Dark Nemesis Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Dark Nemesis Blu-ray Movie Review

What does "independent film" mean to you?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 15, 2012

The film industry had its first rush of product coming from a group of entrepreneurs who often did everything themselves (with a little help from their friends): acting, shooting, directing, editing, and getting their product into nickelodeons and the like. A few of these early entrepreneurs saw their efforts rewarded with success to the point where some of them were actually able to start their own bona fide movie studios. The studio system then took hold and guided the film industry through its adolescent and young adulthood. In this era, the studios controlled virtually everything about the process, kind of like the entrepreneurs of old, but now writ large. And of course in the Golden Age of Hollywood, the studios owned their own theaters where they could exhibit their products. The antitrust decision divesting the studios of their theaters was the beginning of the end of the studio system as it had existed for decades, and television also helped pound a few more nails in the figurative coffin, but even then, the studios held sway even as actors, director and producers were increasingly free agents, working with one studio for a given project and then moving to another as work there beckoned. As talked about as the burgeoning independent movement of the late sixties and early seventies in American film is, the fact is the studios still held most of the cards, and independent filmmakers typically had to make deals with someone at least to achieve distribution for their project. Something interesting started happening with the advent of new digital technology and softwares readily available to even casual users, something somewhat analogous to what had happened to the music industry in the eighties and nineties when artists suddenly realized they could record themselves in their home studios and release their own product on their own labels, marketing it on the internet and cutting out the (major label) middleman. In a very real way, we’re finally at a true independent film movement in the United States, and globally as well, where “home based” filmmakers have enough affordable technology at their fingertips to create their movies, and enough web based outlets to at least get a little notice once the film is completed and ready to be marketed. It’s easy to dismiss an obviously “home made” film like Dark Nemesis as the work of amateurs, until you realize that this rather polished little production was evidently done for an astoundingly miniscule sum of $10,000.00, at least if one is to believe the all- knowing IMDb. Make no mistake about it, Dark Nemesis is no masterpiece, and it certainly bears signs of having been done by a coterie of talents who aren’t quite ready for prime time (at least not yet), but in the general scheme of things, the film is better than it has any right to be, considering its extremely lo-fi genesis.

What’s in a name? A lot, evidently, as in trying to track down a little information on Dark Nemesis, I came across a whole slew of alternate titles this film was evidently either broadcast under or had at some point in its development. Though it doesn’t seem to have officially bore the title at any point in its release phase, Dark Nemesis at some point was called Ferocious, suitable for the mean winged goblin that haunts the forest of the piece, which is known as Shadowlands. Speaking of Shadowlands, that was another title that was hung on the shingle at some point, though perhaps someone somewhere reminded writer-director-editor Drew Maxwell that there had been a 1993 quasi-biographical film about C.S. Lewis with that title, starring Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger. (Interestingly, though, the film still bears the name of Shadowlands on the production company’s own website). There’s little doubt as to why the film never was released with the name it evidently was broadcast under in the United Kingdom—The Dark Knight. One assumes the combined legal power of the entire edifice propping up the Batman franchise might have been enough to ward off even an attempt at that title stateside.

The advent of green screen technology, along with cheaper, easy to use computer rendering software, has opened up whole new universes for beginning filmmakers, and Maxwell and his team have done at times a startlingly good job in creating a post-Apocalyptic vision of quasi-feudal tribes run by Warlords. The look here is obviously redolent of 300, albeit skewed more toward the red and brown side of things than 300’s ubiquitous golden hues. But there are a number of similar scenes, at least in the early going, replete with embers sparking through the air and vicious battles unfolding. Dark Nemesis was obviously done on a mere pittance compared to 300’s budget, but the opening scenes are rather colorful (no pun intended) and help to establish the oppressive mood of the piece. Maxwell, who also served as DP on the shoot (is there anything he didn’t do?—one half expects to see his name under Craft Services in the credits), does have a few missteps along the way, including either unintended or clumsy quick uses of zooms in and out that disrupt the flow of the action. Maxwell's production design (yes, he did that, too) is often quite effective, however, and one shot of a devastated Seattle seeks to have the same impact that the iconic final moments of the original Planet of the Apes achieved with another landmark, The Statue of Liberty.

The bulk of the film actually takes place in the Shadowlands after a group of warriors attempts to break free from their nefarious Warlord and to try to find safe haven in a fabled safe zone beyond the terrors of the forest. While this is the focal point of the film, it’s also in some ways the weakest element, with less than convincing CGI of the main goblin, and some inconsistencies in acting styles and some just flat out silly dialogue. Dark Nemesis could have been a rather remarkable achievement, all things considered, had this central section of the film been developed more artfully, and no doubt had more money or expertise been available to make the evil entity in the Shadowlands more viscerally frightening. Still, Maxwell stages things well and works in a surprisingly craftsmanlike way in utilizing his obviously minimal production assets to the best of his abilities.

There are going to be some—maybe even most—who see Dark Nemesis and just react with dismissive disparagement, seeing an ultra low budget attempt that is inarguably laughable a time or two on a certain level. But you know what? I applaud the hubris of Maxwell and his cohorts in even attempting something of this scale on an insanely small amount of money (even if it turns out it’s significantly more than the frankly unbelievable $10,000.00 mentioned on IMDb). It’s a new world out there in terms of film creation, and it’s probably going to be the territory of more and more people like Drew Maxwell. In an earlier day and time, probably no one thought very much about the efforts of another young director when he started making little Night Gallery segments or small scale made for television films, probably thinking he would never amount to much. His name was Steven Spielberg.

Dark Nemesis Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Dark Nemesis is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MTI Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Though technical data on this title is spotty at best, it seems virtually certain this was shot digitally and went through some significant color grading and other tweaking in post. Fine object detail is excellent in close ups, though the film has the sort of flat, textureless quality that also defined another green screen-fest, 300. There's really no depth of field to speak of here, even in some of the shots where actors emote in front of real forests or CGI sylvan valleys. The bulk of the film is rather dark, with low contrast, perhaps an intentional choice to help hide some of the deficiencies of the budget and the less than totally believable CGI monster.

Dark Nemesis Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Rather surprisingly for such a low budget enterprise, Dark Nemesis boasts an extremely aggressive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix that may not be especially subtle, but which boasts LFE in truly astounding abundance and which uses the surround channels consistently throughout the film, with a number of very well done sound effects that are appropriately directional and often quite effective. The score—supervised by, yep, you guessed it, Drew Maxwell—is yet another Carl Orff Carmina Burana knockoff, but it sounds good, if derivative here, and the ubiquitous use of percussion adds some aural interest along the way. Dialogue is cleanly and clearly presented, and the mix is very well prioritized, with some impressive dynamic range.

Note: As is the case with some other smaller niche labels, MTI has mistakenly labeled the audio as Dolby Digital on the keepcase insert. Labels would be well advised to properly list their audio specs (in this case DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1), especially when real audiophiles are going to be wanting lossless audio to begin with. It should be noted that there is indeed a lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 track also included on this Blu-ray.

Dark Nemesis Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Trailer (HD; 1:38)

Dark Nemesis Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It may have just been a function of having extremely low expectations, but Dark Nemesis ended up surprising me, at least relatively, with decently high production values and an okay overall premise. The green screen work here is sometimes very well done, especially in the film's opening segment, but the main drawback here is some amateurish writing and inconsistent acting. All of that said, though, this could be a useful primer to other young filmmakers as to just what an enterprising artist can achieve with a minimal budget.