Alien Uprising Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		0.5
Video		3.0
Audio		2.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		1.0

Alien Uprising Blu-ray Movie Review

If only they had just wiped out Earth instead.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 26, 2013

Alien Uprising feels like Independence Day meets Aftershock with the budget and workmanship of a typical Asylum film. Bad combo. This is a train wreck of a movie on every level, a boring, badly paced, and structurally haphazard experience that fails to get at the center of its story and, worse, keep its audience interested. It takes far too long to get moving and seems to slow down even more once the action begins. Throw in the mandatory (and now mandatorily brief) appearance of a "name" actor and plop the "cool" looking image on the video box art to entice audiences and the formula is complete for a miserable time at the direct-to-video movies.

"I hope they bring back Elvis!"

Alien Uprising follows a rather nondescript group of chums while out on the town and throughout the morning after. But a marriage proposal and a hot fling are nothing compared to what's coming. The group realizes that cell phone service has been disrupted, land lines are down, and the power has gone out. Analog clocks have all stopped at exactly the same time. A quiet afternoon turns into an uncomfortable evening of game play, which in turn becomes a disturbing, worrisome night. The next morning, all are awoken by a heavy rumble. Outside, they discover large alien vehicles hovering in the atmosphere. A trip out for supplies turns into a nightmare that will challenge all they know about themselves and one another.

The plot sounds decent enough, but it's just...so...SLOW. The picture takes ages to develop its characters, and it's a classic case of developing characters who are, one, dull, and two, fully interchangeable. While they do play integral parts within the larger plot, the story is so messy and convoluted that it's difficult to piece it all together because the film fails to fully capture the audience's attention with a riveting story. Instead, it's a total drag of epic tedium as it wades through minutes of characterization that could be better handled in seconds or, better yet, in a different manner altogether. The first act is particularly dull, even through a few stretches where the discussions at least turn to something related to the movie like the mystery power outages and stopped clocks and hypotheticals surrounding solar flares and dirty bombs. Better films of this variety manage to paint their characters precisely and succinctly in a way that ultimately relates back to the film's core or a critical plot point later in the movie. Often, it's easy to see what's coming through these seemingly mundane displays of character background elements, but at least there's a purpose. Here, it feels like 95% fluff to stretch the runtime and 5% substance that will help the movie later on.

To make matters worse, Alien Uprising is a classic example of an "Action" movie that's severely lacking action. The first third of the film drags considerably, but even when the aliens show up they're never to be seen and the film still spends most of its time meandering about and dealing with the consequences of a supposed alien arrival on the ground rather turn around and deal with the aliens themselves. That might not be a bad premise, to show how life quickly unravels when the unexpected or unexplained suddenly occurs, but Alien Uprising isn't the platform to carry that idea. It's a terribly clunky experience regardless of what style it wishes to showcase, what goals it wants to achieve. Even the "action" scenes on the ground -- a riot at a grocery store, some combat between different groups -- plays slowly and without much intensity. In a word: boring. In another: misguided. In a third: pass.

Alien Uprising Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

At least the video is decent. Alien Uprising's high definition presentation, sourced from an HD video shoot, shows even textures and standard HD clarity. Facial definition reveals fairly complex lines and details, ditto clothes and general interior and exterior backgrounds. Nothing truly standards apart, no texture is so visibly tactile it could pass for real life, but there's at least an honest level of visual goodness. Colors aren't particularly impressive, but that's in large part due to the film's sometimes cold, sometimes drained, sometimes heavily tinted palette. Basic shades are presented fairly and accurately within the picture's visual context, but never is there an explosion of color on the screen. There's little in terms of worrisome banding, noise, or blocking. This is a stable image, not particularly attractive, but more or less, it would seem, true to photographic intent.

Alien Uprising Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

On the other hand, the audio is quite disappointing. Alien Uprising's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack proves rather weak throughout, failing to offer much audible substance beyond a paltry conveyance of the basics. Music plays shallowly and without much vigor. It's timid and absent even average volume at reference levels. Spacing is fair, however. Most of the more prominent sound effects fail to muster any sort of oomph. The arriving alien vessels are presented with a weakly, cursory rumble. Gunfire lacks pop and punch, sounding like a dull, distant thud. Even falling rain barely registers and fails to enter the back speakers. In fact, the rears are barely used. Dialogue does come through with suitable command and front-center placement. This is a dull, uninspired track from start to finish.

Alien Uprising Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Alien Uprising features Behind the Scenes (HD, 28:06), a needlessly lengthy supplement that offers a plot recap and discussions revolving around the challenges of the shoot and special effects construction, making a lengthy Steadicam sequence, shooting in artificial rain, fight choreography and shooting fight scenes, filming locations, and more. A trailer is also included (HD, 1:52).

Alien Uprising Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Alien Uprising begins so slowly that audiences might believe the wrong movie to be playing. Other than a brief news clip about strange astral phenomena in the English night sky, there's nary a hint of what's about to come, unless one considers a trip to dullsville an omen. This is a slow, miserable, forgettable picture that many in the audience might not even finish. The plot is too convoluted for a movie of this type, what action there is is bland, the characters are forgettable, and the special effects are at their very best a step below mediocre. Phase 4's Blu-ray release of Alien Uprising features decent video, bland audio, and one supplement of note. Skip it.