7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
A game designer on the run from assassins must play her latest virtual reality creation with a marketing trainee to determine if the game has been damaged.
Starring: Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ian Holm, Willem Dafoe, Don McKellarHorror | 100% |
Surreal | 35% |
Imaginary | 8% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080/60i
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
'eXistenZ' is not just a game. it's an entirely new game system.
Director David Cronenberg has carved himself quite the niche considering his mastery of the unusual and the macabre, his mixing of visual oddity and
psychological analysis in the pursuit of examining humankind's ability to cope with physical damage and body alteration. Films like The Fly (advanced science) and Videodrome (television) may be the most mainstream and widely-seen
of his most
disturbing works of "Body Horror" as the sub-genre has come to be known, but in eXistenZ viewers will find a precise, creepy, and gruesome
picture highly representative of Cronenberg's work. The film tells the tale of futuristic, interactive, altered reality games that biologically connect to
their users, the picture examining the consequences of crossing the organic with the inorganic and studying in a broader sense man's ever-growing
close association with and reliance on technology.
Don't make me teeth you.
Here's where things get a little shaky. eXistenZ was previously released on Blu-ray twice in the United States, both times by Echo Bridge and
both times as part of
a
multi-film budget "set" that paired it with either two or five additional films. Both the "Fast Action" six-film collection and the "Miramax Triple Feature" three-film set crammed the movie onto the same disc
with Malevolent and B. Monkey. In fact, the discs across both the six- and three-packs are completely identical, right down to the
same
UPC code appearing on the disc artwork. Now, eXistenZ is available separately as a standalone release. Those who don't want the other films
or who rightly
believe the quality would improve when it's not sharing a disc with two other films will be in for a surprise. While this standalone release does
add a pair of lossless soundtracks over the Dolby Digital two-channel presentation of the multi-packs (more on that in audio) as well as a few
supplements (again, see below), it features manipulated brightness levels that considerably alter the look and feel of the film. Both multi-disc
releases present the film in a much darker, more faithful look while this standalone release, for whatever reason, appears abnormally bright. Included
are twenty screenshots from the film's standalone release (1-20) and twenty corresponding shots from the six- and three-packs (21-40), the latter
sourced from both of the multi-disc releases.
As for the remainder of the transfer, it's typically passable in Echo Bridge fashion but not particularly striking. The image begins with flickering
contrast, wobbly titles, and speckles of dirt, all in the first few seconds. Later, and throughout, viewers will find a bit of banding, some compression
problems, poor color transitions across shadowy skin, some trace edge enhancement, and black levels that go a bit pale. The image often takes on a
fairly smooth, dreary appearance. Faces often look a bit pasty and ghastly, but the image does salvage some critical facial and clothing details
throughout. Still, many background elements often look rather flat and uninspired; a fine example comes at the fueling station in which Willem
Dafoe's character fits Jude Law's character with the gaming interface port. All in all, it's a rather disappointing transfer that might have been
satisfactory on the whole were it
not for the altered brightness levels which do change the entire film's tenor. It looks quite a bit better, though still imperfect, on the multi-disc
releases. It's too bad that that transfer cannot be paired with this release's multichannel lossless soundtrack.
This particular Blu-ray release of eXistenZ contains both DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtracks (note that the film as released in the "Fast Action" pack and the three-film pack receives only a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack). Echo Bridge's multichannel lossless track serves the movie in this budget-friendly home video well enough, though listeners will more than likely be just as often underwhelmed as they are satisfied. The opening title music proves rather underpowered and not particularly aggressive. Nevertheless, it enjoys a smooth, natural presence, nice clarity, and gentle surround support. Light applause heard near the beginning sounds a hair muddled and not particularly loud, but like the music it does offer fair spacing about the stage. Later, general ambience is handled satisfactorily, both of the manmade interior variety and light natural exterior sort. The end action scene yields a nice sensation of distant popping gunfire and a good burst of energy in nearby explosions. The film is largely centered around dialogue, however, and the spoken word plays clearly and accurately throughout. This isn't a reference-grade track by any stretch of the imagination, but it serves the movies well enough. Now if only it could be paired with the preferred video presentation...
eXistenZ contains only a trio of interviews, the first with Actor Jude Law (SD, 14:39), the second with Actor Willem Dafoe (SD, 6:57), and the third with the film's Special Effects Supervisor, James Isaac (SD, 27:41).
eXistenZ examines the intermixing of the technological and the biological and, while it doesn't outright answer all of the questions it poses, it certainly does open the forum for discussion on topics such as man's addiction to technology and the digital usurpation of the human consciousness and making it a literal, and not just a figurative, part of everyday life. eXistenZ is an emotionally deep movie wrapped up in the guise of oddity and the grotesque. It's a smart movie that doesn't always look it, but it does always feel it. Like the best movies of its kind, it's more relevant now than it was upon release, and credit Cronenberg for his forward-thinking vision on the subject. Echo Bridge's Blu-ray release of eXistenZ features disappointing video, serviceable audio, and a couple of extras. The film deserves a better release; the price is right, however, so dedicated fans and the curious can buy and start saving up for, hopefully, a superior edition somewhere on down the line. Assuming, of course, movie fans haven't been fitted with a bio-port and are instantly fed their entertainment by then.
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