5.8 | / 10 |
Users | 3.9 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.9 |
Julianna Margulies, Gabriel Byrne and Isaiah Washington are aboard a mysteriously adrift luxury liner hexed by a seafaring collector of souls.
Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Julianna Margulies, Ron Eldard, Desmond Harrington, Isaiah WashingtonHorror | 100% |
Thriller | 50% |
Supernatural | 28% |
Mystery | 14% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
German: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 2.0
Japanese: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, French, German SDH, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Cantonese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
I had such high hopes for Ghost Ship. It opens with a peculiarly stretched older version of the Warner logo (the one with the ugly, polluted looking orange clouds), and then, as we see an opulent luxury liner circa 1962, the orchestra breaks into a beautiful quote of “Senza Fine,” a song which most people will remember from the 1965 version of The Flight of the Phoenix, which may lead them to believe this ship is time traveling along with transporting its ghostly manifest (the song actually was an Italian hit in 1961 before it came stateside). And then there is one of the more bravura openings to a horror thriller in recent memory. As the deck band continues on with the song (that Henry’s daughter Monica Mancini providing the voice for the singer), we see someone jiggering with a taut metal cable which then snaps, literally slicing and dicing its way through the dancers on board. Only a young girl, too short to be hit by this makeshift blade, is spared. It’s gory, funny and horrifying all at the same time. Unfortunately it’s one of the last innovative moments that Ghost Ship offers. In fact, I can almost imagine the pitch for this film: “let’s do a haunted house movie. . .only we’ll put it on a ship!” Thus what passes for creativity in Hollywood is greenlit.
The Antonia Graza, circa 1962.
What Ghost Ship the film lacks in originality, it partially makes up for in some of the most luscious cinematography (by Gale Tattersall) in recent memory, photography that this Blu-ray's VC-1 encode reproduces with stunning results. As mentioned above, the lighting in this film is fantastic, with gorgeous dappling effects that shimmer (in a good way) and fill scenes with a ghostly ambience that the film's story only haltingly is able to convey. A lot of this film is dark, dark, dark, and this Blu-ray's black levels and contrast are top notch, with a depth of detail and clarity in even the most deeply shrouded segments. Colors are lifelike and well saturated, and the special effects literally shine with a glow that helps to offset the patent ridiculousness of the script. Occasionally the superior resolution of the BD does undercut some of the less successful special effects, as in the establishing shots of the liner next to the salvage tug. No artifacting was noticed and overall this is an extremely sharp and satisfying visual experience.
Similarly, Ghost Ship's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound mix, while not as bombastic as you might expect from a horror film, offers superb clarity and some very nicely immersive moments. The opening scene offers not only the gorgeous "Senza Fine" but some very nice whip pan aural effects as the metal cable does its dastardly work. Later on, in our introduction to the Arctic Warrior crew, surround channels are in full swing as they struggle to maintain control in a desperate situation. Water effects are especially impressive throughout the film, and a couple of literally explosive moments will give your subwoofer a nice workout. Throughout the film dialogue is crisp and clear, nicely directional and always mixed well with both the underscore and great sound effects.
A pretty ordinary group of SD featurettes augments the main film:
Max on Set, a 15:04 Cinemax behind the scenes offering.
Secrets of the Antonia Graza, a kind of fun word game which unlocks four "secret stories" (tangential to the main plotline).
Visual Effects, 5:42 of background on the CGI and other SFX in the film.
A Closer Look at the Gore, 5:32 of gooey, bloody SFX.
Designing the Ghost Ship, (6:02), which starts with a cool time lapse sequence and then gets into the building of the miniatures for the film.
Not Falling, a horrid music video with equally horrid "music," by that classic group Mudvayne.
Ghost Ship has some fun, frightening moments, but it's simply too predictable to ever rise to the grisly heights to which it aspires.
2005
2009
1980
Remastered | Standard Retail Edition
1980
Unrated
2007
2020
20th Anniversary Edition
1998
2016
Unrated
2004
2005
2002
2002
Unrated Director's Cut
2010
2006
Unrated
2008
Theatrical + Unrated Alternate Cut
2007
2013
Unrated
2008
Collector's Edition
1999
R-rated Extended Cut
2002