5.7 | / 10 |
Users | 3.2 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.2 |
A group of friends investigate a series of bizarre text messages they receive after a construction project begins in their neighborhood.
Starring: Teo Halm, Astro, Reese Hartwig, Ella Wahlestedt, Jason Gray-StanfordFamily | 100% |
Adventure | 73% |
Sci-Fi | 28% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
If E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and Super 8 were to mate and produce cinematic offspring, chances are it would look very much like Earth to Echo. This appealing if awfully formulaic film offers a stranded alien much like the “phone home” film while wrapping it all up in a found footage format that echoes the ambience if not the actual technique of J.J. Abrams’ homage to “home video” technologies of yore. As with virtually every science fiction film positing a lost denizen from another world tooling around our little corner of the sky, there are nefarious government agents out on the hunt, putting the alien’s human friends in danger. Earth to Echo traffics in a number of well worn tropes but manages to find a fairly sweet spot for its intended demographic that plays upon fears of change, the ephemeral quality of contemporary life and what it means to be a true friend.
Earth to Echo is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer (mostly) in 1.85:1 (a few isolated "archival" moments are in 1.33:1). While Earth to Echo doesn't really pop in any traditional way, it's obviously not supposed to, being sourced as it supposedly is from things like smartphone video, camcorders and even spy glasses. There's a rather large gamut of looks here, from the relatively sharp and clear (see screenshot 1) to rougher, even pixellated, moments (see screenshot 2), and everything in between. The daytime and late afternoon sequences tend to look the best throughout the presentation, benefitting from better lighting conditions than the bulk of the film, which takes place overnight. Those nighttime scenes can suffer from anemic contrast, milky blacks and a generally murky appearance. Detail is rarely at exceptional levels, residing instead in a kind of middling though acceptable range. CGI elements are decent, if somewhat soft looking. When not affected by deliberate post production tweaking, colors are natural and nicely saturated.
Earth to Echo's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix isn't the showiest piece of sound design in science fiction (or quasi-science fiction) history, but it gets the job done with a reasonable amount of immersion and some excellent sound effects. A couple of big set pieces, including a manic car-truck chase, as well as the big climax where Echo's spaceship reassembles itself, provide the biggest sonic "oomph" in the film, and offer robust low end and good surround activity. All of the dialogue is presented very cleanly and clearly, and the track shows no signs of any issues whatsoever.
While older viewers are going to see the looming shadow of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial hovering over large swaths of Earth to Echo, younger folks—admittedly this film's chief demographic—may frankly not care one way or the other, swayed instead by the sweet and accessible story of childhood friends feeling like they're about to be torn asunder by forces beyond their control. The "found footage" aspect gives this film a relatively distinctive approach (at least in terms of kids interacting with an alien), and while obviously incredibly derivative, Earth to Echo manages to work better than it probably should. Given an understanding of the limitations inherent in presenting a supposed "found footage" offering, Earth to Echo's technical merits are quite strong, and this release comes Recommended.
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