones man extracts when in a state of fear. It proved a losing battle until select individuals harnessed the ability to fight without fear. These "Ghosts" helped turn the tide of the conflict. One Ghost, a Ranger named Cypher Raige (Will Smith), is set to retire from active duty and spend time with his family. His son Kitai (Jaden Smith) hopes to follow in his father's footsteps and be chosen to become a Ranger. He's denied, despite outperforming everyone in his class. His mother, Faia (Sophie Okonedo), encourages Cypher to bring Kitai on a critical mission to an alien world in hopes of bringing them more closely together. Unfortunately, disaster befalls the mission. The ship crash-lands on Earth, leaving the crew dead, Cypher badly injured, and only Kitai alive and capable of calling for help. The family's only chance for survival depends on Kitai's ability to navigate a dangerously evolved Earth, reach the ship's destroyed tail section, and retrieve a communication device that will signal their need for assistance. Kitai will have to rely on his skills and instinct and his father's verbal guidance to make it to the other half of the ship alive.

After Earth isn't much more than a B-grade picture dressed up in some nifty special effects and fine visuals (and some not-so-fine, head-scratching, the future looks like THAT? visuals, too) that simply cannot mask what is largely a movie that does little more than scream out "MISSED POTENTIAL!" the entire time. Worse, the story is terribly linear, almost to a fault. There's absolutely no drama that isn't manufactured to try and squeeze out some tension in a film that ultimately requires none. It would have been a superior experience had Kitai merely ambled from one end of the ship to the other without any of the "challenges" that come his way because, really, there's no doubt that he'll make it to the end, anyway. No matter how many monkeys, birds, or oversized felines he may encounter, no matter how bitterly cold the weather may turn, no matter how difficult the terrain may become, the audience is never left to really believe that his mission may truly be in jeopardy, despite the film's efforts to the contrary. Certainly there's plenty of room in the film to explore a truly dangerous future Earth and create a frighteningly perilous journey for young Kitai, and it would seem some truly apocalyptic difficulties and challenges may have proven a little more emotionally satisfying for the audience and offered more character growth potential for Kitai. That's not even to mention that, perhaps, less reliance on technology and more on true human instinct might have helped save the film from the doldrums through which it operates.

As it is, the picture's primary goal would appear to be the evolution of its main character from frightened young man into courageous adult. It's a story that's as old as time, dating back to who knows when but certainly to days of the "vision quest" and other rituals meant to strengthen an individual and promote growth from childhood into adulthood. After all, that's Kitai dream -- to become a Ranger -- and he struggles with his lack of acceptance into the program which sucks away much of his potential courage as he embarks on his quest. To the film's credit, it tries to take advantage of that dynamic as it follows his emotional growth through the story, but again it's largely for naught considering that there's no real sense of risk associated with the film, and that his evolution to hero is all but given from the beginning. Jaden Smith, a gifted young actor who has physically matured shockingly fast since just a few years ago when he starred in the fantastic The Karate Kid remake, does all he can to help facilitate that character growth, but he's hindered by a sloppy script and forced to work with an awful accent that's sort of like a mix between antebellum South and old England, both of which, along with a fairly lazy A-to-B-to-C cadence, fail to aid the classic character dynamic at every turn.

Technically, the film shows great promise but never quite grows into the experience one would expect of a Shyalaman movie. It's solidly constructed from the top down and strives to capture a very human, contemplative essence by foregoing fast, blurring action in favor of personal, reflective sort of action. Here, the movie works well enough, but it also feels rather flat, lacking the sort of spirited magic that made Shyamalan's first three major films such tremendous successes. He never manages to inject the movie with that sense of absolute authenticity, whether in the way he frames the characters or merely progresses the story. While it teeters on the brink of success in its ability to paint an absorbing human drama, the ancillary pieces let the movie down time and again. That, in a nutshell, is what's wrong with the movie. Every time it gets something right, there's another element to drag it back down. Almost every scene falls victim in some way or another, at least beyond the opening seconds that prove both visually and emotionally effective as the picture effectively fast-forwards to one of the critical scenes and shows it piecemeal against a dark screen. The best part of the movie is certainly James Newton Howard's enthralling score that fits the film's moods and arc beautifully, capturing an essence of Action/Adventure, Science Fiction, and Family Drama all in nearly every note. It's too bad the rest of the film doesn't live up to its quality.

After Earth Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

After Earth arrives on Blu-ray with a stellar "Mastered in 4K" 1080p transfer. The image is gorgeous from start to finish, hindered only by a handful of blink-and-miss them soft edges in a few of the early shots inside the Raige household. Otherwise, the image is nothing short of glorious. The visual effects hold up beautifully. Whether the detail of the spaceship that carries them to Earth, the architecture that seems built into the landscape of Nova Prime, or the pebbly, sandy terrain of the alien world, Sony's transfer captures the nuance and general details with commanding clarity from beginning to end. The image truly sparkles on Earth. Blades of grass are beautifully defined, showing the slightest texture even at medium distance. Tree trunks, general terrain, and digital creatures look remarkably well defined. Close-ups show faultless skin and clothing textures. Colors are brilliant, consistently vibrant but naturally so, particularly the earthy greens but also all variety of shades, including slick digital blue, white, and red readouts. Black levels appear deep and accurate, while flesh tones never betray natural shades. There is no perceptible noise, blocking, banding, or other unwanted eyesores. In short, this is a beautiful transfer from Sony.

After Earth Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

After Earth dazzles with its precise, exciting, and balanced DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Things start huge, with a burst of aggressive, energized bass and a full 360-degree sound field of chaos in the "flash-forward" action scene. Big crashes, screaming voices, and all manner of frightening pieces burst into the stage with excellent, pinpoint clarity and presence. That same sequence, more fully realized a little bit later in the film, offers much of the same but with a more steady, ongoing stream of activity. Earth ambience is handled very well, whether light atmospherics or the heavy presentation of a rushing waterfall. Musical delivery is smooth and precise, enjoying faultless clarity and stage presence throughout. Action effects are cleanly and accurately presented, enjoying polished bass and aggressive posturing through the entire stage. A strong percussion element crisply and heavily defines a climactic moment. Dialogue plays accurately and firmly from the center. All in all, this is a terrific soundtrack in every regard.

After Earth Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

After Earth contains several extras, many of which focus on the technical side of the shoot.

• A Father's Legacy (HD, 8:51): An examination of how the father-son relationship works in the film and how it reflects real life. It also examines Jaden Smith's physical training for the role, Jaden's performance in the film, and more.
• Alternate Opening (HD, 2:19).
• Building a World (HD, 12:00): Cast and crew discuss envisioning the future, constructing it for the screen, and the importance of creating a fully realized future history. It also offers some details on the purpose of various visuals seen throughout the film, the mix of both practical and digital effects in the movie, and wardrobe and props.
• Pre-Visualizing the Future (HD, 5:50): Various finished scenes from the film intercut with computer animation pre-visualizations are scattered throughout a piece that is primarily an explanation of the technique's importance in making a better film.
• The Animatics of After Earth (HD, 8:39): A discussion of the value of animatics in the process of crafting the film. Several moments from the film in animatic form are also included.
• 1000 Years in 300 Seconds (HD, 5:25): A rapid-fire clip piece that shows various behind-the-scenes moments from the making of the movie.
• The Nature of the Future (HD, 5:22): A documentary-style look around the Costa Rica, California, and Utah landscapes that served as the film's future Earth setting. The piece is also available to play on loop and use as a screensaver for the television screen. Of course, using it as such would require the disc be always in the Blu-ray player.
• XPrize After Earth Challenge (HD, 3:35): People discuss how to save the planet.
• Previews: Additional Sony titles.
• DVD Copy.
• UV Digital Copy.

After Earth Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

M. Night Shyamalan is a filmmaker for whom it's easy to root. He's proven himself capable of assembling near perfect movies -- The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and especially Signs are amongst the finest motion pictures of the past few decades -- but he has, for whatever reason, fallen on hard times and failed to conjure up the same sort of magic his early films produced. Every time a new film hits the schedule with his name on it, the sense of anticipation remains, the hope that this will be the one that gets him back on track. Sadly, After Earth isn't that movie. It's capable but hardly memorable, a picture filled with flaws and showing a promise that just isn't realized on any level. Here's hoping that next time will be the one that gets him back on track. Sony's Blu-ray release of After Earth does feature standout, reference-grade video and audio. A few scattered supplements are included. Worth a rental.