Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

Evolution Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 23, 2022

Summer of 2001 was smack dab in the middle of the beginning of the end of The X-Files' original TV run. Season eight had just finished airing on FOX and the show was then one of the most popular on television and today remains a benchmark for the medium and the Sci-Fi genre. David Duchovny was its leading man (at least through the first seven seasons). He was one of the hottest properties on the planet and that he was starring in another Sci-Fi film, and one directed by Ghostbusters' Ivan Reitman at that, was enough pique the interest of most genre fans to meet the film with some degree of anticipation. That film was Evolution, Reitman's attempt to rework the Ghostbusters formula for the 2000s with a hot property leading man, featuring aliens rather than ghosts and doing so with a lesser cast and a lesser script and, ultimately, lesser results.

While Wayne Grey (Seann William Scott) is out in the middle of nowhere, at night, practicing for his firefighters' exam, he finds himself in the middle of a major astronomical and soon-to-be world changing event: a meteor crash lands in his vicinity, flattening his car and ruining his chances at preparing for the test. Word of the crash grabs the attention of a pair of supposedly intelligent community college science professors, Dr. Ira Kane (David Duchovny) and Professor Harry Phineas Block (Orlando Jones). While Block is too preoccupied with coaching girls' volleyball and looking for ways to satisfy his lust, Kane discovers that with the meteor came not only blood but the building block of life: DNA. Unlike the DNA of everything on Earth, however, this DNA has 10 base pairs, 2.5x that of life on Earth. In short, they have discovered aliens. As they prepare to bring the discovery of a lifetime public and reap the rewards, they run into stumbling blocks from the military and the CDC in the form of Dr. Allison Reed (Julianne Moore). Nevertheless, the four find themselves working together to study creatures that are so alien to Earth that they cannot breathe its atmosphere. That's good news: until they begin to grow, evolve, and gain the ability to both breathe and wreak havoc wherever they go.

Evolution stands as a perfectly decent time waster. The film blends self-aware humor with unmissable comps to Ghostbusters: some cut-rate scientists find themselves on the front lines of a major world changing extraterrestrial (rather than supernatural) event and must battle not only the enemy, but the public and government red tape if they are to reel in the threat. The movie doesn't play particularly well if one spends the whole runtime making those mental comparisons but plays just fine, more or less, in isolation. But even standing on its own has its flaws, including what are today fairly shoddy and unconvincing special effects, inferior characterization and cast camaraderie, and a plot that just doesn't grab the audience, even as it's essentially Ghostbusters with, maybe, a hint of Men in Black thrown in for good measure (especially in the opening sequence and the general feel for the alien design and visual effects).

Evolution Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Paramount releases Evolution to Blu-ray with a serviceable 1080p transfer. The middling image has its strengths and its weaknesses, neither of which lower the movie to the depths or raise it to the heights. It's a "purgatory" Blu-ray if there ever was one, offering a generally good and filmic image but one laced with regular issues the prevent its good qualities from fully defining it. But first, the good. Here's a picture that is generally sharp and true to its film essentials. Grain management is not great, but grain is present; there are no signs of excess digital scrubbing. Core textures are clear and revealing, including faces, clothes, and environments. Colors are decent but lack pop, depth, and pizazz. There's clearly a bit of depression, desaturation, dimming, fading, whatever one wants to call it going on, but not to a serious extent. Flesh tones and black levels could stand to be a little more accurate, too. But the real issues are as follows. First, the picture is frequently victim to rather steady print wear, including a fairly steady barrage of pops, speckles, and the like: not so intense as to kill the watchability factor but enough to notice in every shot. Next, some stray edge enhancement is in evidence here and there. Finally, a few scattered compression issues interfere with encode perfection. Overall, though, the picture looks decent, ragged around the edges though it may be. Fans wanting a remaster will be disappointed, but anyone looking for a decent HD image will find one here.

Evolution Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Evolution evolves onto Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation lacks finesse, but it does not lack aggression. Like many tracks of its time, blunt force and prominent activity rather than refinement and balance are the hallmarks. The track never wants for rawer spacing and engagement, but it could stand some superior engineering and finesse. Be that as it may, it's a fun listen, taking full advantage of the full speaker spectrum. This holds for music and action alike. Dialogue is clear and center positioned for the duration. It is also well prioritized.

Evolution Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Evolution includes deleted scenes and several featurettes. No DVD copy is included. However, Paramount has bundled in a digital copy code. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

• Deleted Scenes (480i, 14:25): Included are Denise Leaves Ira, Original Hotel Scene in Allison's Room, Allison Orders Satellite Scans, Chasing the Bird, Woodman and Flemming, and Alternate Ending. Audo commentary is overlaid.
• HBO First Look "The Evolution of Evolution (480i, window box, 15:02): Pretty typical of the "First Look" series offering a broad overview of the story, cast and characters, and the like.
• Storyboard Selections (480i, various runtimes): Included are Opening Scene, Class Trip to the Cave, Wayne Gets Attacked by a Dragonfly, Attack at the Golf Course, Valley of the Dead Birds, and Mall Bird Attack. All are available with storyboards only and the storyboards juxtaposed with the finished scene. Audio included.
• Visual Effects Featurette (480i, 10:15): Looking at Phil Tippett's special effects.
• A Conversation with Ivan Reitman, David Duchovny, Sean William Scott and Orland Jones: In other words: a commentary track.

Evolution Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Evolution, like so many other movies, is a fine middle-of-the-road experience that hearkens back to something better but stands on its own just well enough to warrant a watch. It's a reworked poor man's take on the Ghostbusters formula but with less of everything that made that film so good. Still, this one's at least worth the time investment, though replay value is nowhere near so good as its peers. Paramount's Blu-ray is passable, offering flawed but watchable video, solid enough audio, and a nice slate of bonus materials. Check it out on the cheap.