6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.2 |
An insurance agent of ROC robotics corporation routinely investigates the case of manipulating a robot. What he discovers will have profound consequences for the future of humanity.
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Dylan McDermott, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Melanie Griffith, Robert ForsterSci-Fi | 100% |
Action | 28% |
Thriller | 13% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (192 kbps)
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Man's obsession with change -- and negative change, in particular -- traces back pretty much as long as he's walked the planet. With the great technological and scientific advances of the past century or so, aligning with the development and rapid advances in and popularity of the cinematic art form, that obsession has only increased with the rise of the atomic age and its consequences depicted on the silver screen, spawning everything form tales of city-destorying radioactive monsters to man's use of that technology to ward off extinction-level events ("nuke it to save the day" rather than "nuke it to end the world" has become a fairly popular Disaster movie theme). Now that the Cold War and the very real threat of imminent nuclear annihilation has passed (at least the Cold War that effectively ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall, anyway), that obsession with negative change has gravitated towards societal collapse, zombies, post-apocaylptic landscapes, and general dystopian visions of the future, with themes of advanced technologies overrunning man and his better judgment, or in some way negatively transforming man, often at the center of the stories. Movies like The Terminator and I, Robot have depicted a future world in which man's interactions with machines have taken a turn for the worst, with the machines more a hindrance than a help when self-awareness and some form of artificial consciousness effectively overwrites man's original programing and purposes for those machines. Director Gabe Ibáñez's (Hierro) Automata takes another glimpse into a devastated future landscape where the human population has dwindled and a robotic population has risen to fill some of the voids left behind in the wake of disaster.
Obey me.
Automata features a wishy-washy 1080p transfer. It's cold and bleak, flat and sterile even in some of the harshest exterior conditions. Shades of gray dominate with only hints of bold color scattered throughout, whether an industrial-yellow robot, a blue plastic bag, or a few other odds and ends around the film. Details are never exquisite and are occasionally uneven. Facial hair stubble, for example, can nicely stand out, but skin details can often appear pasty and flat. The image finds some nicely tangible wear on robots and good complexity on sandy terrains, but the overall image flatness and occasional struggle to produce pinpoint details are problems. The picture also suffers from uneven and often pale blacks, noisy dark backgrounds, and minor banding and aliasing issues. This isn't a rich, wholesome, top-end Blu-ray transfer but rather one that gets the job done, struggling along much of the way.
Automata arrives on Blu-ray with a solid, but often unspectacular, Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The track frequently features good full surround use for both music and sound effects. However, the opening title music comes across as slightly muddled, lacking the fluidity and clear, naturally rich texture often found in lifelike film soundtracks. It plays a touch stifled but otherwise nicely spaced. Background support elements are well integrated, including loudspeaker announcements at several junctures or the general din of harsh exterior environments. Action elements are hit and miss. Gunfire ranges from sufficiently potent to underwhelming. Gunfire impacts on metallic surfaces are often more pronounced than the shot. Explosions could stand a little more oomph, too. Dialogue does come through clearly and effortlessly from the center, whether natural human verbiage or more stifled, necessarily tinny and muddled robotic words.
This Blu-ray contains previews for Automata (1080p, 2:26) and several other Millennium titles (all 480i) as well as a supplement entitled "Making Of" Featurette (1080p, 4:50), a piece that recounts the plot, story structure, themes, characters, the picture's realistic robots, and more.
Automata may best described as Blade Runner meets I, Robot on the simplest of terms. The film doesn't lack depth but it doesn't exactly tread brand-new ground, either. It looks good, plays well, the real robots are a great asset, and Banderas is excellent in the lead. It's not a perfect film but rather a solid one, a movie that will challenge viewers during and after alike. Millennium Entertainment's Blu-ray release of Automata features fair video, solid audio, and one extra. Recommended.
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