6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.7 |
Flying at 40,000 feet in a state-of-the-art aircraft that she helped design, Kyle Pratt's 6-year-old daughter, Julia, vanishes without a trace. Or did she? No one on the plane believes Julia was ever onboard. And now Kyle, desperate and alone, can only count on her own wits to unravel the mystery and save her daughter.
Starring: Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Sean Bean, Kate Beahan, Michael IrbyThriller | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: LPCM 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Where's my daughter?
They say there's nothing like a good mystery, but there's just not much mystery to the very
Hollywood-esque Flightplan, Director Robert Schwentke's (The Time Traveler's
Wife) take on a Hitchcockian-style tale of misleads, deception, lies, confusion, and most
alarming of all, mankind's nonchalance towards even the most obvious of crimes. Built around a
solid premise but failing to shake off that dreaded "been there, done that" feel, Flightplan
suffers from a fairly predictable story arc, but to Schwentke's credit, the picture manages to
squeeze quite a bit of tension -- no thanks to several solid performances -- from what is a fairly
generic and flat story. A moderate box-office success, Flightplan raked in a cool $90
million domestic gross, despite coming out about a month after another "Airline
Suspense/Thriller" picture, Wes Craven's Red Eye, these movies joining the likes of
Antz and A Bug's Life and Deep Impact and
Armageddon as terribly
similar films arriving in theaters in close proximity to one another, but in this case, neither
Flightplan nor Red Eye really stands out as the vastly superior picture, as do
Deep Impact and A Bug's Life easily rise above their lesser peers.
The daughter vanishes.
Flightplan launches onto Blu-ray with an inconsistent but more often better-than-not 1080p, 2:35:1-framed transfer. As to the good first, the transfer often exhibits a very strong and pleasing film-like texture; a slight layer of grain is retained over the image, though there's not often any eye-popping sense of depth to the movie. Fine details are adequate, but the steely cold black and blue color palette and many shadowy scenes don't allow for much in the way of sparkling imagery to begin with, though close-ups of faces often reveal average levels of texturing on faces. As noted, the picture's color scheme is fairly unforgiving and dull, with only a few splashes of bright colors -- particularly in the plane's lounge/bar area -- evident; even the several scenes within the bowels of the plane take on an aggressively bright look that's defined mostly by shades of white, gold, and lighter shades of gray and brown. Flesh tones generally retain a neutral tone while blacks -- crucial to the presentation -- appear true and deep without overwhelming up-tight details. Unfortunately, moderately heavy banding is a consistent companion throughout the film, and unsightly blocking is evident on occasion, particularly bothersome on areas of the image that can't quite resolve the light transitions from bright to dark, often appearing choppy or chunky rather than smooth and natural. Such problems are more annoying than debilitating, however. Ultimately, this is an uneven but not unattractive image; it's borderline excellent in some areas, flat and disappointing in others, but more often than not it proves a serviceable-or-better 1080p transfer.
Flightplan zooms onto Blu-ray with a high quality PCM 5.1 uncompressed soundtrack. A full, rich, and sometimes startling presentation, this one leaves little to the imagination as it creates what are often nothing short of seamless 360-degree sound fields where both powerful effects and subtle atmospherics consistently immerse the listener into the experience and place them in the midst of the drama aboard the aircraft. The clarity of the entire track and tightness of the low end isn't quite as precise as the top-of-the-line reference tracks, but this one rarely comes up lacking in any single area. The track's strongest asset lies in its ability to allow even the most ordinary of sounds -- hushed background chatter from startled or angry passengers, the light hum of the engines, or announcements over the intercom system both on the plane and in the airport before boarding -- to engulf the listener in most every environment found in the picture. It's no surprise, either, that this PCM track delivers the roar of jet engines as heard in some more powerful scenes or the deliberately amped-up effects of an early spinning interior airport shot very well; the way the track consistently makes wonderful use of all of its many elements major, minor, and everything in between is what truly makes it a winner. Supported by consistent and crisp dialogue reproduction, Flightplan makes for a top-notch uncompressed soundtrack that excels at every turn.
Flightplan lands on Blu-ray with a few bonus features and no main menu; everything must be accessed in-film via the pop-up menu. First up is an audio commentary track with Director Robert Schwentke, who delivers a fast-paced and somewhat dry recount of all things Flightplan, speaking plainly and coherently on how he constructed the film, changes made to the script post-9/11, the picture's themes, the assemblage the cast, and his insistence that the picture maintain both a semblance of realism while also remaining shrouded in mystery. Though the delivery can become monotonous, the information provided is invaluable and should hold the interest of both budding filmmakers as well as fans of the film and its director. Blu-Scape: 'Jet Stream' (1080p, 5:18) is a short film by Louie Schwartzberg, available to be played on a loop via a menu option. Movie Showcase (1080p, 2:02) is a collection of three scenes that "showcase the ultimate in high definition picture and sound." Next up is Emergency Landing: Visual Effects (1080i, 7:31), a short piece that looks at the construction of several effects-heavy scenes. Finally, Cabin Pressure: Designing the Aalto E-474 (1080i, 10:03) looks at the process of designing and constructing the film's primary set piece.
Well made but ultimately suffering from a transparent ending and readily-identifiable heroes, villains, and everyone in between, Flightplan works well enough as a shadowy and moody Thriller but fails to deviate from Hollywood norm. It's fine for what it is, and reduced expectations will lead to a fairly enjoyable experience. Flightplan delivers a surprisingly rapid-fire machine-gun pacing; it's over almost as soon as it starts and proves fairly engulfing even though it lacks mystery in the most important area of all. Disney released Flightplan way back in 2006 while the Blu-ray format was still finding its stride, and it proves a decent all-around release even several years later. Though the video transfer is inconsistent, it's pleasantly film-like in texture. The PCM uncompressed track is the clear-cut highlight of the package, and the supplements are average in quality and quantity. Flightplan is worth adding to the collection at a deeply discounted price, but the disc is best enjoyed as an occasional rental.
2008
1997
1940
2005
2006
1994
2001
Paramount Presents #8
1990
2007
1997
1942
Limited Edition
1977
1987
2001
1998
2006
2004
1983
2002
Extended Special Edition
2012