Eve of Destruction Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.0

Eve of Destruction Blu-ray Movie Review

Destruction is preferable boredom.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 4, 2013

They cannot be allowed to play God with nature.

There was apparently some confusion surrounding this release of Eve of Destruction on this very website, with some of this page's listings -- cast, synopsis -- mistaking this film for the Gregory Hines film of the same name released back in 1991 (which, coincidentally, is now scheduled for Blu-ray release). It's too bad this isn't really that movie because this Eve of Destruction is nearly unwatchable. Yes, it's a relatively cheap made-for-television Disaster miniseries, so nobody goes in expecting something that looks like it was made by Steven Spielberg. Nevertheless, it's awful even by cheap Disaster standards, not so much because of terrible acting, visual effects, or minimal plot, but because it's just...so........sloooooooowwwwwwwww. It's nearly halfway through -- the second half (!!!!!) -- before anything even remotely "disasterish" happens, discounting a brief establishing "action" sequence at the beginning. Really, the film could have been trimmed to half its length and been significantly better for it.

It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel bored.

Scientists Karl Dameron (Steven Weber) and Rachel Reed (Christina Cox) are hailed by their corporate boss Max Salinger (Treat Williams) as science's "Adam and Eve" for their work on the so-called "Proteus Drill." It's a device they hope to use to harvest "dark energy," a byproduct of the "Big Bang" that comprises some 75% of space. In essence, they plan to dig a well in the vacuum of space to collect unlimited and very cheap energy. It's an endeavor that, if successful, will change the world. There are factions that don't want to see that endeavor succeed, however, Earth-first sorts who disapprove of the company's questionable science and the harm they do to both humans and the planet. Dameron's rebellious daughter Ruby (Jessica McLeod) immerses herself in the anti-coporate protest/terrorist group and finds herself a key cog in its inner circle. Meanwhile, a Russian transplant named Ruslan (Aleks Paunovic), who witnessed his entire Russian hometown wiped out by an unnatural phenomenon, believes that same event is about to occur in his new hometown. Of course, it's related to the Proteus project.

So there's all the usual Disaster miniseries elements: science and/or nature gone haywire, the "evil" large corporation and its no-good head honcho, lots of made-for-TV scientific mumbo-jumbo, and of course needlessly sprawling and overly involved character angles. Who knows what truths lie behind the science in the film -- it all sounds like technobabble anyway -- but it's at least a means to an end. Major population centers being sucked into nothing? Residential neighborhoods suddenly becoming engulfed in flames? Yeah, that's the kind of thing cheap Disaster movie fans crave, and it's all here. Sadly, Eve of Destruction takes that "means to an end" thing a little too literally, spending a good two-plus hours on establishing the world before tearing it down. In the commentary to his maligned (but, hey, some people enjoyed it for what it is) 2012, Director Roland Emmerich at one point chimes in to say (and this is very much paraphrasing) that the studio wasn't pleased with a stretch of the film because it had gone more than thirty or so minutes without any explosions. That's too long for a movie of this sort (never mind about two hours), and therefore minutes begin to feel like hours and hours days the longer Eve of Destruction goes on and on, really taking to heart the "eve" idea, but an "eve" out of Groundhog Day that just never comes. And, of course, when the destruction does arrive, it's largely underwhelming, detached, and not particularly invigorating not because the concept isn't sound -- it's better than the usual assortment of super storms and meteors -- but because it just takes...too......looooonnnnnggggg...to...arrive.

It might not be so bad if the characters were at least semi-interesting, but Eve of Destruction simply works with all of the clichés in the book to drag the film even further into the depths of annoying irrelevance. There's the big evil corporate entity (think Halliburton and especially Monsanto as the film's inspirations) headed by the evil corporate bigwig who is sleeping with someone working down in the field and who can potentially mess up the experiment. There are the male and female lead scientists with the subtle sexual chemistry running between them. There's the typical father-daughter relationship in which the two struggle to understand one another, the largely absent, workaholic father only making the situation worse when he tries to connect (like cooking her a bacon and egg breakfast only to be rejected because she's a vegan) and the daughter rebellious against his work, not so much because she truly, deeply loathes what he does (even if she says she does) but rather as a means of lashing out against his obsession with his work and seeming lack of interest in her. The only interesting character in the film is Ruslan, a Russian electrical line worker who lost everything in a tragedy and who has come to America to start over...only to find himself in the middle of the same thing all over again. He's the film's "everyman" hero and a fairly good one at that. He makes an otherwise intolerable movie watchable in his scenes, but this is a real dud everywhere else.

Eve of Destruction Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Eve of Destruction at least looks rather good. Sonar Entertainment's transfer takes on an appearance similar to the budget Asylum-style HD video look. However, it's not quite as robust. Colors come up a bit lacking; there's a light pastiness to some images but a real vibrance to others. At their best, colors appear nicely balanced and natural, usually in the very brightest outdoor scenes. Darker interiors struggle to find a more even palette. Black levels are usually deep, but can be rather noisy; a good example of that noise may be seen in the darker shots near the midway point in chapter two once things start to pick up in the movie. The image shows that typical HD video sheen and flatness, but details can be excellent, reflecting the colors in that the clearest, most well-defined shots come in the film's brightest scenes. Darker shots sometimes struggle to show more pronounced textures and clarity. Light banding may be seen in a few backgrounds, but otherwise the image doesn't show much in the way unwanted elements. For a budget miniseries, it looks rather good on the whole.

Eve of Destruction Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Eve of Destruction's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack doesn't live up to its namesake -- it's certainly not "masterful" -- but it does deliver a fun, exciting, and high quality listen. Much of the film is dialogue-intensive; there's just not much happening during most of the movie that requires any sort of vigorous work from the sound system. The film does start with some solid effects, such as lightning strikes and explosions and all sorts of electrical and pyrotechnical mayhem. The film's last quarter also features a major uptick in activity, with potent bass defining various explosions and big Science Fiction sound effects. The stage feels very wide and it envelops the listener with a healthy, but balanced, surround support that gives a sense of space and accuracy to the most chaotic elements. The track also delivers some quality office din; there are plenty of beeps and bloops and crunching keyboard keys to help define that environment. Dialogue is fairly well balanced and clear, though there are several occasions where it goes a little sharp and seems slightly detached. Overall, though, the track is quite good and suits the movie very well.

Eve of Destruction Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Eve of Destruction contains only one supplement, a sneak peak at the film Cat.8 (HD, 9:09). In essence, this is the first nine minutes of the movie.

Also note that Eve of Destruction cannot be watched seamlessly in its entirety. Only the option to play parts one and two as separate entities is included.

Eve of Destruction Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Eve of Destruction comes up short even by low-end Disaster standards. The film is painfully slow, takes far too long to get to the good stuff, lacks a sense of urgency, and is awash in bland characters that it spends an excess amount of time developing for only minimal payoff. This is movie watching (or miniseries watching) as labor, not entertainment. Had the thing been chopped down to the usual ninety minutes, it might have worked. As it is, it's just way too much of a slow thing. Sonar Entertainment's Blu-ray release of Eve of Destruction features good video and audio. No program-related supplements are included. Skip it.